Aerohive Wi-Fi Adds New Value By Adding Analytics

There are few greater words in the English language than “Free Wi-Fi.” Representing the open access of a wider world of information and entertainment at no charge, this prospect is actually enough to change buying decisions for some people.

That’s a development one shopping mall in New Zealand—and potentially many more to follow—is counting on with the arrival of Aerohive’s free Wi-Fi, that makes itself a value by adding analytics.

At the NorthWest Shopping Center in Auckland, free Wi-Fi is on hand from the folks at Aerohive, giving customers access to the world of online information while shopping in a physical store, thus splitting the ultimate difference and offering physical store speed while offering online value and extra information.

While many consider this table stakes for a shopping mall these days, it’s becoming increasingly clear that getting extra value out of the mall Wi-Fi is likewise becoming just as important.

Thus the Aerohive system offers analytics systems, taking the information that customers are piping through it—the various websites visited, what people look at on said websites, and so on—to better tailor an experience, both online and offline to user tastes.

For instance, the connection can tell where in a store a shopper is, and thus correlate that to what might be in that part of a store for customers to look at.

Maybe a particularly noteworthy display is in the offing, or customers are drawn to a specifc deal. Maybe customers favor a particular brand or a type of offering, and with that knowledge, businesses can adjust accordingly.

While there will definitely be some customers put off by this—being followed around a store by a Wi-Fi connection smacks of dystopia—there will be plenty who likely welcome the new if slightly intrusive connection as a way to add value.

If a customer perceives there’s value involved, then being followed around and essentially snooped on means a lot less than without that added value.

Shoppers find value in that online connection to better aid shopping, and by using that same connection to improve a physical store experience, stores are finding just as much value in that connection as the shoppers themselves are.