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. I’m the hunter who will know what
big game I’m 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 don’t 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… that’s 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. You’ll 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
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