WiFi as Hospitality, Retail Value

Now having experienced Wifi in Hospitality since its inception, I recall having a conversation with a Hotel Chain innovation group.  At the time they were unconvinced that Wifi had value, and there too many dangers.    Things have changed and continue to evolve.  Incentivizing repeat business.  Now a days I mostly wander through retailers checking stocking and possible product use, and the Wifi experience could be much better.  They need to make it very clean, and incentivize repeat business and value with the right data.  You are an edge of the retail IOT.  And how about making the edge more intelligent as an assistant?

Wi-Fi Without Reservations   By McCall Bunn in Cisco Blog

Partner Success Story

Providing high-quality Wi-Fi is an IT investment most businesses incur. Customers expect Wi-Fi at every destination. It is crucial to post pictures of appetizers, split checks, and look up the difference between ‘bucatini’ and ‘fettuccini’. It has become a necessity when dining out.

And a large hospitality group, previously known as Batali and Bastianich (B&B), with locations around the world, already knew this. Yet they had a problem offering quality connection in several of their Las Vegas restaurants. And, they were struggling to identify their customers. So, they came to a Cisco Solution Partner iValu8 for help.

B&B agreed to a one-month trial with iValu8 to pilot VivaSpotTM, a marketing campaign platform that runs over Wi-Fi, which then implements Cisco Meraki as the reliable and scalable way to power the solution.

Not only were their customers now able enjoy high-quality Wi-Fi during the trial, but they began to collect customer data to incentivize repeat business, gather feedback, and amplify the hospitality group’s social media presence. They could track the results in real-time and launch campaigns on any device from any location. And, free Wi-Fi became a key marketing assets.

With multiple locations around Las Vegas, VivaSpot also cross-promoted other properties of the hospitality group when customers logged-on to their current Wi-Fi. And the results? An overall increase in spend from customers’ during their stay at all of the properties.

The hospitality group found so much success with the pilot, they’re ordering more. They are bringing Cisco Meraki and iValu8’s VivaSpot to eleven different locations from NYC to LA. Taking the group from a one-month trial to over $100,000 in revenue.  ... "