Booking App Builder

Online Booking Setup Checklist for a Spa or Salon

A step-by-step checklist for setting up online booking at a spa or salon: service menu, staff and rooms, scheduling rules, payments, reminders, booking links and launch testing.

Floot ·

Key Takeaways

  • Decide before you configure. Write the service menu, staff skills, room rules and policies on paper first. Most setup problems come from deciding on the fly inside a settings screen.
  • Model rooms and equipment, not just staff. A spa treatment often needs a qualified therapist and a specific room at once. Check your tool handles both before you commit to it.
  • Payments and policy go live together. A cancellation policy without a deposit or card on file can’t be enforced. Set both at the same time and show the full policy on the booking page.
  • Put the booking link where clients already look. Your website, Google Business Profile, Instagram and Facebook. Google’s link rules require the link to go to a page where clients can actually book.
  • Test with your three hardest real bookings. If the tool handles those without a workaround, it will handle the rest.

Quick-Start Prioritization Framework

PhaseMain decisionsTime to allow
1. GatherServices, prices, staff, rooms, hours, policies1–2 hours
2. ConfigureMenu, staff skills, rooms, buffers, intervals2–4 hours
3. Payments and policyDeposit or card rule, cancellation window, fees1 hour
4. RemindersTiming, channel, wording, consent1 hour
5. LinksWebsite, Google, Instagram, Facebook1 hour
6. Test and launchAwkward bookings, staff trial, soft launch1–3 days

Turning on online booking takes an afternoon. Setting it up so it doesn’t create double bookings, wrong prices or angry clients takes a little longer, and most of that work is deciding things before you touch the software. This checklist runs in the order that works best: gather your information, build the service menu, set staff and room rules, decide payments and policies, set up reminders, publish your booking link everywhere clients look, and test before clients see it. Each step lists exactly what to decide and what to check.

Phase 1: Gather what you need

Before opening any software, collect the information in one document. This doubles as the brief if you later compare tools.

Checklist

Tick each one off before moving on.

  • Every service: client-facing name, length, price, short description
  • Which staff can perform each service, and any price differences by staff level
  • Rooms, chairs, beds and equipment, and which services need which
  • Opening hours and each staff member’s regular hours
  • Cleanup or setup time each service needs
  • Cancellation window, fees and deposit rules
  • Intake or consent forms for treatments that need them
  • Photos and your logo for the booking page

Pick your three hardest bookings

Look back at the last month and pick three bookings that took thought: a couples massage, a colour with a cut squeezed in, a facial that needed one particular room. You will use these to test any tool in Phase 6.

Phase 2: Build the service menu and schedule

This is where most of the setup time goes.

Service menu

Group services in the order clients think about them (massage, facials, body, nails), not by internal codes. Keep names short and plain. Put prices and lengths in the fields the tool provides, not in the name. Fresha’s Reserve with Google requirements, for example, say service names and descriptions can’t include prices, durations or emojis, and similar rules apply on other platforms.

  • Service names under 40 characters, no prices or times in the name
  • Duration the client sees, plus a separate buffer for cleanup
  • Add-ons set up as add-ons, so they extend the booking automatically
  • Variable-price services shown as ‘from $X’
  • Services that can only be booked by phone hidden from online booking

Staff and skills

Assign each service only to staff who perform it. Enter each person’s working hours and any regular days off. If prices vary by seniority, set that now; changing it after launch confuses existing bookings.

Rooms and equipment

If a service needs a particular room or machine, set it up as a resource. Check carefully what your tool does here. Square, for instance, lists resource management only on its Premium plan. If your tool has no resource rules, decide how staff will prevent two bookings landing in the same room.

Scheduling rules

Set buffers after services (10 to 15 minutes for dry treatments, longer for wet ones), start-time intervals that match your service lengths, a minimum notice of at least 2 hours, and a booking horizon of 30 to 90 days. Add processing time for colour services if your tool supports it.

Phase 3: Payments and cancellation policy

Set payments and policy together, because one enforces the other.

Choose the payment rule

Decide between no payment, a deposit, full prepayment or a card on file, and for which clients and services. A common spa setup is a deposit for first-time clients and long treatments, and a card on file for everyone else.

Check fees and plan limits

Look up the processing fee for online payments on your tool’s pricing page. Square lists 3.3% + 30¢ on its free plan and 2.9% + 30¢ on Plus and Premium; Fresha lists 2.79% + $0.20. Also check which plan includes cancellation fees: Square lists cancellation policy and no-show fees on Plus and Premium, not on its free plan.

