Cellular coverage for the connected customer
Today’s shoppers expect seamless wireless connectivity everywhere they shop — from malls and flagship stores to grocery, big-box and specialty retail. Shoppers expect always-on connectivity for digital engagement, mobile payments and personalized experiences, while retailers rely on connected systems to run operations and customer service. And a shopper who cannot check a price or pay with their phone is standing in the exact spot where you needed them not to be.
ANDREW® brings the mobile operators' networks inside and distributes them across the deep interiors of malls and department stores, big-box floors and grocery environments, stockrooms, back-of-house and fulfillment spaces, parking structures and below-grade levels, food courts, common areas and entertainment spaces. Whether the answer is a building-wide distributed antenna system (DAS), targeted small cells or both, ANDREW designs it as a true neutral-host foundation — energy-efficient and ready to scale.
Challenges and opportunities
Reliable, store-wide cellular coverage now shapes the shopping experience and store operations alike. This is where in-building cellular coverage matters most.
Shoppers
Dependable indoor 5G lets shoppers stay connected, use apps and pay throughout the shopping journey — and reliable connectivity creates frictionless experiences that improve satisfaction and encourage repeat visits:
Engagement
Interactive mobile experiences and personalized promotions help retailers increase engagement and drive sales — tailoring the experience to where a shopper actually is, turning a physical store into something a phone can respond to:
Operations
Connected retail systems streamline operations and improve visibility — and reliable wireless supports faster operations, less downtime and better retail performance:
Deployments
Shopping malls and retail centers
Big-box and department stores
Grocery and specialty retailers
Mixed-use retail developments
Entertainment and lifestyle destinations
Multi-site retail portfolios
The ANDREW advantage
ANDREW all-digital solutions enable 4G/5G connectivity across retail stores of all sizes worldwide — from a single store to a multi-site retail portfolio.
Our comprehensive offering for retail spans the ERA® DAS platform, ONECELL® in-building small cells and expert design and support.
Partnering with ANDREW means wireless technology built for long-term simplicity, efficiency and sustainability — through 5G and beyond.
Featured solutions
ANDREW brings reliable 4G/5G inside with DAS and small cells, adding facility-wide coverage and capacity for data-intensive retail operations.
Ideal for large retail properties, ANDREW repeaters extend signal range by capturing a weak signal, amplifying it and retransmitting a stronger signal to hard-to-reach locations.
Featured resources
Brochure · CO-200787-EN
See how ANDREW delivers reliable 4G/5G coverage and capacity across malls, big-box and specialty retail.
Frequently asked questions
Answers about indoor signal, DAS, small cells, carriers, Wi-Fi and busy retail environments.
The macro network was built to cover ground, not to get through it. Retail buildings are built to be sealed — concrete slabs, metal roof decks, low-emissivity glass, refrigeration walls and whole floors of parking below grade. A strong signal in the car park can be nothing by the time a shopper reaches the middle of the floor.
A DAS distributes every operator's network across a large or complex building on one shared system; a small cell adds focused cellular capacity in a specific area. ANDREW offers both — the ERA® DAS platform and ONECELL® in-building small cells — and helps match the right approach, or a combination, to your store or center.
Yes. ANDREW's platform is one infrastructure, approved by global operators, carrying public cellular, private networks and public safety from pre-4G through 5G.
Yes — they do different jobs. Wi-Fi carries the network the retailer runs — POS, scanners, back-office and building systems. A DAS or small cell brings the operators’ cellular networks to every shopper on any carrier, and only cellular carries E911 that knows where the caller actually is rather than where the account is registered, Wireless Emergency Alerts to every device in the building and public-safety communications.
Yes — the platform is built for capacity, not just coverage, so mobile payments, associate tools and shopper apps keep working when the floor is full.
Proven. ANDREW's all-digital DAS is operating at scale today on more than a decade of digital deployments, and is first to connect all three major U.S. operators, across every major RAN vendor, digitally on one DAS — deployed at scale, not promised on a roadmap.
Let’s discuss how ANDREW can help get you there.
