Customers are increasingly choosing to visit retailers based on whether free Internet access is available in store. Providing WiFi access doesn’t just attract more customers. It provides retailers with an opportunity to communicate new sales initiatives to customers and allows valuable information to be gathered on what customers do inside stores. Monitoring the websites accessed by customers also allows retailers to gain a valuable insight into customer behavior.
Retailers are increasingly offering free WiFi in-store to attract more customers, but providing access to the Internet in-store carries risks. If customers have free, unfettered access to the Internet they would be able to access inappropriate content, accidentally download malware or use the connection for illegal file downloads.
Retailers can gain huge benefits from offering customers free access to WiFi network, but without security solutions to mitigate risk, the offer of free WiFi can backfire. A web content WiFi filter for public hotspots is now essential.
Selfridges understands the benefits of providing free WiFi access to customers, but also the risks. If WiFi was to be provided in-store, it would need to be secure to prevent customers from installing malware or accessing phishing websites
Selfridges also needed protection from legal liability. Steps therefore needed to be taken to prevent customers from accessing inappropriate website content in store and to stop minors from accessing adult content.
Selfridges prides itself on providing high quality products and customer service, so it was important to ensure for its WiFi service to reflect the stores values. Alisdair Morison, IT manager at Selfridges, said “We had to ensure that guests could not access malicious sites or to view inappropriate content while in the store.”
In the case of inappropriate website content, the risks are considerable. Morison said, “We knew that if a guest accessed porn on the WiFi connection and a child or other person could inadvertently view that screen, we would be legally liable.” The same applies to illegal file downloads via its WiFi network.
Choosing a solution posed a number of challenges. Selfridges has a small, but busy IT department so a web filtering solution needed to have a small administrative burden. Technical staff are not present in each store so it was important that the solution could be managed remotely for all four locations without the need for any site visits.
Selfridges contacted TitanHQ and chose WebTitan Cloud for WiFi. “We looked at a bunch of solutions. I was really taken aback by the price point, features and functionality we were going to get with WebTitan WiFi,” said Morison, “Other solutions didn’t have all the features and functionalities we wanted; they could do some of what we now do with WebTitan WiFi, but at a higher cost.”
The solution was set up in less than half a day and the IT team can manage the solution remotely and monitor WiFi connections. All four locations are managed through a central administration management console. All that was required to get started was to add the company’s external IP address to the GUI, update DNS forwarders and set the filtering controls.
Selfridges now blocks pornography, illegal activities such as file sharing and activities that are ethically or legally questionable. The WiFi network is child-friendly, so parents need not worry about the content that their children can access in-store. The WiFi network can be used safely and securely by all its 200 million annual visitors, with both Selfridges and its customers gaining benefits from in-store WiFi.
If you want to carefully control the activities of individuals when connected to your WiFi network and make your WiFi service family-friendly, get in touch with TitanHQ today.
Key Benefits of WebTitan Cloud for WiFi:
- Filter the Internet across multiple WiFi hotspots
- Manage access points through a single web-based administration panel
- Delegate management of access points
- Filter by website, website category, keyword term, or keyword score
- Block material contained in the child abuse image content URL list (CAIC List)
- Upload blacklists and create whitelists
- Reduce the risk of phishing attacks
- Block malware and ransomware downloads
- Inspect encrypted websites with SSL certificates
- Schedule and run reports on demand
- Gain a real-time view of internet activity
- Gain insights into bandwidth use and restrict activities to conserve bandwidth
- Integrate the solution into existing systems through a suite of APIs
- Apply time-based filtering controls
- World class customer service
- Highly competitive pricing and a fully transparent pricing policy