ATLANTA, March 31, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- EarthLink Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: ELNK), a leading managed network and cloud solutions provider for multi-location businesses including hundreds of national retailers, recently partnered with experts from research consultants IHL Group and cloud-managed Wi-Fi solutions provider AirTight Networks to conduct one of the first-ever studies to measure the impact of the retail industry's plans for store networking, Wi-Fi, security and engagement. While preliminary findings were made public in January, the surprising final results and survey analysis are now available. Click here to download the complete IHL study, Impact of Store Networks and Wi-Fi on the Customer Experience.

According to the research, deployment of in-store Wi-Fi had the most significant positive impact on retail sales and loyalty of any technology initiative. Almost half of the participating retailers, representing all retail sizes and types, claimed increased customer loyalty due to deploying in-store employee Wi-Fi, with an associated 3.4% increase in sales. One third of retailers (28%) reported increased customer loyalty due to deploying in-store customer Wi-Fi, with an associated 2% increase in sales. These dramatic results point to employee Wi-Fi as an even bigger positive driver than customer Wi-Fi, and highlight the importance of a creating a connected, flexible workforce untethered to point-of-sale stations. 21% of retailers also reported an increase in customer dwell time in their stores due to deployment of in-store Wi-Fi. For these same retailers, top uses included traffic counting at 56% and Session Duration and Device Used at 49%.

Additional key findings include:

• 40% of IT budgets are now allocated to deploying new and innovative systems, compared to historic measures of 15-30% of budget.
• Nearly 70% of specialty retailers are designing their next Point-of-Sale system based on a central order management system, which will put up to five times more load on the network and will require a WAN infrastructure refresh
• Per the increased push towards WAN, 34% of participants plan to update their WAN network security within 12 months, and 34% also plan to update their WAN bandwidth optimization to take advantage of changed software architecture and enhanced customer experience options

"As retailers dramatically upgrade store infrastructures to create the experience of the future, there is a tremendous need for increased bandwidth and security, driven by moving to a single version of the truth for data, mobile devices in the store, and the accompanying systems," said Greg Buzek, IHL. "What also unquestionably emerged from the study data is the greatest bang for the buck for increased loyalty and sales is the deployment of Wi-Fi to store associates for use with mobile devices. This allows them to get more item information and save sales otherwise lost as well as replicate the experience of their best salespeople across the chain. Subsequently many retail segments see further growth by offering Wi-Fi to customers. Smart retailers are racing to upgrade their stores to take full advantage of the opportunities."

Greg Griffiths, Vice President of Product Marketing, EarthLink, remarked, "Now that we've released the final study analysis, retailers can use this valuable information as a benchmark to compare where they are versus peers and work towards developing an ROI for new applications."

"The IHL report shows that savvy retailers are already seeing revenue increases from deploying in-store Wi-Fi, be it for employees or customers. Increasing same store sales is a team goal, and that's where IT and marketing can both draw on the IHL's research data to justify the Wi-Fi investment," said Kevin McCauley, Director of Retail Market Development, AirTight Networks.

About EarthLink
EarthLink (EarthLink Holdings Corp., NASDAQ: ELNK) provides managed network, security and cloud solutions for multi-location businesses. We help thousands of specialty retailers, restaurants, financial institutions, healthcare providers, professional service firms and local governments deliver a reliable and engaging customer experience in their stores and branch offices. We do so by building and managing MPLS WAN networks, by providing virtualized infrastructure, security, hosted voice, secure Wi-Fi and compliance solutions, and by offering exceptional customer care. We operate a nationwide network spanning more than 28,000 fiber route miles, with 90 metro fiber rings and secure data centers that provide ubiquitous data and voice IP service coverage. Our EarthLink Carrier^® division sells facilities-based wholesale telecommunications to other providers and our award-winning Internet services connect hundreds of thousands of residential customers across the U.S. For more, visit www.earthlink.com and follow @earthlink, LinkedIn and Google+.

About AirTight Networks
AirTight Networks is the global leader in comprehensive cloud Wi-Fi solutions. The company's award-winning family of products and cloud services combines a true carrier-class multitenant cloud architecture with breakthroughs in Wi-Fi location, user analytics, social engagement, manageability, ease of deployment, and cost effectiveness, as well as AirTight's longtime top-rated WIPS technology. AirTight's global customer base includes leading enterprises in the government, financial, technology/telecom, manufacturing, health care, retail, and hospitality sectors. For more information, please visit us at: www.airtightnetworks.com, or follow us @AirTight

About IHL Group
IHL Group is a global research and advisory firm headquartered in Franklin, Tennessee that provides market analysis and business consulting services for retailers and information technology companies that focus on the retail industry. For more information, visit www.ihlservices.com, call +1.615.591.2955 or email ihl@ihlservices.com.  

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SOURCE EarthLink Holdings Corp.

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