Bookings: appointments and reservations

Bookings gives your salon, clinic, barbershop, car wash, studio or restaurant its own booking page, one calendar that never double-books, reminders, and a till that knows who just walked in. A visit is checked out like any other sale. Bookings comes with the Online Restaurant and Chain plans (not Retail) and is not in the buy-once desktop program.

#Switching Bookings on

1. Sign in as the owner and switch Bookings on in Settings.
2. Follow the set-up steps below.
3. Give your team their Bookings rights in Team: managers and cashiers have none until you do. A team member can be limited to their own visits.

Switched off, the Bookings pages close and your public pages say they are not available.

#Setting up

The set-up starts with your type of business (salon, clinic, car wash, repair, studio, restaurant tables or other) and fills in the wording, the slot size, a starter list of services, the kinds of resources and the reminder times.

1. Set each branch's opening hours, the holidays, and dated changes such as the Ramadan hours you choose.
2. Set your rules: how far ahead customers may book, until when they may move or cancel, and whether a booking waits as requested until your staff confirm it.
3. Add services, team and resources.
4. Import services and upcoming appointments from a spreadsheet if you have them.

Check your opening hours and cancellation rules before you switch the public page on.

#Services, team and resources

• A service is sold at checkout as a product. It has a duration, buffer time, a price, add-ons, the team members who may do it, the resources it needs, an optional deposit, and whether it is bookable online.
• Each team member has their own hours, breaks and days off; block time for a meeting or a holiday. With HR on, the roster and approved leave count too.
• Resources are chairs, rooms, bays or tables. Nobody can book the same chair twice at once, and one person cannot be booked in two branches at once.
• A team member can get a private calendar link for their phone, without customer names or phone numbers.

#Your booking page

Three public pages, each switched on separately: appointments, table reservations and classes.

1. The customer picks a service, a team member (or anyone) and a free time, on their phone and in their language, without an account.
2. The slot is held for ten minutes while they type their name and phone.
3. They confirm and get a link to add the visit to their calendar, and to move or cancel it within your rules.

Share the link, print the QR code for the counter, or put the Book now button on your website. Limits per phone and per address keep fake bookings out, and you can block a customer. Other customers and private notes never show.

#The calendar

Day, week, month or list, by team member or by chair, room or bay. The today board shows who is expected, arrived, in service and done.

• Tap a free slot, find the customer by name or phone (or add them) and pick the services: durations and prices fill in. Choose a team member or any free one.
• Several services fit in one visit, one after another or side by side.
• Move, copy, repeat (recurring visits are made eight weeks ahead) or cancel with a reason.
• If a time was taken a moment ago, the calendar offers the nearest free ones.

#At the till

1. On the Sell page, press Bookings to see today's visits.
2. When the customer arrives, press Arrived. Queue ticket prints a ticket for the waiting area.
3. When the service begins, press Start.
4. Press Check out: the visit loads into the cart with the customer and the team member. Add any product and take the payment.
5. Two team members give two carts, one receipt each. After the first payment the screen names the next cart: press Check out again.
6. When every cart is paid, the visit is reported to Bookings and marked done.

A booking price that differs from the product's price needs a manager's approval. A cart without a deposit can be sold offline and is reported after the sync.

#Walk-ins and the waiting list

Next available walk-in books the first free team member for the service in one tap, and the printed ticket tells the customer their place. A walk-in taken offline is placed when the line returns, or marked for the front desk to review if the slot has gone. A waiting list offers freed slots for a limited time, and classes have a seat count.

#Messages and reminders

Eleven templates, editable in every language: received, confirmed, reminder, moved, cancelled, deposit due, waiting-list offer, missed you, thank you with a feedback link, time to book again, and birthday. Quiet hours apply, and a customer can opt out.

Messages go by e-mail where there is an address. WhatsApp messages wait in a to-send list: one tap opens WhatsApp on your phone with the message filled in. WhatsApp and SMS are never sent automatically.

#Restaurants: table reservations

Add your tables with their seats, the tables that may be joined, and a turn time for each party size. The reservation page asks for the party size first, offers the nearest free times, and takes a seating preference and the occasion. The host list picks the smallest table that fits and joins tables only where you allowed it; seating a party opens its table order. Busy nights have a waiting list.

#Deposits, packages and the customer card

• A service can ask for a deposit. The booking then waits as requested and shows your payment instructions: there is no online card payment. Record the deposit at the till; it comes off the bill at checkout.
• A no-show or late-cancel fee applies only when you switch it on, with a reason.
• Packages and memberships, such as ten sessions or a monthly plan, are sold at the till and used at checkout. A manager can freeze or transfer one.
• Every booking lands on the same customer record the till uses: visits, favourite team member, notes, intake questions, consents, birthday and private feedback.

Clinic intake answers are general notes, not a medical record. Gift vouchers are not part of Bookings.

#Reports

Bookings by day, week or month; how busy each team member and resource was; revenue from checked-out visits; no-shows and cancellations with their estimated cost; where bookings came from; new and returning customers; the busiest hours; packages sold and not yet used. Export to CSV or Excel, or print. More on the Bookings page.