Amusing Web: Tesco set to offer free WiFi to aid tech-savvy customers use their smartphones in the aisles

Monday, July 25, 2011

Tesco set to offer free WiFi to aid tech-savvy customers use their smartphones in the aisles

Last updated at 2:51 PM on 25th July 2011

Tesco are to become the first supermarket chain in the UK to offer free wi-fi to their customers, allowing them to browse the Internet on their smartphones while they shop.

The retail giants will supply the service - which offers wireless internet access to smartphone users and those with laptops - in a bid to keep up with its customers' changing shopping habits and breathe new life into its business under new chief executive Philip Clarke.

The move will allow customers to compare prices with other retailers and also browse product reviews online as they are doing their shopping.

Surfing shoppers: Tesco is currently testing a scheme which will allow them to give customers access to free wi-fi

According to the Financial Times it is being trialled in four of the chain's 2,700 UK branches, but could be rolled out quickly across the country if it proves popular.

Tesco's chief information officer Mike McNamara told the paper that consumers were already using mobile technology to check Tesco's prices against those of other stores.

'You can stand there Canute-like and pretend nothing is happening...or you can say it's happening, and I am going to help it happen,' he said. 'My guess is it will go to all stores.'

Price checking: Smartphone users will be able to log on and check prices and product reviews while they shop

Mr McNamara added that the service would be easy to implement since Tesco uses wi-fi in its own instore operations - but he also offered a note of caution to customers, saying, 'if you sit there streaming video all day we may switch it off.'

The chain will become the first big U.K retailer to offer free wi-fi to its customers, following in the footsteps of several major U.S chains.

These include the members-only retail warehouse Sam's Club, which is owned by the world's biggest retailer Walmart - although Walmart itself does not offer wi-fi to its customers.

Currently U.S chains such as Starbucks and McDonalds offer wi-fi 'hotspots' at many of their U.K locations - but Colin Jeffrey, a director at Deloitte, told the Financial Times it would only be a matter of time before retailers followed suit.

'It's almost taken for granted in coffee shops and hotels now,' he said. 'Retailers are going to have to move quickly to meet the basic expectations of customers.'

A spokesperson for Tesco confirmed to MailOnline that the wi-fi scheme was being tested but said the company had no further comment to make.