Salon booking system

Introduction

Salon system is that important detail that helps your beauty shop to stand out among competitors. Nowadays, if a beauty salon doesn't have online booking, it loses clients. Often if a person is ready to book a service, there is a possibility that he or she won't be comfortable with calling, arranging time, etc. Sometimes people don't even want to talk to the administrator. Plus, customers would like to book a service after their work and out of your work hours (no one will call to book a manicure at midnight but to book it online… why not). As the system works 24/7 you won't lose any minute and any client.

When a client is not able to book a service at the desired moment, there is a huge possibility that he’ll change the salon. Why would you wait to book something, if the nearest beauty salon offers booking right now? The final is pathetic – a beauty shop without salon scheduling software loses. But don’t worry, you can always change things and select the software that suits your beauty salon best.

Let's speak about a salon booking system – a handy tool that allows online booking 24/7. Clients will find your services even when you sleep. So, here is the question…

What is a salon booking system?

A salon system is a cool tool that helps with managing your business online. Usually, such services offer a calendar with online booking feature, widget for 24/7 booking, marketing tools like QR codes for booking, etc. The main idea is in getting your customers the ability to make an appointment at any time.

The 21st century together with the global pandemic made a salon system a must-have for any beauty shop. People got lazy and together with the total restrictions, no one wants to risk and come or even call to book a service. Notebooks and planners don't work anymore, we need technology.

That's why salon appointment systems get more and more popular. People need them, so there are many similar services in the current market. As usual, they are of 2 types:

• Cloud-based: information is stored in the “cloud” – on the remote servers to which you get access via the internet;

• On-premise: information is kept in the on-site servers.

Both have their pros and cons, and both are equally effective. Using a cloud-based service, you’ll always need the internet to get the information. But also the company, which provides the system, is responsible for storing and saving it, so no need to worry about getting the equipment. On-premise systems store the information on your computer. You’ll have to install all the needed software and get powerful servers. Now, when you more or less understand what a beauty salon system is, let's think about how to choose a good one.

How to select the system that suits your beauty salon best

There are many salon system software, pos systems for salons, etc. So, sometimes it's difficult to understand what's the difference and which system suits your beauty shop best. Well, they all work similarly, it's better to select your system according to the several criteria:

• Number of functions

• User-friendliness

• Update frequency

• Tech support

• Price

• Design

And don’t forget to read reviews from real users. Clients usually tell all the bitter truth about the service and of course all the pluses as well. Before you decide on the salon system software make sure you understand the services you’ll provide, the size of your business, staff, locations, etc. This way, you can choose the tariff that suits your beauty parlor best and won’t overpay.

Among the most popular salon management systems are:

• EasyWeek

• Fresha

• Zen Planner

• Shore

• Calendly

• TreatWell

• TeamUp

• Wild Apricot

• Pike

• Club Automation

• Team Snap

Every salon system gives you a set of tools: online booking, personal page, widget, etc. Your task is to select the software that suits your business best.

EasyWeek salon appointment system

EasyWeek is a young and ambitious CRM system that is already trusted by more than a thousand businesses worldwide. The salon system offers many tools for managing business online and what's the most important is that you’ll be able to use all of them. There are no complicated solutions, every detail is thought to be easy and functional. Starting from signing up and finishing with online booking – the service is user-oriented.

EasyWeek is an easy-to-use solution both for big and small businesses.

The service offers:

• 24/7 online booking: get more clients even out of work hours.

• Stylish widget: customize the widget to stand out.

• Personal page with a custom domain: get a mini-website without extra expenses.

• Real-time calendar: no need to reload the page, all the bookings are added in real-time.

• Integrations: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Google Maps, WordPress, Tilda, etc.

• Push, SMS, email notifications: keep your staff in touch with their new bookings and send reminders to the clients or just thank them for visiting your beauty shop.

• Qualified tech support: if anything happens, you are not alone.

• Constant updates: be sure your beauty salon will stay trendy with all the brand-new software.

One of the facts our customers appreciate the most is that EasyWeek offers better pricing than the nearest competitors. It starts from $10 for an individual tariff and there are several plans for up to 50 users. If you need more slots, just contact our tech support and they’ll help.

EasyWeek also offers a free trial: 14 days during which you’ll be able to set up the service and decide whether that's what you need.

How to set up online booking for your beauty salon

Let's see how easy it is to set up an online booking with EasyWeek. We have to create a widget, so then your customers will be able to select the location, service and time online 24/7. One of the main pluses of the widget is that clients will see only the available time – no more mess with appointments. Once the service is booked the new booking appears in the calendar and there are notifications for the specialist and client (SMS, push or email).

Clarification: You can also add or edit bookings manually.

While signing up, the service will help you with all steps. Usually, it takes up to 30 minutes to set up everything and start working. Anyway, if you have any questions, the help center or tech support will solve it easily.

Now, let's take a look at the most important detail – setting up online booking.

Step 1. Sign up with EasyWeek

Then add locations, services, staff schedules, etc. Let's talk about the setting up in detail.

Step 2. Set up a master's schedule

Here we set up the work hours of the specialist. They’ll be available to book via widget.

Step 3. Add information about your company

To fill in the company's information you have to go to Business Settings. Click on the profile photo in the lower-left corner and then find this item.

