Why WiFi Marketing Opt-In Rates Dominate

Let's take a journey and deep dive into 2025 opt-in rate benchmarks for various channels, backed by industry reports from Mailchimp, Klaviyo, HubSpot, and others. We'll explore why WiFi marketing reigns supreme.

WiFi Trends
Data Capture & Opt In

In the world of hospitality marketing, achieving high email and SMS opt-in rates is crucial for building robust customer databases that drive repeat business and personalized campaigns.

Traditional data capture channels like website popups, e-commerce forms, and social media leads often struggle with low opt-in rates, leaving businesses with underwhelming lead generation.

But what if there was a tool that consistently delivers 40 to 60% opt-in rates globally?

Enter WiFi marketing, a strategy that transforms free guest WiFi into a powerhouse for capturing emails and phone numbers. At Social WiFi, our data from thousands of venues worldwide shows WiFi marketing outperforming other channels by 8-12 times, making it an essential tactic for bars, restaurants, hotels, and more.

Opt-In Rates for Website Popups and Forms

Websites are a staple for data capture, but their opt-in rates remain disappointingly low. According to Mailchimp's 2025 benchmarks, the average email conversion rate (including signups) falls between 2% and 5% across industries. This includes popups, newsletter forms, and exit-intent overlays.

Overall Averages: HubSpot reports an average email open rate of 42.35%, but the initial opt-in rate is much lower at 3.77% for popups on desktop and 6.57% on mobile. Wisepops data puts popup conversions at 4.65%.
Industry Variations: For hospitality and e-commerce sites, rates range from 2.58% (CleverTap) to 4.13% (PopupSmart).
Challenges: Users often dismiss popups as intrusive, leading to high bounce rates. Double opt-in further drops rates.

These low figures mean hospitality websites might capture just a handful of leads from hundreds of visitors, limiting email list growth.

Benchmarks and Pitfalls

E-commerce platforms rely on email signups for cart abandonment recovery and promotions, yet 2025 data shows average conversion rates of 0.78-4%, with a global benchmark of 2.58% (CleverTap).

Key Stats: IRP Commerce reports an overall e-commerce conversion rate of 1.89%, while Dynamic Yield notes 2-4% across sectors. Personal care products lead at 6.8%, food & beverages at 4.9%, but hospitality-related e-tail averages lower at 2-3%.
Email Specific: Klaviyo's 2025 data shows e-commerce email campaign conversions at 0.08% average, with top performers at 0.44%. Shopify highlights 2.5-3% as typical for signups.
Why So Low? Cart abandonment (up to 70%) and privacy fears under GDPR reduce willingness to opt in. Even optimized forms struggle, with Omnisend noting 25% open rates but lower than 5% initial signups.

For hospitality e-commerce (e.g., booking sites), this translates to lost opportunities in nurturing leads for future stays or events.