08/12/11
By Karen Moss
Ted Baker has signed a deal with The Cloud, the public access WiFi provider, to install WiFi in its 38 stores across the UK and Ireland. The deal follows a trial of Cloud WiFi 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.
The photos were then uploaded via Instagram to its Facebook page, where fans could vote on them. Ted Baker has also run a large-scale, in-store QR code-based competition for customers to win weekend breaks via their smartphones and on a specially created microsite.
Ted Baker plans to install WiFi-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 communication director at Ted Baker, said: “Our ambition is to do nothing less than revolutionise our in-store shopping experience, and we feel that WiFi is integral to achieving this and exceeding consumers’ expectations of what a fashion store can be.
“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 WiFi 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.”