Coffee shop operator's dilemma: whether or not to provide WiFi services to customers

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As coffee shop operators, they generally face a difficult problem, that is, whether they should provide WiFi services to customers or not. In my opinion, every cafe should offer WiFi, but before you buy a router, you must carefully analyze the pros and cons of WiFi. If you have not decided whether to provide WiFi, this article will give you a detailed analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of WiFi services; if you have already started to provide free WiFi services, this article will explain how to use WiFi to further provide the overall service level of cafes, and how to avoid the trouble caused by WiFi services.

1. Is WiFi really necessary?

The younger generation "eats" with their eyes every day; business people need to check email anytime, anywhere; and students need to upload their homework to the school website. All in all, everyone needs a free public WiFi. Although everyone's mobile phone has the ability to surf the Internet, the traffic is paid and WiFi is free.

What benefits can WiFi bring to you? With WiFi, customers can take photos in your store at any time and post them on WeChat moments to Weibo. With WiFi, customers who can't leave the Internet will often visit your coffee shop to build up popularity. With WiFi, students will do their homework in the coffee shop for hours, half a day or even the whole day. When they are hungry, they will order something in the cafe, and when they are tired, have a cup of coffee to refresh themselves. Even for customers who take a nap in a cafe, WiFi can improve their consumer experience and customer satisfaction.

two。 How to use WiFi well

1) separate the public WiFi from the working WiFi

Although WiFi can bring many benefits to cafes, there are still great security risks in public networks, especially when customers and clerks share the same network. Although buying one less router can save you some money, over time, more and more people come and go in the cafe, and the company's confidential documents and internal data are easy to be attacked by hackers. Also, do not mix the public network with the cashier and sales network to avoid the theft of customers' personal information.

2) invite professionals to help you build the network

In order to maximize the security of business and customer personal information, it is best to hire professionals to help you set up a network system, help you build a firewall, and shield bad information and unknown users. At the same time, the router must be placed in the open area to prevent the signal from being weakened.

3) about the bandwidth problem

Once you have decided to provide WiFi services to your customers, the next step is to consider the bandwidth of the network. As we all know, the bandwidth determines the network speed, and when the network speed is high, customers can surf the Internet without hindrance. Free WiFi is good, but no one wants to use WiFi that is too slow. The principle for determining the bandwidth is that under the premise of normal Internet access for customers, the Internet speed enjoyed by every 10 people should not be less than 10Mb/s. In other words, if there are 15 people surfing the Internet at the same time, your Internet speed must be above 1.8Mb/s; if there are 50 people surfing the Internet at the same time, your Internet speed must be guaranteed at 6Mb/s. Determine the bandwidth of your WiFi based on your own customer traffic and with reference to the Internet speed of nearby cafes or restaurants.

4) about the secret question

Another way to protect network security is to set the customer WiFi password. To post or write the password in a conspicuous place, you can also write the password on the shopping receipt to stimulate consumption. In addition, be sure to change your user name and password on a regular basis.

5) on the problem of network time limit

If the average queuing time for customers is more than 40 minutes, then WiFi will cause you trouble. If there is a free WiFi, customers are more willing to wait than leave, which will lead to longer and longer queues, more and more people occupying the network, and more workload for you and your employees. Adding network restrictions, such as network time limits, is one of the most effective ways to solve the above problems. In this way, only customers who eat in the store can enjoy free service, while those who wait too long will leave on their own.

3. Disadvantages of WiFi

If you run a cafe that focuses on product quality and sensory experience, WiFi is likely to become a major obstacle for customers to enjoy the quality of their products. For ordinary hotels and fast food restaurants, WiFi is part of the customer experience; for you, WiFi is a bit redundant. When you explain the taste characteristics of a certain coffee to the customer in detail, the customer always wants you to ask for the WiFi password, so that the interaction with the customer will be gone, and your carefully prepared coffee will not be visited. Therefore, we must adjust measures to local conditions and make good use of WiFi services according to our own actual business conditions and business philosophy.

4. Conclusion

Generally speaking, WiFi is one of the important tools for you to attract customers' attention and improve your service level. When using WiFi, remember to separate the public network from the work network, set up a user name and password and change it regularly, and choose the right bandwidth. Only in this way can your coffee shop prosper!

If you were the owner of a coffee shop, would you install wifi for your own shop?