Companies such as travel, tourism and hospitality providers offering free Wi-Fi hotspots to customers are generating significant extra sales and repeat business.
A web site listing and operating free wireless broadband hotspots has surveyed 1,000 business Wi-Fi users in six European countries and concluded that:
• 84 per cent of respondents said they were more willing to purchase goods and services from businesses that offered a free Wi-Fi service
• Almost all users (96 per cent ) said they would return to the hotspot location
• Half the Wi-Fi users surveyed went to hotspots specifically for the free Wi-Fi
• The remaining half were ‘regular’ customers of the establishment
“These statistics re-confirm existing market studies that show locations offering free Wi-Fi attract a broad and highly profitable client base,” said Joe Brunoli, Vice President, HotSpot Market Development for free-hotspot.com. “The fact that 50 per cent of those questioned were already regular customers of the free hotspot location also proves that such a service meets the needs of existing clientele. Creating a sense of loyalty in both new and existing customers cannot help but increase footfall and therefore sales,” he concluded.
free-hotspot.com operates Europe’s largest and fastest growing free wireless network. The company currently operates more than 500 free hotspots in 14 countries throughout Europe. Its hotspots are located in cafés, hotels, pubs, restaurants, retail centres, transit centres and other public venues. To gain access to the company’s free wireless Internet service, users agree to watch an advertisement. For this innovation, free-hotspot.com received the prestigious WBI (Wireless Broadband Innovation) Award for Best Public Wi-Fi Product 2006.
A few days ago, the company also received 2006 FIZZZ Award for “Best Business Idea” for the hospitality industry. The prize is sponsored by FIZZZ magazine, a specialist trade journal for the hospitality industry, and acknowledges innovative and outstanding concepts to increase profitability in the catering and hotel trade.
A number of businesses in the Highlands and Islands are currently offering free Wi-Fi hotspots, including the Commercial Hotel in Alness, Cromarty Training Centre, the Doune Braes Hotel on the Isle of Lewis and the National Hotel in Dingwall.
According to free-hotspot.com, studies in the US have shown that businesses with a free hotspot can generate up to 30 per cent in increased sales to new customers who appreciate the value of wireless Internet access. Schlotzky’s, a chain of restaurants based in Texas, found that their outlets with free Wi-Fi regularly pull in an average of 23 additional customers each day.
