Is it legal to collect guest emails through Wi-Fi?

Yes, if you are clear about what you collect and why, and you record consent properly. In the UK, marketing emails to individuals generally need their opt-in under UK GDPR and PECR, so the opt-in should be a clear choice rather than a pre-ticked box, and easy to withdraw. The ICO publishes guidance on direct marketing. This is a summary, not legal advice.

What details should I ask for?

As little as you need. An email and a marketing opt-in are the core, a first name makes messages personal, and a birthday or postcode is worth asking for only if you will use it. Every extra field is one more reason to skip. In Stampede you choose the fields: email, first and last name, birthday, phone, postcode and your own custom questions.

What opt-in rate can guest Wi-Fi get?

It depends on how the page asks. Capturing the opt-in up front, as the guest connects, does far better than a capture page bolted on at the end. Venues on Stampede see an 89% Wi-Fi marketing opt-in rate.

How do I stop the same guest appearing three times?

Match on a stable identifier, usually the email address. In Stampede, every booking, Wi-Fi login, order and review is matched to one guest record, and signals that share an email address land on the same record, which follows the guest across every venue in a group.

Can I market to guests who booked through a third-party platform?

It depends on the platform’s terms and on what the guest agreed to when they booked. Where a marketplace keeps the guest’s details or their consent, you cannot simply email them. Taking bookings direct, on your own page, is the cleanest way to hold the relationship yourself.

Does a loyalty scheme help collect data?

It can, if sign-up asks for the email and the marketing opt-in at the same time. Many schemes reward the visit and capture nothing. In Stampede, loyalty sign-up takes the email and the opt-in in one step, and guests can join from the Wi-Fi, a QR code, a booking or the till.

Who owns the data I collect?

You should. In Stampede every contact you capture is yours to keep and export at any time, consent is captured at the point of login and stored against the guest, and the data stays in the UK.

A guide for operators

Guest data, collected. Here’s how.

Wi-Fi, bookings and ordering, each asking once, with consent.

The short answer

1Ask as guests join your Wi-Fi.
2Take bookings on your own page.
3Match ordering and till spend to the guest.
4Keep one record per guest, with consent.

Read the steps

SplashOpt-inWalk-insFootfallFollow-ups

opt-in at the point of connect

Splash

Opt-in

Walk-ins

Footfall

Follow-ups

opt-in at the point of connect

Powering 2,500+ UK venues

The problem

Served, not known.

Chloe has been in three times. Your records hold three strangers.

Chloe’s first three visits

Before

3 visits · 0 contacts

Wi-Fi · walk-inFri 16:20

Password on the chalkboardNo email, no opt-in

Tue · 13:10

2× Set lunch£52.001× Rioja, bottle£34.00

Customer: none£86.00

Booking · via a marketplaceSat

Chloe B. · table for 2Email kept by the marketplace

A walk-in who used the Wi-Fi and left no email
A card payment that says what, not who
A booking whose details stayed with the marketplace

After

One record

One guest record

Chloe Bennettchloe.bennett@email.com

Visits3

Spend£178.00

ConsentEmail

Wi-Fi sign-inDirect bookingSquare bills

Consent · email3 May

Opted in at the Wi-Fi sign-in, held in the UK

Opted in on the Wi-Fi page as she connected
Her next table booked on your own page
Every Square bill on her profile, consent kept

Same guest, same venue. The difference is asking once, at the moments she already gives her details.

How venues fix it

Four moments.

Where guests already give their details, and how to ask.

The LarderFree Wi-Fi

chloe.bennett@email.comSend me offers and news from The LarderConnect

Step 01

The Wi-Fi sign-in

Plenty of guests reach for the Wi-Fi, walk-ins included. A branded sign-in page with an email field and a clear opt-in turns that moment into a contact, as long as it asks up front.

In Stampede

A branded Wi-Fi page captures the opt-in as guests connect. Venues on Stampede see an 89% Wi-Fi marketing opt-in rate.

See guest Wi-Fi

Booking · your own pageBooked

Saturday, 19:30 · table for 2Chloe Bennettchloe.bennett@email.comBooked on The Larder’s page, no marketplace

Step 02

Direct bookings

A booking on your own page gives you the guest’s name, email and consent; one through a marketplace can leave them with the marketplace. Point guests to book direct, everywhere you appear.

In Stampede

Bookings from your own branded page and Google are direct, with no per-cover fees, and every one feeds the guest’s profile.

