UK shopping centre owner Land Securities’ new wifi initiative, revealed last week, seemed like a controversial move on first sight.
The owner of centres including Cabot Circus in Bristol and Cardiff’s St David’s centre is to offer free wi-fi access to shoppers in its 22 centres. While this is obviously good news for customers, surely bricks and mortar retailers won’t stand to benefit?
Shoppers walking into stores, eyeing products then going online to see if they can get them cheaper elsewhere makes the high rents that retailers pay unsustainable. And it is arguably particularly galling for the retailer that its own landlord is providing the internet access – for free.
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(Source: Retail Week )