Andrea Calcagno, President, CEO & Co-founder “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.” These words of Steve Jobs act as the cornerstone for creating great customer experiences, especially in industries as competitive as retail. This is where Cloud4Wi, a California-based company, makes an impact by enabling retailers to uncover opportunities to better engage clients by analyzing their behavior. “Since the beginning, retailers were missing a huge opportunity to connect with their customers by leveraging their WiFi infrastructures to better understand and engage them,” says Andrea Calcagno, president, CEO and co-founder, Cloud4Wi.
In today’s cut-throat scenario where retailers strive to stay ahead of the game, delivering personalized and relevant experiences is the way ahead. Cloud4Wi’s product suite—comprising Volare Splash, Volare Spaces, and Volare Compass—enables retailers to create rich experiences by providing WiFi access to customers visiting stores, analyze how they behave in the store, and personally connect with them in real time. The company provides retailers visibility into location analytics and location-based marketing using wireless network across multiple stores.
Volare Splash is the only enterprise guest WiFi solution designed to offer secure WiFi through a quick and easy login, in compliance with privacy regulations such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Volare Spaces further enables retailers to analyze customers’ location data through WiFi and BLE networks across multiple locations to make informed marketing decisions. With this solution, organizations can measure the footfall in various stores and get accurate details in terms of in-store behavior. Volare Compass, on the other hand, enables retailers to collect and manage the identity of their visitors, in compliance with GDPR. Compass helps analyze the behavior of identified visitors in stores, in real time, to aid location-based marketing.
Retailers are seeking ways to better understand and engage in-store customers and to grow their revenue. Cloud4Wi leverages their existing wireless networks and provides immediate results
Cloud4Wi also brings to the table a cost-effective cloud-based device— Volare Sense—which combines WiFi and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) to deliver intelligent applications on top of Cloud4Wi’s product suite. Volare Sense is a plug-and-play device which retailers with a legacy guest WiFi can use to learn more about their customers.
One of Cloud4Wi’s unique aspects lies in the fact that its product portfolio was developed from the ground up with manageability and scalability at its core to address the challenging IT requirements. These capabilities combined with Cloud4Wi’s expertise in location services have enabled it to build a client base comprising leading retail brands. One of these clients is The Prada Group, a world leader in the luxury goods sector. They deployed Cloud4Wi’s product suite across their 500 stores worldwide. The client thereafter facilitated internet connectivity across these stores, which resulted in a dramatic boost in customer satisfaction, as shoppers were excited to share new purchases and shopping experiences with friends and family on social media. It enabled The Prada Group to gain visibility into the in-store behavior of their customers, which further enabled them to personalize the customer experience using both human and digital touch. By embracing Cloud4Wi’s product suite, The Prada Group will also be able to notify sales associates about a repeat shopper walking into the store so that they can focus more on such customers.
Cloud4Wi has numerous such success stories to its name and has already rolled out its offerings in 80 countries, demonstrating the ability to provide a quick, intuitive sign-on for customers. Having recently closed a $11.5 million Series B financing round, bringing the total investment in the company to $15.5 million, Cloud4Wi will direct its efforts toward product development and boosting its sales and marketing. Cloud4Wi is also keen on developing its global channel partner network and enhancing machine learning expertise to address the growing market needs.
