Lifestyle fashion brand to provide mobile internet access, including via Wi-Fi enabled store devices
Ted Baker has signed a deal with The Cloud, the public access Wi-Fi provider, to install wireless internet networks in its 38 stores across the UK and Ireland.
The deal follows a trial of Cloud Wi-Fi in three Ted Baker stores during October, when the retailer asked leading fashion bloggers to photograph customers trying on some of its Autumn/Winter collection, with the photos then uploaded via Instagram to its Facebook page, where fans could vote on them.
Encouraging customer participation
Ted Baker has also run a large-scale, instore competition based on Quick Response (QR) codes for customers to win weekend breaks via their smartphones and on a specially created microsite.
The retailers also plans to install Wi-Fi enabled tablet devices in its stores so customers can browse its online store and order items not currently in stock at that physical outlet, as well as having the chance to watch brand videos and additional interactive brand content.
Craig Smith, brand communications director at Ted Baker, said: “Our ambition is to do nothing less than revolutionise our instore shopping experience, and we feel that Wi-Fi is integral to achieving this and exceeding consumers’ expectations of what a fashion store can be.
Vital to serve changing customer habits
“People expect fast internet access wherever they go nowadays, including when they are browsing around shops and they use it almost instinctively to research purchases or connect with friends for recommendations and endorsement through social networks.
"After trialling Wi-Fi it became clear to us that this technology is vital to serve the changing ways customers behave and has huge benefits for us as a marketing and engagement tool.”
While The Cloud continues to expand its Wi-Fi customer base beyond food service retailers with this deal, BT Openzone also recently signed up department store retailer John Lewis and House of Fraser announced a similar deal with O2 Media.
