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Starbucks Offering Free, No Registration Wi-Fi At All U.S. Locations Starting July 1
Many coffee shops try to discourage people from buying a cup of coffee and then lingering for hours to use the free wireless Internet access. Starbucks, meanwhile, is encouraging them to stay as long as they want.
Starbucks said on Monday that as of July 1, its stores in the United States would offer free Wi-Fi, via AT&T, that anyone can reach with a single click. In case customers run out of distractions on the Web, Starbucks is giving them even more reason to sit and browse, by offering a variety of digital content through a partnership with Yahoo.
Howard D. Schultz, chief executive of Starbucks, who made the announcement at a conference in New York, described it as a way to bridge the online world and real-world coffee outlets.
Of course, people have been bridging those worlds for years, using coffee shops as pseudo-offices by bringing their laptops and borrowing free Internet connections. But Starbucks has never offered unlimited free Internet access.
Customers who have bought and registered a Starbucks card have been able to access the Web for two hours, after a somewhat complicated log-in process. Cardholders who wanted to use the Web for more than two hours and customers without cards who wanted to use it at all paid $3.99 for a two-hour session.
Starbucks is making the change just as many coffeehouses are experimenting with ways to cut off squatters who browse and do not spend. Some post signs asking people to continue buying food and drinks if they stay, while the more aggressive ones cover their power outlets with tape so people cannot charge their laptops.
Starbucks may be catering to people who are out of work and need a place to perfect their résumés or do freelance jobs. In January, the company announced that same-store sales increased 4 percent after months of steady declines. Starbucks attributes the improvement, which came before consumer spending rebounded as a whole, in part to its role as an office for the unemployed.
Starbucks says that laptop users average an hour of Wi-Fi use in its stores and that it does not expect that to increase significantly. But it is offering people more to do on the Web through the partnership with Yahoo, which is called the Starbucks Digital Network. Customers will get free access to paid sites, like The Wall Street Journal’s Web site, and downloads and other content from sources including iTunes, Zagat and Patch, AOL’s local news site.
This network will be managed by Stephen Gillett, chief information officer at Starbucks and general manager of a business unit called Digital Ventures, which the company created last year.
Source: nytimes.com
Starbucks said on Monday that as of July 1, its stores in the United States would offer free Wi-Fi, via AT&T, that anyone can reach with a single click. In case customers run out of distractions on the Web, Starbucks is giving them even more reason to sit and browse, by offering a variety of digital content through a partnership with Yahoo.
Howard D. Schultz, chief executive of Starbucks, who made the announcement at a conference in New York, described it as a way to bridge the online world and real-world coffee outlets.
Of course, people have been bridging those worlds for years, using coffee shops as pseudo-offices by bringing their laptops and borrowing free Internet connections. But Starbucks has never offered unlimited free Internet access.
Customers who have bought and registered a Starbucks card have been able to access the Web for two hours, after a somewhat complicated log-in process. Cardholders who wanted to use the Web for more than two hours and customers without cards who wanted to use it at all paid $3.99 for a two-hour session.
Starbucks is making the change just as many coffeehouses are experimenting with ways to cut off squatters who browse and do not spend. Some post signs asking people to continue buying food and drinks if they stay, while the more aggressive ones cover their power outlets with tape so people cannot charge their laptops.
Starbucks may be catering to people who are out of work and need a place to perfect their résumés or do freelance jobs. In January, the company announced that same-store sales increased 4 percent after months of steady declines. Starbucks attributes the improvement, which came before consumer spending rebounded as a whole, in part to its role as an office for the unemployed.
Starbucks says that laptop users average an hour of Wi-Fi use in its stores and that it does not expect that to increase significantly. But it is offering people more to do on the Web through the partnership with Yahoo, which is called the Starbucks Digital Network. Customers will get free access to paid sites, like The Wall Street Journal’s Web site, and downloads and other content from sources including iTunes, Zagat and Patch, AOL’s local news site.
This network will be managed by Stephen Gillett, chief information officer at Starbucks and general manager of a business unit called Digital Ventures, which the company created last year.
Source: nytimes.com