Ten local pubs have signed up to the Robinsons Brewery wi-fi hotspot scheme in the past year.
The scheme, in partnership with EvolveODM, AB InBev and Diageo, has received over 850,000 connections and 65,000 unique users within the first 12 months.
The wi-fi, which is offered to all pubs within Robinsons estate, has so far been taken up by 82 pubs with the vision to roll out to every site without secure, legally compliant Wi-Fi within the brewery’s 300 strong estate.
The local pubs signed up are: Bulls Head, Stockport; Church Inn, Cheadle Hulme; Duke Of York, Stockport; Farmers Arms, Poynton; Friendship Inn, Great Moor; Queens Arms, Cheadle; The Blossoms, Stockport; Royal Scot, Marple Bridge; The Hatters Arms, Marple; and The Three Tunnes, Hazel Grove.
The Robinsons Visitors Centre in Stockport town centre also uses the hotspot.
David Bremner, Director of Marketing for Robinsons Brewery, said: “Whilst there are several other legal wi-fi solutions out there, what is fantastic about Evolve is that we get to customise every step of the user experience from log-in pages to advertising a promotion or event specific to the pub.
“Our pubs also get the details of our customers – including gender, age and time spent at the pub – to further improve their offers.
“We are safeguarding our pubs for the future and ensuring that the next generation of drinkers, who see internet connectivity as a ‘make or break’ facility, have no excuse but to choose our pubs.
The wi-fi scheme is also helping drive beer sales with pubs selling, on average, an additional two barrels of beer each when compared to pubs that do not offer free connection to their customers, leading to an additional 41,600 pints of beer being quaffed across the 80 sites per year.
With an average of 2.42 hours spent online with each connection, customers are staying in the pub longer and are ordering more at the bar.
Sunny Bhurji, Trade Marketing Director for AB InBev, said: “With customers increasingly looking for outlets that supply free wi-fi, it’s been great to support Robinsons Brewery with this implementation, and it’s exciting to see the direct effect it is having on customer footfall and beer sales.”