ASK THE EXPERTS
IS FREE CONSUMER WI-FI A GOOD THING?
In follow up to the Ask The Expert poll on
RetailTechnology.co.uk in August, retail IT expert Brian Hume argues that mobile technology will change retail in ways the industry imagine yet
B
y the end of this year, 35% of the UK’s top 150 retailers will have rolled out free consumer Wi-
Fi in their stores, or at least have started the roll out to some stores (Martec international IT in Retail Survey 2013). Brian Hume, managing director of retail
technology analyst, consulting and training firm Martec International, commented: “Some early adopters have done it to be the first to learn where the benefits are and how to deal with the downsides, in the belief that everyone will have to do it eventually and those who learn first and fastest will emerge in the best position.” He added that retailers who major on branded
products are likely to have more to worry about than those based on own brands. “Consumers already go into stores in many cases carrying more technology than the retailers give their own staff,” he explained. “At the very least, free Wi-Fi will make it cheaper for some consumers to do what they have been doing anyway and it will probably encourage many others to start.” But is free consumer Wi-Fi a good thing? “The
obvious answer is it depends on what consumers use it for,” said Hume, adding that many retailers fear that it will make showrooming much easier. “The jury is still out on this, but some very recent research suggested that showrooming is not the scale of problem that people imagined. “Many ‘showroomers’ go home and then buy
the product online from the shop where they first checked it out. Examining your online orders and checking whether that same person logged into the store Wi-Fi that day or very recently will become an operating routine for the more switched on retailers and will help inform conversion rates in the new omnichannel world.” For the retailer, the login process to connect to
the Wi-Fi can identify a specific consumer is in the store. Hume advised that retailers with a customer relationship management (CRM) programme can decide whether to respond to that consumer with
18 Autumn 2013
Like showrooming, only time will tell whether the potential for price comparison is a real threat
appropriate messages, customised coupons, new product information and other things he or she may be interested in. “You can also answer their electronic requests for information in response to scanned QR [quick response] codes and so on,” he added. But the thing essentially worrying retailers
about free Wi-Fi offers is how much business will they lose because the consumer checks a competitor’s price that is lower? Hume continued: “Will you be asked to price match and will you do it? If you decide to do it selectively for your best customers, how will staff know who they are and how will you want them to say no to some of them? Will you train them to do it well? Like showrooming, only time will tell whether the potential for price comparison is a real threat. Already, at least one software company is offering a mobile solution to help store personnel make those decisions in a rules-based environment.” But the analyst also pointed out that there is an
upside to this. “Suppose it’s a busy Saturday and by 11am you have had 10 price match requests for the same item across all the stores in your chain? Can your store systems capture price match transactions and alert someone? Does a responsible person at headquarters have visibility of this happening? If so, should they implement a temporary price reduction across the chain, until the buyer can look at the issue next week and make a permanent price decision?” Electronic shelf edge labels (ESLs) offer
the quickest way to react or even just notifying managers in a email to change the price may offer strategic advantages in answer to new retail pressures as a result of free Wi-Fi. One thing is for sure, mobile technology will change the face of retail in ways we find hard to imagine at the moment. “From Martec’s perspective,” Hume concluded, “the important thing is to take a whole process view and use what you can learn in store to change not just the store operation, but all the related headquarters and logistics processes too.”
www.retailtechnology.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60