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One Guest In Nine Comes Back. Two Months Later.
Returning guests, languages and contact details, from January to September 2026.
HappyChef Datahub
Most restaurant guests come once. Between January and September 2026, about one guest in nine returned to the same restaurant, typically two months after the first visit, and the guests who come back account for one reservation in seven. Who are those guests? Mostly over 45, mostly booking in Dutch, almost all reachable by email and mobile phone, but rarely subscribed to a newsletter. These eleven insights describe the guest behind the reservation.
The Insights In This Article
- 10.8% Of Guests Return Within Nine Months
- Returning Guests Make Up 15.1% Of Reservations
- Returning Guests Come Back After 63 Days
- The Largest Age Group Is 55 To 64, With 23.8%
- 88.6% Of Online Bookings Are Made In Dutch
- Foreign-Language Bookings Peak In March, At 12%
- 5% Of Guests Leave A Foreign Phone Number
- 69% Of Reservations Carry A Belgian Mobile Number
- Gmail Leads With 32.6%, Ahead Of Hotmail And Telenet
- Only 18% Of Phone Reservations Have An Email Address
- Only 4.7% Of Online Guests Ask For The Newsletter
Insight 1 of 11
10.8% Of Guests Return Within Nine Months
Between January and September 2026, 10.8% of guests came back to the same restaurant at least once. Among guests whose first visit was before July, with at least three months to return, it is 13.9%.
| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| All guests | 10.8% |
| First visit before July | 13.9% |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 27,529
- Restaurants
- 23 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- Guests are recognised by email address or phone number within one restaurant, never across restaurants. A fixed panel of 23 restaurants with reservations in all nine months. Share of guests with two or more visits, per restaurant, averaged. The second figure only counts guests whose first visit was before 1 July 2026, so they had at least three months to come back.
Insight 2 of 11
Returning Guests Make Up 15.1% Of Reservations
89% of guests visited once in the period, but the guests who return make up 15.1% of all reservations, because some come back several times.
| Group | Share | Datapoints |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 89.2% | 24,481 |
| 2 | 7.8% | 2,200 |
| 3 | 1.8% | 509 |
| 4–5 | 0.9% | 243 |
| 6+ | 0.3% | 96 |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 32,624
- Restaurants
- 23 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- Share of reservations that are a second or later visit of the same guest at the same restaurant in the period, and how guests split by number of visits. Same fixed panel; per restaurant, averaged.
Insight 3 of 11
Returning Guests Come Back After 63 Days
The typical returning guest comes back 63 days after the first visit (median). 25% return within a month.
| Group | Share | Datapoints |
|---|---|---|
| Within 2 weeks | 11.1% | 326 |
| 2–4 weeks | 13.3% | 421 |
| 1–2 months | 21.5% | 650 |
| 2–3 months | 16.9% | 513 |
| 3–6 months | 29.2% | 898 |
| 6+ months | 7.9% | 231 |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 3,039
- Restaurants
- 22 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- For returning guests: days between their first and second visit in the period. Median per restaurant, then the median across restaurants.
Insight 4 of 11
The Largest Age Group Is 55 To 64, With 23.8%
Among guests who shared a date of birth, 55 to 64 is the largest group (23.8%), just ahead of 45 to 54 (23%). Guests under 25 make up 3.8%, and the median age is 50.
| Group | Share | Datapoints |
|---|---|---|
| 16–24 | 3.8% | 103 |
| 25–34 | 15% | 353 |
| 35–44 | 17.8% | 470 |
| 45–54 | 22.9% | 565 |
| 55–64 | 23.8% | 542 |
| 65+ | 16.7% | 381 |
- Period
- Guest files as of 12 October 2026
- Datapoints
- 2,414
- Restaurants
- 26 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- Age bands of guests who chose to share a date of birth (for birthday offers). Only the bands are published. These guests chose to share it, so they are not a random sample.
Insight 5 of 11
88.6% Of Online Bookings Are Made In Dutch
88.6% of online reservations are made in Dutch, 9.5% in English and 1.9% in French.
| Group | Share | Datapoints |
|---|---|---|
| Dutch | 88.6% | 24,656 |
| French | 1.9% | 396 |
| English | 9.5% | 2,062 |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 27,116
- Restaurants
- 34 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- The language the guest chose on the online booking form. Online reservations only, because reservations entered by staff take the restaurant's own language. Each restaurant counts equally: its own figure is computed first and then averaged, so one busy restaurant cannot dominate. Restaurants with fewer than 30 reservations in the period are left out.
