Do you ever feel the guilt-stare from a barista as you’re sitting in a cafe enjoying its free wireless? The cheapest patrons will nurse a coffee for three hours, while many will cave at the rate of roughly one beverage (or baked good) per hour.
Rather than guilting e-freeloaders (which puts strain on customer-barista relations), some cafes ban laptops or charge for internet access. But according to one study, that’s a bad business move.
A Dutch cafe has taken a sort of middle ground. Its baristas don’t pressure patrons to spend more, and its internet is still free. But the cafe frequently changes the name of its wireless network to things like:
BuyAnotherCupYouCheapskate
HaveYouTriedCoffeeCake?
BuyaLargeLatterGetBrownieForFree
Would this annoy you or perhaps make you laugh and buy another brownie?
What is proper etiquette as far as how much you should spend at a café while using its free internet?
Here’s another café-laptop dilemma: what do you do with your laptop when you have to use the restroom?
(Hat tip: Mike M.)
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I would think that full tables all day long projects an image of a busy cafe, which, in turn, draws in even more customers.
I think they should make their money on the wifi and give the coffee away for free to wifi customers. That would make the whole visit tax-deductible.
That’s very clever. If I were in the coffee shop, I would definitely go buy another cup o’ joe and maybe even suggest a few wireless networks of my own.
And while you’re signed onto, “BuyAnotherCupYouCheapskate,” check out “A Coffee Tale” at http://www.financialtales.com
By the way, congratulations, you know Freakonomics was mentioned on Boston Legal a few days ago, right? Very cool.
This isn’t a long-term useful strategy. It would be funny at first, but I would quickly get used to it and then it would start to sound like the cafe was calling me a name. Imagine if a waiter called a customer cheapskate even in jest. It wouldn’t be very funny.
There is a solution for the store owner that I rarely see implemented. There are a few companies that have hardware and software solutions for internet hot spots. One of my favorites is running banner ads on the screen and adding other advertising. The stores can provide the internet for free and collect additional revenue. If you want to check your email, you probably won’t mind.
I would be tempted to do this:
Have two wireless networks.
Change the password on alternate hours
Display the passwords and when each expires beside the till.
That way you get at least an hour of free wi-fi before you have to go back to the till to get the latest password (which is less awkward if you’re also getting a refill)
I’ve seen a number of cafe’s in our area close off wiFI during Lunch when the tables are need and then back on after the lunch period. This seems reasonable as it allows for the allocation of tables based on cost to the owner. It encourages people to stay for lunch so they can get back on line after and fills tables off peak which gives the appearance of a thriving location encouraging more foot traffic off peak.
Wi-fi is a sunken cost to the cafe’ and a flat cost per month (very inexpensive for them, too). So the only real issue would be if the tables are full and you are taking space away from newer customers, or if you don’t tip at all. Tipping a couple dollars for a few hours of wi-fi when there is plenty of space is very reasonable.