See table bookings

Live · 21:40

1× Lamb rump£24.001× Hake, brown butter£21.001× Rioja, bottle£34.002× Espresso£6.00

Matched to Chloe£85.00

On her guest profile now

Step 03

Ordering and the till

A card payment says what was spent, not who spent it. Ordering at the table can ask for details once, and a till connected to your guest records matches the spend to a guest you know.

In Stampede

Ordering asks for details once when a guest starts an order, and every paid Square bill lands on the profile of the guest who ran up the spend.

See ordering

ConsentHeld in the UK

Chloe Bennettchloe.bennett@email.com

Email marketing · opted in3 MayCaptured at the Wi-Fi sign-inFree to opt out at any time

Step 04

One record, with consent

Match every source to one record per guest, usually by email, and record what each guest agreed to and when. In the UK, email marketing generally needs an opt-in under UK GDPR and PECR.

In Stampede

Signals that share an email address land on one guest record, with consent tracked per guest and per channel, and UK data residency.

See guest profiles

Proof

The proof.

Operators running on Stampede, in their own numbers.

A dish being finished at Howies, Edinburgh

3,920guests enriched with real spend

6 weekstheir first six weeks with Stampede

“Every payment lands on the guest who made it now. Everything a guest does with us, online and in our venues, finally joins up in one view.”

Louis Scott, Howies, EdinburghFull story coming soon

Food at the George & Dragon, a Sankey's venue

4.59 → 4.80Google rating, year on year

2.3×average bill from email bookings

“Having everything under one roof is simply superior, full stop.”

Matthew Sankey, owner, Sankey'sRead the story

A Sunday roast at an ART Hospitality venue

24,604covers in a single month

0.3%no-show rate across eight venues

“You innovate at a rate I have never seen in a software company.”

Edwin Kirk, founding director, ART HospitalityRead the story

89%
Wi-Fi marketing opt-in rate: 55p
average value of a guest contact: 2,500+
UK venues run on Stampede

How we measure these figures

Keep reading.

The terms this guide uses, defined in plain English, and the sources it relies on.

Sources

ICO: direct marketing and privacy and electronic communications

How we compare

Compare us.

Honest, sourced comparisons against the tools venues switch from, checked against the record and dated.

Stampede vs Purple

Stampede vs Beambox

All comparisons

More guides

Seven more fixes.

The other problems venues search for, each with the steps that fix it.

Deposit · Sat 20:00 · 6£60.00
Megan O’NeillBooked on your page
Card ending 2291Mon 12:40Paid, and recorded on the booking
Guide · 4 steps
How to reduce restaurant no-shows
Four habits that stop booked tables sitting empty, whatever system you run.
Google · 9 days agoNo reply
Clive E.
“Waited forty minutes for our mains.”
Guide · 4 steps
How to get more Google reviews
Ask every guest, make it one tap, and answer what lands.
BookingsLapsed
Graham WhitleyEvery fortnight
12 JuneTable for 229 MayTable for 2Nothing since94 days
Guide · 4 steps
How to bring back guests who stopped coming
Spot who stopped coming, then give them a reason to return.
Pre-order · Olivia’s party12 of 16 ordered
OliviaShort rib
CallumHake, brown butterGF
AishaWild mushroom risottoV
GillianSquash tartVG
+8 more ordered · 4 still to choose
Guide · 4 steps
How to take group bookings and pre-orders without the admin
The enquiry, the deposit and every plate, sorted before the night.
Seated · Table 12On every device
Priya Shah6th visit · party of 3
Pre-order · from your Square items1× Lobster linguine1× Margherita1× Falafel bowl2× Pale ale, pint
For the team
- £30.00 deposit, already on Square
- A friend at the table is vegan and gluten-free.
Guide · 4 steps
What to look for in a booking system for Square
What a venue on Square should ask of a booking system, in four checks.
Read the guide
Points on spendYour rate · 1 per £1
Callum Reid23 visits
Flat white · £3.40+3Round for six · £52.50+53Earned off the till, nothing keyed in
On a stamp card
The same one stamp for each
Guide · 4 steps
How to run a restaurant loyalty programme that works
Reward what guests spend, skip the app, and give them a reason to return.
Day planner · TueQuiet night
171819202122
T1
T2
T4
T6
T9
T12
14 of 60 covers booked
Guide · 4 steps
How to fill quiet nights
Ask the right guests, give them a reason, and count the covers it brings.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions.

Know who walked in.

See the Wi-Fi sign-in, direct bookings and Square spend landing on one guest record, in a walkthrough with our team.

Guest data, collected. Here’s how.