How to collect customer emails in a physical shop, legally

Four ways to collect email addresses at the till, the wording to use, and what UK and US rules expect before you send a newsletter.

11 October 2026 · The Workden team

Someone buys a candle, says they love the shop, and walks out. You will never be able to tell them the winter scents have arrived, because all you have is a card payment and a memory of their coat. An online shop usually gets an email address with the order. A shop with a door has to ask.

The short answer: ask at the till, say plainly what you will send, let the customer write or type the address themselves, and record that they said yes and when. Do not treat an address given for a receipt as permission to send a newsletter. In the UK you need the customer's consent or a narrow existing customer exception. In the US the rules are about what goes in the email and how people leave the list. A printed sign-up card does the job legally, and it costs pennies.

This is a guide to the regulators' published rules, not legal advice for your particular shop.

What the rules expect

In the UK

The ICO's guidance on email marketing is direct: you must not send marketing emails or texts to individuals without specific consent. It gives ticking an opt-in box as an example of consent.

Consent has to be a real choice. The ICO's consent guidance says silence, pre-ticked boxes or inactivity should not count, that consent should not be bundled up as a condition of service, and that you must be able to demonstrate that someone has consented. For a shop that means three things: the customer does something to say yes, they can still buy if they say no, and you keep a record.

There is one exception, often called the soft opt-in. The ICO describes it as the rule about existing customers: someone who bought from you, gave you their details and did not opt out can be sent marketing about similar products. The condition is that you gave them a clear chance to opt out, both when you first collected their details and in every message you send. It does not cover prospective customers or bought-in lists.

In a shop, the simplest way to stay on the right side of both rules is to ask the question out loud and record the answer.

In the US

The FTC's CAN-SPAM guide does not require permission before you email. It sets rules for the email itself. Among them: do not use deceptive subject lines, include your valid physical postal address, tell recipients how to opt out, and honour an opt-out request within 10 business days. The guide says each email in violation is subject to penalties of up to $53,088, and that the law is not limited to bulk email.

Asking first is still the better practice in the US, because it gives you a list of people who want the emails.

Four ways to collect addresses at the till

A stack of cards by the till and a pen. Each card has:

A line saying what they are signing up for: "Yes, email me the shop newsletter. About once a month: new stock, events, the odd offer."
Space for first name and email address
A line saying "You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in every email"
A small box for the date, which you fill in

The customer writes their own address, which means fewer typing mistakes and no doubt about who agreed. Type the cards into your email tool once a week and keep the cards in a folder. The folder is your record of consent.

A card beats a shared clipboard sheet, because a sheet shows every customer the names and addresses of the people who signed before them.

2. Ask when you offer an emailed receipt

Many tills offer to email a receipt. That address was given for the receipt. If you want it for the newsletter too, ask a second question and record a second yes.

Shopify POS builds this in. Its help centre says that when a customer chooses a digital receipt a customer profile is created, and that a first-time customer is asked about marketing before accepting the receipt. Check how your own till handles it, and check what the default answer is set to.

Print a small sign with a QR code that opens your newsletter sign-up form, and put it by the till and in the changing room or on the tables. The customer types their own address on their own phone, and your email tool records the date. Shopify, for example, lets you collect customer emails by adding a newsletter signup section to your online store, and most email tools offer a form of their own.

This suits a busy shop, because it needs nothing from the person serving.

4. Something worth signing up for

A reason helps: first look at new stock, an invitation to the late opening, a note when a waiting-list item arrives. Say what it is on the card. If you offer a discount for signing up, make sure the customer can still buy without joining, so that the yes is a free choice.

What to say at the till

Most shop staff do not ask because it feels like selling. A short, honest line works:

We send one email a month when new stock comes in. Would you like to be on the list?

If the answer is no, that is the end of it. Do not ask again while they are paying.

Keep the record

For every address, keep four things: the address, the date, where it came from (card, till, form), and what the customer was told they would get. If your email tool stores a signup date and source, that covers it for forms. For cards, the folder covers it.

When someone unsubscribes, keep them on the list as unsubscribed. If you delete them, the next import of an old spreadsheet can put them straight back on.

What not to do

Do not add everyone who has ever paid by card or asked for a receipt.
Do not copy addresses from business cards left in a prize draw bowl unless the bowl said clearly that entering means joining the newsletter, and people could enter without joining.
Do not buy a list. In the UK the existing customer exception does not apply to bought-in lists.
Do not send from a tool with no unsubscribe link. Both the ICO and the FTC expect every marketing email to tell people how to stop.

Where Workden fits

None of the above needs Workden. A stack of cards and the email tool you already have will do it.

Where Workden helps is afterwards. You can import the list you already keep, and the newsletter builder is made for this kind of sending: build it by dragging blocks, send it to the people who asked for it, and see what it earned. With a Shopify shop connected, repeat buyers are matched to the customer you already have, so the person who signed a card in the shop and later ordered online is not on your list twice.

It is £10.99 a month for your whole team, with a 14 day free trial.

Questions shop owners ask

Can I email customers who gave their address for a receipt?

Not for marketing on that basis alone. Ask separately whether they want the newsletter, or, in the UK, make sure the existing customer rule applies: they bought from you, the email is about similar products, and they were given a clear chance to opt out when you took the address and in every email since.

The FTC's CAN-SPAM guide does not require consent in advance. It requires an honest subject line, your postal address, a way to opt out, and that you act on opt-outs within 10 business days.

Paper is fine as a way of recording consent. Use single cards so customers cannot read each other's details, say on the card what they are signing up for, and keep the cards.

Sources

Checked 11 October 2026.