Launch & Setup
How to Take Bookings Online for Your Service Business
Hairdressers, therapists, tutors, photographers, tour operators. Stop playing WhatsApp tag over times: let customers pick an open slot, pay, and land on your calendar.
If you sell your time, the hardest part isn't the work. It's the back-and-forth. "Do you have anything Thursday?" "What about 3?" "Can I do 3:30?" Twenty messages later, someone gets double-booked.
Online booking fixes that. Customers see only the times you're actually free, pick one and pay, and it lands on your calendar.
What to decide first
- Your hours. The hours you take bookings, day by day. Split days are fine: mornings and afternoons with a lunch break.
- How long each service takes. A 45-minute cut, a 90-minute massage.
- How many people fit a slot. One for a consultation, twelve for a yoga class.
- How much notice you need. No one booking a facial for in ten minutes' time.
- How far ahead people can book. Two weeks? Three months?
Set it up
In ShopEazy:
- Switch on Services and add your first service with its price and duration.
- Turn on online booking and set your weekly hours, spots per slot, notice needed and how far ahead people can book.
- Your shop now shows real open times. When a slot is full, it disappears. Two people can never book the same last spot.
Running trips instead? Tours work the same way, with departures and seats. See Run tours and departures.
Running your day
- One calendar. Every booking, tour departure and event in a day, week or month view.
- Move a booking by dragging it to another open time. The customer gets an email with the new time.
- Close days for leave or public holidays, and nobody can book them. Bookings already made stay.
- Remind on WhatsApp with one tap from the calendar.
- See it on your phone's calendar. Add your private calendar link to Google, Apple or Outlook.
Cutting no-shows
- Take payment when they book. A paid booking is a booking people turn up for.
- Send a reminder the day before. A WhatsApp message works better than email for most customers.
- Make moving easy. People who can reschedule don't just not show up.
- Say your policy up front. "Cancel at least 24 hours before for a refund" on the booking page.
The legal bits
Under the ECT Act, online buyers usually get seven days to cancel. That doesn't apply to services booked for a fixed date in some sectors, such as accommodation and transport, but it can apply to others. Keep your cancellation policy clear and fair.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Try it
See Take bookings for your services or the bookings feature page.