Starbucks has given customers more of a reason to linger around in its stores: Free Wi-Fi access in its more than 17,000 US stores. They finally get it!
Independent coffee shops have long offered free Wi-Fi and evenMcDonalds and Dunkin Donuts now have this service as well.
Starbucks is now playing catch up in attempt to go back to their principle of being the Third Place for its customers. Howard Schultz, chief executive of Starbucks, described it as "a way to bridge the online world and real-world coffee outlets. Most of us have used a coffee shop as a virtual office or to meet clients, using a combination of our trusty laptops, free Internet and a cup of good java. Having free Wi-Fi at Starbucks gives all of us road warriors, students or those looking for a short escape and a portal to the internet another great choice."
However, don’t think for one moment Dunkin Donuts or McDonalds will stand still… watch for more innovations with those two competitors in the near future. What might they be? How about interesting downloadable apps? What else has Starbucks "up their sleeves" in the digital domain? One can only imagine.
