Why Wi-Fi Analytics Is a Critical Business Tool in Hospitality and Retail

Why Wi-Fi Analytics Is a Critical Business Tool in Hospitality and Retail

Reliable guest Wi-Fi has become a standard expectation for people visiting retail stores, hotels, restaurants, banks, office buildings and other commercial spaces. Customers expect to be able to research products, read reviews and share information. Guest Wi-Fi also creates opportunities for organizations to communicate with customers and deliver personalized offers. Not only does guest Wi-Fi enhance the customer experience, but it can influence purchasing decisions and loyalty. Guest Wi-Fi can also create security headaches, but that’s a conversation for our next post.

Many organizations, however, overlook opportunities to use guest Wi-Fi to collect data about the devices and users that connect to the network. Wi-Fi analytics makes it possible to gain insights from this information and make better business decisions by tracking device location, user movement and behavior, connection frequency, signal strength and other metrics.

Wi-Fi analytics has a number of subsets, including presence analytics, which uses access point probes to detect devices near a hotspot. Because these probes can detect any device in the area, including those that aren’t connected to the network, organizations can use presence analytics to estimate foot traffic based on Wi-Fi signals. Location analytics helps organizations optimize a physical space by analyzing user movement, while social Wi-Fi can be combined with analytics data to better understand users based on their social media accounts.

Wi-Fi analytics delivers valuable insights for any organization with a physical space, but companies in the retail and hospitality sector should view Wi-Fi and the data it provides as critical business assets.

In retail, Wi-Fi analytics goes far beyond counting customers and capturing transactional data from point-of-sales systems. Retailers can use Wi-Fi analytics to better understand the customer’s entire visit – how they move through the store, where they spend the most time, what they buy, and how often they return. And retailers can collect and analyze this information without requiring customers to download an app. These insights enable retailers to improve sales and operational efficiency by adjusting layouts, merchandising and staffing based on customer behavior.

Wi-Fi analytics is also creating new opportunities for hotels to create personalized guest experiences. The fact that Wi-Fi is the most desired hotel amenity by travelers has been well-documented. That means hotel operators need to offer reliable, high-performance Wi-Fi and use that connectivity to better understand guests. How much data do they use? What apps do they use? How long do they wait in line at check-in? When is traffic at restaurants, pools, gift shops, etc. the heaviest?

WatchGuard offers a secure guest Wi-Fi solution thatuses Wi-Fi Cloud business-driven analytics to provide insights into user presence and behavior. By analyzing metrics such as footfall, dwell time and conversions through a customizable dashboard, you can optimize displays and promotions throughout the building and develop more effective push marketing campaigns via email, text and social media. WatchGuard guest Wi-Fi also integrates with social networks and allows you to create engaging splash pages without web development or coding skills.

Guest Wi-Fi isn’t just about keeping customers happy. Let us show you how Wi-Fi analytics provides actionable insights that deliver measurable benefits to your organization.


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