Insight 6 of 11
Foreign-Language Bookings Peak In March, At 12%
The share of online reservations in a language other than Dutch peaks in March (12%) and is lowest in January (9.5%).
| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| January | 9.5% |
| February | 11.7% |
| March | 12% |
| April | 11% |
| May | 10% |
| June | 9.9% |
| July | 9.9% |
| August | 10% |
| September | 9.8% |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 27,232
- Restaurants
- 40 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- Share of online reservations made in a language other than Dutch, per restaurant per month (at least 20 reservations), averaged over the restaurants active that month.
Insight 7 of 11
5% Of Guests Leave A Foreign Phone Number
5% of reservations carry a foreign phone number. The Netherlands leads with 2.6%, ahead of Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Luxembourg.
| Group | Share | Datapoints |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2.6% | 1,159 |
| Other country | 1% | 204 |
| Germany | 0.5% | 161 |
| France | 0.4% | 106 |
| United Kingdom | 0.3% | 79 |
| Luxembourg | 0.2% | 59 |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 46,441
- Restaurants
- 44 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- Share of reservations with a foreign phone number, per restaurant, averaged; the split by country is pooled.
Insight 8 of 11
69% Of Reservations Carry A Belgian Mobile Number
Guests leave a Belgian mobile number in 69% of reservations and a landline in just 2.9%. 19% of reservations have no phone number at all.
| Group | Share | Datapoints |
|---|---|---|
| Belgian mobile | 69% | 32,932 |
| No phone number | 19% | 8,794 |
| Belgian landline | 2.9% | 1,280 |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 46,408
- Restaurants
- 41 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- Type of phone number on the reservation, read from its prefix (Belgian 04 numbers are mobile). Numbers are never published. Each restaurant counts equally: its own figure is computed first and then averaged, so one busy restaurant cannot dominate. Restaurants with fewer than 30 reservations in the period are left out.
Insight 9 of 11
Gmail Leads With 32.6%, Ahead Of Hotmail And Telenet
Gmail addresses make up 32.6% of guest email addresses, Hotmail and Outlook 27.9% and Telenet 16.2%. Proximus and Skynet follow with 5.4%.
| Group | Share | Datapoints |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail | 32.6% | 10,939 |
| Hotmail / Outlook | 27.9% | 9,797 |
| Telenet | 16.2% | 5,983 |
| Other (company or own domain) | 13.1% | 4,085 |
| Proximus / Skynet | 5.4% | 1,954 |
| Apple iCloud | 2.9% | 935 |
| Yahoo | 1.8% | 544 |
| Scarlet | 0.2% | 70 |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 34,307
- Restaurants
- 37 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- The guest's email provider, grouped into the large providers; everything else counts as other. Addresses are never published. Each restaurant counts equally: its own figure is computed first and then averaged, so one busy restaurant cannot dominate. Restaurants with fewer than 30 reservations in the period are left out.
Insight 10 of 11
Only 18% Of Phone Reservations Have An Email Address
Online, every reservation carries an email address, because the form asks for it. When the restaurant enters a reservation itself, only 18% have one: those guests cannot get a confirmation or a review request by email.
| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| Online by the guest | 100% |
| Entered by the restaurant | 18% |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 46,441
- Restaurants
- 44 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- Share of reservations with a valid email address, per booking channel, per restaurant, averaged.
Insight 11 of 11
Only 4.7% Of Online Guests Ask For The Newsletter
When the booking form offers an optional newsletter box, 4.7% of guests tick it: about one in 21.
| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| Ticked the newsletter box | 4.7% |
| Left it empty | 95.3% |
- Period
- Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026
- Datapoints
- 26,410
- Restaurants
- 34 Belgian restaurants
- Method
- Share of online guests who ticked the optional newsletter box, only in restaurants that show the box. Each restaurant counts equally: its own figure is computed first and then averaged, so one busy restaurant cannot dominate. Restaurants with fewer than 30 reservations in the period are left out.
How We Built This Article
Period
Visits from 1 January to 30 September 2026 · Guest files as of 12 October 2026
Datapoints
11 insights, each resting on at least 2,414 datapoints (the largest on 46,441), from 22–44 Belgian restaurants.
Method
Anonymous aggregates over Belgian HappyChef restaurants, each restaurant weighted equally, with every figure over at least five restaurants and 1,000 datapoints.
About This Data
This analysis is based on Belgian restaurants that use HappyChef: 22–44 restaurants, depending on the insight. Restaurants that joined during the period are normalised so the growing number of restaurants never inflates a trend, demo and test accounts are left out, and placeholder values (an empty field saved as zero) are ignored.
Every figure is an anonymous aggregate. Each one combines at least five restaurants and at least 1,000 datapoints, no restaurant is named or singled out, and no name, email address, phone number or remark of a guest is ever published.
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