More than one-third of mobile workers (37 per cent) choose a coffee shop based on the availability of its WiFi rather than the quality of its tea or coffee, according to a new report. Almost two-thirds (60 per cent) said it was an important factor.
The report, carried out by Samsung, found that 90 per cent of mobile workers rely on WiFi in coffee shops, compared to 15 per cent who rely on public WiFi and only 9 per cent who rely on 4G.
Smartphones were found to be the most popular mobile working device, with 71 per cent of workers using them, whilst 50 per cent use laptops and 49 per cent use tablets.
After WiFi, access to a printer was the next most sought after feature, cited by 24 per cent of respondents. Access to scanners, photocopiers and powers sockets made up the rest of the top five most desired facilities. It was also found that 42 per cent of people would like to see dedicated area for remote working in coffee shops.
Remote working issues
The survey found that 69 per cent of people work remotely from coffee shops at least twice a week. Despite this, only 3 per cent of the 101 coffee shops surveyed provide printing facilities and only 8 per cent provide dedicated areas for working.
According to Samsung, the survey was carried out to better understand the technology issues related to mobile working. "The trend of working remotely in coffee shops has been steadily increasing for a while now, but our research found the availability of WiFi is no longer enough to satisfy customers," said Mark Ash, general manager for print at Samsung UK. "Despite it being important, customers want a more complete working experience."
