Caffissimo, which operates 11 cafes throughout Perth and will soon open a further two, has been trialling WiFi technology at its West Perth store and, based on the success so far, has started installation at other venues.
Caffissimo proprietor Mike Barr said he agreed to a trial with Optus last year, and the experiment had so far proved successful.
“It’s good for us,” Mr Barr said. “Optus pay for the cost of setting it up and it doesn’t cost us anything, but it gives us a point of difference in the business.”
Mr Barr said while it was difficult to determine if people stayed longer in the café because of the WiFi service, and therefore ordering more coffees, it was a product that made the cafe a more attractive option to visit.
“I don’t know if people are staying longer but they might choose to come to us over another cafe because we do have the facility,” he said.
Mr Barr said customers at his West Perth store frequently used their laptops to log-on to the Internet, with this technology to be used in Caffissimo’s three newest stores.
“We’ve put it in our Fremantle store [opened last week]. It will be in the ABC studios site and the Art Gallery site,” he said.
Some of Caffissimo’s outlets are at the bottom of St Georges Terrace office towers.
Installing the technology at these locations was more difficult because the WiFi often conflicted with existing platforms used in the buildings, Mr Barr said.