The widespread adoption of IT innovations by retailers is becoming the main driver of the development of modern retail. Naturally, the United States and other developed countries are pioneering this trend. According to Deloitte, approximately 25% of North American retail chains intend to offer free Wi-Fi internet access to all store visitors in 2011. Furthermore, Deloitte analysts predict that this trend will become widespread and begin to spread worldwide in 2012.

The widespread use of IT innovations by retailers is becoming the main driver of the development of modern retail. Naturally, the pioneers in this area are the United States, as well as other developed countries. According to Deloitte, in 2011, about 25% of North American retail chains intend to provide free Wi-Fi Internet access to all visitors to their stores. Moreover, Deloitte analysts predict that this trend will become widespread and spread worldwide in 2012.

Wireless Wi-Fi internet access is now widely available in crowded places (restaurants, cafes, airports, and train stations). However, most retailers have so far refused to offer this service to their customers, fearing that shoppers might use their smartphones and netbooks to compare prices with competitors' stores. Current practice is that retailers generally avoid directly monitoring products and prices and are therefore reluctant to provide consumers with the ability to search for the best price.

Until recently, the only way to access the internet inside a retail space was via a mobile connection, but most consumers do not use this type of service. There are many reasons for this, such as poor quality and speed of the mobile signal, the inconvenience of searching via a mobile phone, and the high cost of mobile internet traffic. Therefore, without a high-speed connection (such as Wi-Fi) inside the sales areas, only a few will use the Internet to obtain information about products.

A discussion arose among employees of large retail operators in North America about the feasibility of providing Wi-Fi access in retail chains. As a result, most experts came to the conclusion that such concerns are nothing more than another misconception. It turns out that when a buyer uses the Internet to compare products in a store, the likelihood that he will make a purchase increases rather than decreases.

Experts have found that the main barrier to making a purchase is the lack of sufficient information about the product. The buyer asks questions: "Is the price reasonable?", "Is this product right for me?", "What are the advantages of this product?", "What does the neighboring store offer?", etc. If online information shows that the price difference is not significant, most shoppers decide to make a purchase at the store they are currently in, rather than waste time and money traveling to other stores.

Despite the fact that in some cases, comparing products leads to lost sales, in general, retail chains that have taken the risk of providing Wi-Fi access have been satisfied with the result, since shoppers not only did not leave their stores without a purchase, but also spent slightly more money than they initially planned.

A Wi-Fi network allows shoppers to independently perform such operations as determining the availability of a product of interest in stock, its color, configuration, etc. This frees sales staff from routine processes and allows them to focus on more important tasks, such as assisting in product selection, explaining details and technical specifications, offering alternative products and additional products - which lead to improved service quality and increased sales. Retail chains can offer electronic catalogs, launch promotional videos and advertising campaigns via Wi-Fi, which will be more effective within the sales area. Even if shoppers use the Wi-Fi signal for personal purposes (such as checking email, surfing the web, and social media), it will still increase the time they spend in the store, which increases the likelihood of impulse purchases. It's unlikely that shoppers will use retail chains as internet hotspots simply because most stores don't offer tables and chairs, and there are much more convenient places for these purposes, such as cafes and restaurants.

By implementing Wi-Fi connections in their stores, retailers can also run targeted promotions for their visitors. In particular, using pop-up windows and other applications, the operator can provide shoppers with information about current discounts or special offers upon entering certain departments (for example, when visiting the lingerie section, a special offer could pop up on the shopper's smartphone).

Furthermore, Wi-Fi connections allow the collection of analytical data about shoppers. Depending on legal regulations, retailers can accumulate information about customer behavior, the simplest example of which is tracking a shopper's path through the store. If there are no legal restrictions, information such as a shopper's mobile phone number and email address can be recorded, which can then be used for direct marketing. Retailers can also request customer registration information on social media and use the information available there (e.g., age, interests, profession, hobbies, etc.) to create targeted product offers. Customer traffic analysis allows for the identification of the most visited internet resources, popular websites, and product items. This information allows for the development of effective online advertising campaigns and the optimization of the retailer's product range and assortment.

Thus, the use of wireless Internet access inside a supermarket provides benefits not only to the average shopper, but also allows the retailer to gain customer loyalty and obtain comprehensive information about their consumer preferences.

Source: Allretail.com.ua