From cafes and bars to retail outlets and shops; WiFi is becoming a common amenity and something that the consumer is beginning to expect from businesses. The internet and devices that connect us to the internet have become as big of a necessity as electricity, water and gas.
As a restaurant owner, if you are not offering WiFi to your guests then you are not giving your guests what they ‘need’ and expect from you and your establishment. In this article we have put together just five fantastic benefits of offering free Wi-Fi in your restaurant; of course there are many more benefits!
1. Wi-Fi in A Restaurant Drives Business
Consumers have so much choice about where they can eat; sometimes the offer of free WiFi can be what makes you stand out from the crowd so people choose to come to your restaurant. Some consumers also enjoy taking photos of the food and selfies of them in the restaurant. WiFi will allow them to do this, and by doing this they will be promoting your restaurant for you.
2. Free Wi-Fi in A Restaurant Helps With Apple Pay
Consumers are keen to use mobile devices to pay for goods in shops and it is quick and easy. If you have free Wi-Fi in your restaurant you are enabling your customer to use Apple Pay which means they won’t need to wait around for the bill, which means they can leave sooner, and leave happier – which is the best way for a guest to leave your restaurant.
3. Free Wi-Fi in A Restaurant Helps Increase Sales
If someone is working while eating a meal in your restaurant, they will quite happily order starters, a dessert or extra drink to stay longer and finish their work. The free Wi-Fi means that the guest is more likely to stay in your restaurant longer, and this means you have the opportunity to upsell. You can also use the free Wi-Fi to serve targeted adverts and share promotions to guests; such as 10% off their next visit for filling out a short survey. This encourages the guest to come back, but it gives you great customer experience feedback too.
4. Free Wi-Fi in A Restaurant Helps You Understand Your Guests
By offering free wi-fi to guests in your restaurant you can learn more about them such as how often they visit your restaurant, what they use the internet for and for long. While you can’t collect personal data, the data you can collect will be useful to your business in helping to understand your clientele which can help you increase sales.
5. Free Wi-Fi in A Restaurant Helps Promote Your Restaurant
The instagram generation love sharing photos of their fancy food while they check in on Facebook and tag you on Twitter. While they are sharing photos of their food and shouting about their great meal with you, they’re promoting your restaurant for free. You can increase this by running competitions of where a photo shared on social media will be picked each week to win a free meal. You are then ‘nudging’ your guest to share their photos on social media as they will want to win a free meal.