SPAR Nigeria flags off free wifi service in stores

SPAR Nigeria, a leading chain of hypermarket stores, has taken its service delivery a notch higher with the introduction of free Wi-Fi in its stores across the nation.

The ongoing project, which was launched on January 18, 2018 began its pilot debut at the Ilupeju branch of the hypermarket and will be implemented subsequently across other SPAR stores nationwide.

The free Wi-Fi service is being rolled out using KonneXion Wi-Fiengine in partnership with Internet Solutions Nigeria Limited (ISN) and Melvic Gold Communications (MGC) who have ensured that service will be available to any shopper using a smartphone, tablet or a laptop that has built-in Wi-Fi.

At the launch, SPAR’s spokesperson, Mr. John Goldsmith, said: “The Free Wi-Fi service is in line with our shopper expectation and it will add joy to their shopping experience. The Wi-Fi routers are placed in strategic locations inside the store so that shoppers can enjoy a seamless browsing experience in every corner of the store.

“We have done an extensive heat mapping of the shopper flow inside our stores and identified the best locations to deploy the routers. As it happens in all product and service launches, we too will go through a learning phase which will help us fine-tune service to deliver superior connectivity for all our shoppers,” he said.

Goldsmith noted that shoppers would need to complete a one-time registration with their email ID after which they will be able to use a maximum of 30 minutes of the free Wi-Fi daily. He disclosed that shoppers can come everyday and use the free Wi-Fi for 30 minutes, which according to him, is a fair approximation to time spent in the store.

According to Internet Solutions’ Chief Innovation Officer, Mr. Tosin Odunlami, this partnership is a welcome development because it will bring our company closer to the people. He noted that shoppers could look forward to seamless Wi-Fi experience on our platform, while shopping at all SPAR stores across the country.

“One of the core pillars of SPAR is customer service and free Wi-Fi is one of the must-haves for today’s aspiring customer in a modern retail store. In Africa’s emerging economy, free Wi-Fi is one of such value-added services that shoppers, especially the youth segment looks for in any shopping location.