ATLANTA, March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- EarthLink
Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: ELNK), a leading managed network and cloud
solutions provider for multi-location businesses including hundreds
of national retailers, recently partnered with experts from
research consultants IHL Group and cloud-managed Wi-Fi solutions
provider AirTight Networks to conduct one of the first-ever studies
to measure the impact of the retail industry's plans for store
networking, Wi-Fi, security and engagement. While preliminary
findings were made public in January, the surprising final results
and survey analysis are now available. Click here to download the
complete IHL study, Impact of Store Networks and Wi-Fi on the
Customer Experience.
According to the research, deployment of in-store Wi-Fi had the
most significant positive impact on retail sales and loyalty of any
technology initiative. Almost half of the participating retailers,
representing all retail sizes and types, claimed increased customer
loyalty due to deploying in-store employee Wi-Fi, with an
associated 3.4% increase in sales. One third of retailers (28%)
reported increased customer loyalty due to deploying in-store
customer Wi-Fi, with an associated 2% increase in sales.
These dramatic results point to employee Wi-Fi as an even bigger
positive driver than customer Wi-Fi, and highlight the importance
of a creating a connected, flexible workforce untethered to
point-of-sale stations. 21% of retailers also reported an increase
in customer dwell time in their stores due to deployment of
in-store Wi-Fi. For these same retailers, top uses included traffic
counting at 56% and Session Duration and Device Used at 49%.
Additional key findings include:
- 40% of IT budgets are now allocated to deploying new and
innovative systems, compared to historic measures of 15-30% of
budget.
- Nearly 70% of specialty retailers are designing their next
Point-of-Sale system based on a central order management system,
which will put up to five times more load on the network and will
require a WAN infrastructure refresh
- Per the increased push towards WAN, 34% of participants plan to
update their WAN network security within 12 months, and 34% also
plan to update their WAN bandwidth optimization to take advantage
of changed software architecture and enhanced customer experience
options
"As retailers dramatically upgrade store infrastructures to
create the experience of the future, there is a
tremendous need for increased bandwidth and security, driven by
moving to a single version of the truth for data, mobile
devices in the store, and the accompanying systems," said
Greg Buzek,
IHL. "What also unquestionably emerged from
the study data is the greatest bang for the buck for increased
loyalty and sales is the deployment of
Wi-Fi to store associates for use with mobile devices.
This allows them to get more item information and save sales
otherwise lost as well as replicate the experience of their best
salespeople across the chain. Subsequently many retail segments see
further growth by offering Wi-Fi to customers. Smart
retailers are racing to upgrade their stores to take full
advantage of the opportunities."
Greg Griffiths, Vice President of
Product Marketing, EarthLink, remarked, "Now that we've released
the final study analysis, retailers can use this valuable
information as a benchmark to compare where they are versus peers
and work towards developing an ROI for new applications."
"The IHL report shows that savvy retailers are already seeing
revenue increases from deploying in-store Wi-Fi, be it for
employees or customers. Increasing same store sales is a team goal,
and that's where IT and marketing can both draw on the IHL's
research data to justify the Wi-Fi investment," said Kevin McCauley, Director of Retail Market
Development, AirTight Networks.
About EarthLink
EarthLink (EarthLink Holdings Corp.,
NASDAQ: ELNK) provides managed network, security and cloud
solutions for multi-location businesses. We help thousands of
specialty retailers, restaurants, financial institutions,
healthcare providers, professional service firms and local
governments deliver a reliable and engaging customer experience in
their stores and branch offices. We do so by building and managing
MPLS WAN networks, by providing virtualized infrastructure,
security, hosted voice, secure Wi-Fi and compliance solutions, and
by offering exceptional customer care. We operate a nationwide
network spanning more than 28,000 fiber route miles, with 90 metro
fiber rings and secure data centers that provide ubiquitous data
and voice IP service coverage. Our EarthLink Carrier®
division sells facilities-based wholesale telecommunications to
other providers and our award-winning Internet services connect
hundreds of thousands of residential customers across the U.S. For
more, visit www.earthlink.com and follow @earthlink, LinkedIn and
Google+.
About AirTight Networks
AirTight Networks is the global leader in comprehensive cloud Wi-Fi
solutions. The company's award-winning family of products and cloud
services combines a true carrier-class multitenant cloud
architecture with breakthroughs in Wi-Fi location, user analytics,
social engagement, manageability, ease of deployment, and cost
effectiveness, as well as AirTight's longtime top-rated WIPS
technology. AirTight's global customer base includes leading
enterprises in the government, financial, technology/telecom,
manufacturing, health care, retail, and hospitality sectors. For
more information, please visit us
at: www.airtightnetworks.com, or follow us @AirTight
About IHL Group
IHL Group is a global research and
advisory firm headquartered in Franklin,
Tennessee that provides market analysis and business
consulting services for retailers and information technology
companies that focus on the retail industry. For more information,
visit www.ihlservices.com, call +1.615.591.2955 or email
ihl@ihlservices.com.
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SOURCE EarthLink Holdings Corp.