Setting up online booking for salons and spas: a checklist

In theory, online booking for salons and spas should take work off your team, not create new problems. Set up well, it lets clients book at 11pm on a Sunday, fills gaps in the diary and cuts the time your team spends on the phone. Set up badly, it produces double bookings, services squeezed into slots that are too short and therapists booked for treatments they do not offer. This checklist walks through the decisions to make before you switch it on, whichever booking system you use.

1. Services and durations

Your service menu is the foundation. Clients will book exactly what you publish, so it needs to match how the salon or spa really works.

• Use names clients understand. "Full head colour and cut" is clearer than an internal code. Add a one-line description where the name is not obvious.
• Set realistic durations. Use how long the service actually takes, including consultation and finishing, not the ideal time.
• Handle variations. Hair length, first visit versus repeat, or 60 versus 90 minutes are often better as separate services or options than as one entry with a vague time.
• Account for processing time. For colour and some treatments, the client sits while the product develops. Decide whether that time can be used for another short service.
• Flag services that need preparation. If a service needs a patch test or a consultation first, say so and make the earlier appointment bookable too.
• Show prices clearly. Use "from" prices only where the final price genuinely varies, and explain why.

2. Staff calendars and who does what

Each team member needs their own calendar with accurate working hours, breaks and days off. Then connect people to services: a junior stylist may not do colour corrections, and not every therapist offers every treatment.

Check a few practical points:

• Can clients choose a specific person, and is there an "any available" option for new clients?
• Are holidays and training days blocked out in advance?
• Do rooms or equipment need to be booked too, such as a treatment room or a single specialist machine?
• If team members use personal calendars, how will appointments show there?

A shared calendar that shows every appointment and staff member in one view makes this much easier to manage day to day. In Medzelo, for example, appointments can be sent to Google Calendar, and online sessions can include a Meet or Zoom link. See calendar and online meetings. Note that sync of this kind is often one way, so treat the booking system as the master diary.

3. Buffers and booking rules

Buffers are the time between appointments that clients cannot book. They protect your team from back-to-back pressure and give you time to clean, reset and prepare. Set them per service, because a massage room needs more turnaround than a fringe trim.

Add booking rules too:

• Minimum notice: how close to the appointment time can someone book online?
• Maximum advance booking: how far ahead can the diary be booked?
• Slot intervals: offering start times every 15 minutes gives flexibility; every 30 minutes keeps the diary tidier.
• New client limits: some salons reserve longer or specific services for clients who have had a consultation.

4. Deposits and payments

Deposits protect your time where it matters most. Consider them for long services, high-value treatments, packages, new clients and peak times such as Friday afternoons and Saturdays. You do not need one for every booking, and asking for deposits everywhere can put off loyal regulars.

Whatever you choose, make the deposit easy to pay at the moment of booking, state the amount clearly and say whether it comes off the final bill. Make sure the team can see at a glance which appointments are paid.

5. Cancellation policy

A cancellation policy only works if clients see it before they book and the team applies it consistently. Write it in plain language and keep it short:

• How much notice you need to cancel or reschedule.
• What happens to a deposit if a client cancels late or does not attend.
• How to cancel or reschedule, ideally through a link in the confirmation.

Show the policy on the booking page, in the confirmation message and in reminders. Making rescheduling easy is part of the policy: clients who can move an appointment in two taps are less likely to simply not turn up.

6. Confirmations, reminders and forms

Every booking should trigger a confirmation straight away, with the date, time, service, team member, address and policy. Then set reminders, typically a few days before (with a reschedule link) and the day before.

If clients need to complete a consultation or consent form, send it automatically before the appointment rather than handing over a clipboard at reception. Spas in particular benefit from collecting health questions before treatments. Medzelo's automations send reminders, forms and follow-ups on rules you set once, so nothing depends on someone remembering.

7. Put the booking page where clients look

A booking page nobody finds will not change much. Add the link to:

• Your website header, home page and every service page.
• Your Instagram bio, story highlights and posts that mention a service.
• Your Google Business Profile.
• Your WhatsApp Business profile and reply templates.
• Email signatures and footers.

Make sure the page loads quickly on a phone and looks like your brand. Most salon and spa clients will book on mobile, often straight from Instagram.

Before you go live

1. Book a test appointment for each main service as a client would, on a phone.
2. Check it appears in the right calendar with the right duration and buffer.
3. Pay a test deposit and confirm it shows as paid.
4. Cancel and reschedule a test booking using the client links.
5. Check every confirmation and reminder reads well.
6. Brief the team on how online bookings will appear and who checks them each morning.

For more detail by business type, see how this works for salons and for spas and wellness businesses.