Telstra has launched Air Merchant, a solution that enables small businesses to easily set up a guest Wi-Fi service, promote tailored offers and learn more about their customers’ preferences.
Air Merchant was designed on the back of research conducted by Telstra that showed access to free Wi-Fi is a key factor for customers when choosing between two similar businesses:
- 66 per cent of respondents said they wanted free Wi-Fi from businesses such as cafes and pharmacies, with the number jumping to over 80 percent for 18-24 year olds.
- Over 57 per cent of 18-44 year-olds said guest Wi-Fi would factor in their decision making when choosing between two similar businesses.
Air Merchant has been designed with customer-facing small businesses in mind – particularly those where customers are likely to experience waiting for a service such as cafés, restaurants, hairdressers, car washers and doctors’ or dentists’ surgeries.
Alongside guest Wi-Fi it offers a customisable splash page and the ability for small businesses to gather insights into their customers with their consent – either through a social media login or via a customisable login survey. Using these insights, small-business owners can learn how their customers like to be communicated with, and what their preferences are, and tailor their services and run campaigns accordingly.
Telstra’s Executive Director Small Business, Brendan Donohoe, said Wi-Fi was increasingly a service that customers expected when visiting businesses.
“Telstra Air Merchant helps small businesses meet this customer expectation, as well as providing new ways for them to attract more customers, understand their preferences and engaging with them in a more personalised way,” Donohoe said.
“The solution allows small-business owners to create their own branded welcome page for their customers. It’s a really simple way to create a professional look and feel that was once only available to much bigger business with more resources.
“In designing the solution we listened to our customers who told us they want simple plug and play technology. So, we’ve made Telstra Air Merchant easy to self-install – you open the box, plug it in to the power and your modem and connect. It’s that easy,” he added.
Sarah Holloway, co-founder of St Kilda café Matcha Mylkbar trialled the solution.
“One of the biggest barriers to rolling out new things is the difficulty of set-up, but the team had this up and running for us in less than a few hours,” Ms Holloway said.
“We’ve traditionally been hesitant about offering free Wi-Fi due to the high volumes and wait times at our venue, so Telstra Air Merchant has been perfect in offering the ability to limit session time. With that concern easily allayed, it’s a no-brainer really – you can offer something valuable to your existing customers while also getting to know them more at the same time. We haven’t had a chance to play around with all the options yet, but there are lots of customisation functions that we’re excited to try out.”
