Why Your Mall Or Retail Space May Not Be So Hot
I was visiting a beautiful mall in downtown Charleston, West Virginia this summer. It had some great anchor stores, many small chain stores, boutiques and the food court. The mall was clean, well lit and people were moving around. But this mall like many retail spaces was not so hot. Since they were not hot those retailers lost business. Dollars walked out of the mall that might have stayed. The worst part of it is that they could have been hot for just a few dollars a month.
There was no wireless internet hot spot in the mall. The mall was not hot.
My wife and I are the traditional couple when it comes to shopping. Im the hunter who will know what big game Im after run in bag it and get out before I am eaten by the great mall dragon. We all know instinctively that somewhere in the mall sleeps a dragon ready to destroy any man who stays too long in the mall.
When my wife approaches shopping, she uses the traditional gatherer skills handed down from our ancestors. She carefully surveys the area and then takes time to look at each item of interest to be sure it will be what the family needs or wants or imagines it needs or wants but I digress She does find great bargains and interesting items that makes our home and life much more interesting. The biggest surprise to hunters like myself she loves doing it. She does not fear the sleeping mall dragon.
This creates an obvious problem whenever we both are at a mall together at the same time. I would like to dart in and dart out. She would just like to dart in Successful married couples handle this in different ways. Some men just dont go. Others will wait in sweltering heat in the car in hope of a ballgame or talk show on the radio. Some will even enter the mall and sit ever so still on the blessed mall benches appearing to be in some kind of trance. The do not move they just sit silently like mall monks doing penance for the many grievous errors from their youth. The less skilled will move back and forth on their bench making all sorts of sounds and deep utterances the pain of the moment allowing them to perhaps wake the mall dragon. The most foolhardy men will actually accompany their wives into the stores. These brave fools might try to hurry their spouse along and risk the wrath of their wife. Or they will clench their fists and teeth as they admire the various items held up for their approval.
But there is a third way. Sadly, this fine mall in that beautiful city nestled between the mountains on the Kanawha River missed it. All they needed was a hot spot.
A hot spot is a place that will allow people with wireless devices like their laptop computer to access the internet through a wireless network. Shoppers with wireless devices then can check their email, surf the internet or do other tasks that are part of the wireless world. The cost to set this up in equipment like the Linksys SpeedBooster Wireless Router is about US$100 for a wireless router (you can also add an eight inch booster antennae to increase the range and strength of your signal) plus the cost of having cable internet or other internet connection to the router. Depending on your area this high speed connection might be up to $50 per month. So for a small investment to set-up and a small monthly cost you have changed to nature of shopping at your mall.
Now men like me can sit down and connect to the outside world while my spouse continues the important work of gathering throughout the mall. I no longer feel the rush of time since I have enter a magical zone in the mall that will transport me around the world, to my office or business or to chat with friends or colleagues online. In this hot zone we even lose our fear of the mall dragons.
Without the pressure from me my wife is free to shop longer without hearing across the mall the painful shrugs and sighs of the tortured husband waiting uncomfortably for her return. This means more dollars for the mall merchants. This means more dollars for the mall owners. This also means that these customers will come back more often since it was such a happy experience.
Hotel chains and some restaurants have figured out the value of high speed internet access. Most of these have gone wireless since more and more devices come with wireless connections on board.
Many chains like Starbucks have chosen to become hot spots. It is a natural connection between sitting and drinking coffee while checking your email. Some other store owners have recognized that if you can get a spouse to stick to their store their partner is likely to shop there as well. Food courts are another natural place in a mall setting to have wireless so people can eat and surf at the same time.
I think it is important to have these kind of wireless connections to be password free. This kind of public network should not share connection to your business computers or files. It should be only for the public and therefore to make it simple keep it easy to log-on without needing a password.
Yet even today, you can go to many well established malls that spend huge amounts of money on advertising and marketing to bring in customer traffic do not have a wireless solution. What is truly amazing is how many stores that have wireless in their name do not have a hot spot for wireless users to use. We believe in wireless we just have no way for you to use it here thats a great marketing message.
If you are a mall owner, the marketing manager of your mall or other retail space or a mall merchant - make sure you have a hot spot for your customers to gather. Perhaps your business is a perfect mate to have a wireless option for your hunters to use while they are buying something from your business.
Add some heat to your retail space. In this competitive world of big box stores and boutiques that are challenging the traditional mall environments you need every advantage. Make sure you're a hot place to be. Youll keep more of those hunter and gatherer dollars in the mall rather than down the street. Who knows we hunters might even begin to enjoy the mall. Well perhaps we won't go that far
Grant D. Fairley is a graduate of Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL. He is an IBM Business Partner and is a principal presenter with Strategic Seminars http://www.strategic-seminars.com He is the author of several books available through http://www.palantir-publishing.com
posted by gcpdt @ 11:51 AM
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