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An independent café with wooden tables and a counter

Turn the laptop crowd into regulars

Guest Wi-Fi marketing for cafés and coffee shops.

Your Wi-Fi is the most-used thing in the room. Make the login page earn its keep: a review request the next morning, a free coffee on the 5th visit, an offer when Tuesday afternoon goes quiet.

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Anchor Coffee (demo) sign-in page on the café template: round logo, first name, email and a separate marketing tick box

How does guest Wi-Fi marketing work in a café?

A guest joins your free Wi-Fi and sees a sign-in page in your café’s colours. They give a first name and email, accept the Wi-Fi terms and can tick a separate, optional box for offers. WiFinger records that choice, then runs the follow-ups you switch on: a review request the next morning, a reward on the 5th visit, a “we miss you” note after 30 days. Only guests who opted in are ever contacted.

Hundreds of people a week, and no way to reach any of them.

Every sign-in can become a contact, with the consent wording and time recorded.

Our rating is stuck at 4.1. Only the unhappy ones write.

A polite review request the morning after, sent to every opted-in guest, never filtered by rating.

Weekday afternoons are empty.

The busiest-hours heatmap shows the gap; a scheduled offer targets it.

Typical problems venue owners describe to us; not quotes from named customers.

Anchor Coffee (demo) sign-in page on the café template: round logo, first name, email and a separate marketing tick box
Café template
Single-use “Your 5th coffee is on us” voucher with a code and QR, shown at the till
Voucher at the till

What cafés do with it

  • A digital loyalty cardEngageVisits are counted from Wi-Fi sign-ins. The 5th visit sends a single-use “free coffee” voucher that staff redeem at the till.
  • More Google reviewsEngageThe morning after a first visit, a short email with your Google link. Private feedback on the “you’re online” screen comes to you first.
  • Fill the quiet slotsSee the dead hours per site on the heatmap, then send a “Tuesday 2-4pm” offer to regulars who opted in.
  • Fair use for laptop workersSet a session length per site (for example two hours, then sign in again), so tables turn over without awkward conversations.

Sign-in pages shown are demo venues on the sector template. Everything on them can be changed.

The café playbook

Three café journeys, switched on in a minute.

  1. Review request

    First visit, wait 24 hours, then “How was your coffee?” with your Google link.

  2. 5th-visit reward

    Visit number 5 triggers a single-use voucher, redeemed at the till in one tap.

  3. We miss you

    30 days without a visit: a friendly note and a small offer.

Automation editor: wait, condition and send-email steps of the review request journey

A 60-seat café, worked example

Assumes 350 Wi-Fi sign-ins a week, 35% email opt-in and 1-2 access points. Illustrative only, not a customer result.
~120
new opted-in contacts a week
24 h
after a first visit, the review request
£109
a month on Engage (1-2 access points, ex VAT)

Guest Wi-Fi set-up and compliance for cafés

Typical café Wi-Fi

Most independent cafés run one or two access points from a small-business range: a TP-Link Omada or Ubiquiti UniFi unit on the ceiling, a Grandstream GWN pair fitted by a local installer, or the Wi-Fi built into a MikroTik router. All of these work. Omada and MikroTik use the external portal and RADIUS settings; UniFi and GWN connect with an API key. If the internet came with an ISP router only, one ceiling access point from any of these ranges covers a 60-seat room.

Consent in a café

Cafés collect the least data of any sector and should keep it that way: a first name and an email address are enough. Laptop workers sign in daily, so the session length you set is also a data choice: each reconnection is a visit, not a new record. The marketing box stays separate from the Wi-Fi terms, and the PECR soft opt-in does not apply (a coffee bought at the counter is not a sale made through the sign-in page), so only guests who tick the box receive the loyalty emails.

Setting up guest Wi-Fi marketing in a café

  1. Add the café and connect the Wi-Fi

    Create the site, pick your vendor and follow the checklist: paste an API key (UniFi, GWN) or copy the portal URL and RADIUS secret into the controller (Omada, MikroTik).

  2. Publish the café template

    Add your logo and colours, keep the form to first name and email, set the session length, publish, then scan the QR card with your own phone to test.

  3. Switch on two journeys

    The review request the next morning and the 5th-visit reward. Check the dashboard after a week and aim the quiet-hours offer at the gap the heatmap shows.

What cafés use most

  • Café sign-in template with your logo, colours and wording
  • Printable "Free Wi-Fi" QR cards in your colours
  • Session length per site (e.g. 2 hours, then sign in again)
  • Busiest-hours heatmap and returning-guest rate
  • Review requests to every guest, never filtered by rating
  • Offers and single-use vouchers, redeemed at the till
  • Monthly PDF report emailed to the owner
See prices

Questions cafés ask

Do we need new Wi-Fi equipment?
No. Grandstream GWN, Ubiquiti UniFi and Aruba Instant connect directly; MikroTik, TP-Link Omada, Cisco Meraki, OpenWrt, pfSense and most business routers with an external captive portal and RADIUS work through the generic connector. Your guest network stays on your hardware.
Is asking for an email address at Wi-Fi login legal?
Yes, when it is done properly. The Wi-Fi terms and the marketing tick are separate, marketing is optional and never pre-ticked, and Wi-Fi works whatever the guest chooses. WiFinger stores the exact wording, time and device of every choice.
Can staff redeem vouchers on a phone?
Yes. Give the till a redeem-only login on any phone or tablet, or scan the QR code on the guest’s screen.
Can we see who our regulars are?
You see guests who opted in to marketing, with their visits. Guests who did not opt in are counted in the figures but their name, email and phone are hidden from you.
What does it cost for one café?
From £79 a month on Connect or £109 on Engage (with journeys, offers and reviews) for 1-2 access points, ex VAT. The first 14 days are free with every feature and no card.
Can laptop workers stay online all day?
You choose. Set a session length per site, for example two hours; when it ends the guest sees the sign-in page again and reconnects in one tap. Each reconnection counts as a visit for the loyalty reward.
Do we need a separate network for staff and the card machine?
Yes. Keep staff devices and payment terminals on their own network; the guest network is isolated from it. WiFinger only ever touches the guest network you point at it.

Try WiFinger at your café this week.

14 days free with every feature. No card. Cancel in one click.

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