Write and display the policy

Write the notice window, fees and exceptions in a few plain sentences. Show the full text on the booking page with a required checkbox. Stripe’s dispute guidance notes card issuers may not accept a checkbox containing only a link as proof the client saw the policy.

  • Notice window set in the tool (e.g. 24 or 48 hours)
  • Fee type and amount set in the tool
  • Full policy text visible at booking with required agreement
  • Policy summary in the confirmation and reminders

Phase 4: Confirmations and reminders

Reminders are the cheapest way to cut no-shows. In a Cochrane review of healthcare appointments, attendance was 67.8% with no reminder and 78.6% with a text reminder.

Checklist

Most tools send these automatically once configured.

  • Confirmation email at booking with address, parking, prep notes, policy and reschedule link
  • Reminder just before the free-cancellation cut-off (about 48 hours out for a 24-hour policy)
  • Short reminder 2–3 hours before
  • Opt-in checkbox for text reminders, with opt-out wording in texts
  • Check your plan’s text allowance (Fresha lists 100 free messages a month on its Independent plan, then $0.02 each)

Phase 5: Put your booking link everywhere

Clients book where they already are. Add the link to each place below and check it opens the booking page directly, not your homepage.

Google Business Profile

Google lets businesses add booking links to their Business Profile, up to 10 links per category, from the Booking section or Edit profile. Its link policies say the link must lead to a page for your business where customers can complete the booking, and that social media, messaging, app store and link-shortener URLs aren’t allowed. If your booking platform is a Reserve with Google partner, it may also be able to add a Book button for you.

Website and social

Add a ‘Book now’ button to your website header and every service page. Add the link to your Instagram and Facebook profiles; several platforms, including Fresha and Square, list Instagram and Facebook booking integrations. Put a QR code at the front desk and on receipts so clients rebook before they leave.

  • Website header button and service pages
  • Google Business Profile booking link (or partner Book button)
  • Instagram and Facebook profile buttons
  • Email signature and receipts
  • QR code at the desk

Phase 6: Test, train and launch

Do not skip this. The front desk will find the rule you forgot within an hour of real use.

Test bookings

Book your three hardest real bookings from Phase 1. Then try to break it: book two clients into the only double room at once, book a service with a therapist who doesn’t offer it, cancel inside the window and check the fee, book from a phone. Fix each problem and test again.

Staff trial

Let the front desk use the system for a day with fake clients: booking, moving, cancelling, taking a deposit, checking a client in. Write down every question they ask; each one is a missing setting or a training gap.

Soft launch and switching over

Share the booking link with a group of regulars first, then everyone. If you are moving from another system, keep existing future appointments there until they pass, and take new bookings in the new system, so nobody is lost between the two.

Common mistakes

The same few problems account for most bad launches.

Forgetting rooms

Staff calendars look fine, but two treatments end up in one room. Set up rooms as resources or choose a tool that supports them.

Turning on fees before the policy is visible

Charging a fee the client never saw leads to refunds and disputes. Show the policy first.

Linking to the homepage

Every extra click loses bookings, and Google’s rules require booking links to lead to a page where the client can book.

Offering every service online

Corrective colour, bridal packages and anything that needs a consultation first should be ‘request’ or phone-only.

Switching systems mid-week

Run both systems until old bookings have passed, rather than migrating live appointments by hand.

If no tool fits

Most spas and salons find a ready-made platform that handles their menu. If yours depends on rules none of them hold (rooms and therapist pairings together, deposits only for some clients, packages that work your way), you have a choice between workarounds and something built for you.

If you’d rather not do this yourself, Floot builds a booking app from a plain-English description of your services and rules, with client logins, payments and scheduled reminders, and you can put it on your own domain.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to set up online booking for a salon?

Configuring a ready-made tool takes an afternoon if your information is ready. Allow one to three more days for testing with staff and a soft launch to regular clients.

Should every service be bookable online?

No. Services that need a consultation, a patch test or a custom quote are better as request-only or phone bookings. Put everything else online.

How do I add a Book button to Google?

Add a booking link to your Google Business Profile from the Booking section or Edit profile, or use a booking provider that is a Reserve with Google partner. The link must go to a page where clients can complete the booking.

Do I need a deposit for online bookings?

Not always, but a deposit or a card on file is what makes a cancellation policy enforceable. Many spas take a deposit from first-time clients and hold a card for regulars.

What buffer time should a spa use between treatments?

Around 15 minutes for dry treatments and 30 minutes for wet or product-heavy ones is a common starting point. Time your actual room resets and adjust.

Can clients book on Instagram?

Yes, if your booking platform supports Instagram booking or you add your booking link to your Instagram profile. Fresha and Square both list Instagram integrations on their pricing pages.

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