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Coffee, WiFi, and Business Models

August 16, 2010 19:57:13.000

I found myself nodding my head through this PC World article - StarBucks is going to sweep the floor clean of most small coffee shops. How? They can make free wifi work for them, while WiFi - free or otherwise - is problematic for most small to mid size shops. StarBucks has the scale to set up the IT infrastructure and manage the network setup, and - they are big enough to offer partnerships with outfits like the WSJ (you can get free access to the WSJ at StarBucks, and they get a cut if you use that free access to subscribe).

Meanwhile, the smaller shops are having trouble with digital campers hogging tables, and they don't have the scale to even attempt an upsell. Maybe ubiquitous (and not ridiculously expensive) 3G will arrive to save the day for them, but even there, they suffer from the digital camper issue. I have to agree with Elgan - these smaller shops are going to get creamed like BlockBuster did.

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posted by James Robertson

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