There are 3 tabs – Company, Locations and Services. First, let's fill in the information about the company. To do it click Edit.

Now, fill in the required information: company name, sphere of activity, phone number, information about your beauty salon that’ll appear on your personal page, social media links, etc. Fill in the fields and don’t forget to save the changes.

Step 4. Create locations

To make a booking client has to know the exact place of your beauty shop. So, you have to add it to the widget. The 1st location is created automatically, if you have a chain business – add locations manually. The Locations section is placed under the Company section, which we’ve mentioned before.

Then, fill in the required data: location name, description, phone number and address.

If necessary, the location can be hidden from the widget. For example, one of the salons is undergoing repairs and services are temporarily not available. Just hide the location for a while, and then turn it on when you are ready to provide services.

Locations can be edited. To do this, click on the chosen location in the list.

This way you can also specify its work hours, add photos, services and employees to the branch.

Step 5. Adding services

Making an online booking, your customer has to select the service he wants to get. So, salon owners or administrators must add the full list of provided services to the salon booking system (in our case to the EasyWeek system).

To add services go to Business Settings – Services (right under the Locations section).

Click on Create Service.

Now, fill in the information about the service: name, category, description + duration, and price, which you can hide in the widget.

If you provide service for free as a part of promotion, just note it in the widget. If the price isn't fixed, you can also add from which amount it starts. Additionally, you can add a discount system and expenses price. The expense price is a good thing to use as it shows your customers that the price is real and the service is not overpriced.

It is also possible to hide the service from the widget. You can do it while creating a service or later. 2 more useful hacks: Top service, which highlights the service in the widget and on the personal page, and automatic distribution, which randomly distributes appointments among the free masters.

All the services are edited. Click on the service and then you can add photos, locations, masters, etc. And, don’t forget to add related services. For example, to the manicure, you can add a pedicure with a small discount. It’ll make the client feel special and double the check.

You can also edit or add Schedule and Services by clicking on the master’s/owner’s/administrator’s profile.

Setting up is done!

It's possible to customize the widget to make it suit your beauty salon best. Go to the Business Settings – Online Booking. Here select colors/icons/wallpapers for your company's widget and set up a link for your EasyWeek personal page that works like a mini-website. Also you can set up fields for confirming the booking (name, phone, email, etc.) or additional requirements (for example, note that the client can make an appointment no earlier than 30 minutes before).

There are available notifications of 3 types:

• Email

• Push

• SMS

Where to place a booking link

For sure, in the place where your potential customers will notice it!

Social networks:

EasyWeek is integrated with many social networks (for example, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok). If you want to receive bookings via other social networks, just place a booking link in your company profile there.

Websites:

You can place the widget on any website. To do it go to your profile and copy its link in the Integrations section. Plus, there are also checklists on embedding widget on Tilda and WordPress.

Online maps:

In the Integrations section, you will find instructions on how to install the widget on GoogleMaps, Yandex.Maps and 2Gis. If you have a Google My Business account, add the booking link there as well.

Review websites

Sign up to review websites like Amazon, Zoon, Flamp, Yelp, Trip Advisor, Orgpage, SPR. Add a link for the online booking to your profile and enjoy!

Messengers

If you contact your customers via Viber, WhatsApp, Telegram, why not send them the booking link in a message.

QR Codes

With EasyWeek you can create a unique QR code and then print it. Go to Business Settings - Marketing - Stickers. Create a unique booking QR code for every location.

Put these stickers all around in your beauty salon to get much more bookings. It's also a good idea to place it in the partner salons. All your potential clients have to do to make an appointment is to scan the QR code. Modern and easy!

How to create a free website with a booking feature

If you don't have a website, EasyWeek will help you with creating a personal page that works like a mini-website. You don't have to pay any additional fees as the website is already included in every EasyWeek tariff. Plus, if you'd like to hide EasyWeek website copyrights, activate a “white label” mode and connect your custom domain.

Advantages of the EasyWeek mini-website:

There are 2 booking buttons, no need to set them up;

• The website is constructed using the information you fill in the EasyWeek system (no need to use additional software, etc).

• You can connect promotion tools to the EasyWeek landing page.

• It's possible to drive traffic to the landing page from social networks and YouTube.

• Site blocks are created taking into account all the modern requirements for design and typography.

• You can set up Google Analytics, Yandex Metrika and Facebook Pixel.

• By connecting a custom domain, it's possible to advertise your beauty salon on Yandex Direct, Google Ads, Facebook Ads and Instagram.

• SEO is optimized for Yandex and Google.

The landing page is thought out. At the top of the page, there is the name of the salon, address, photo (or video) and contact information. The first button for online booking is located here. The second widget button is located in the lower right corner, so always visible when scrolling the page.

There is a gallery below, an "About Us" section, a list of provided services and locations.

An additional bonus is a Select button, which allows you to book a service in a click.

After the Services there is a Team block:

Then Locations:

Next FAQ block. We advise you to add it to minimize repetitive questions.

And the website footer with the main blocks and contacts:

To get such a website you don't need to hire an IT specialist. Just fill in the required information into the EasyWeek system and you are done!

Conclusions

Salon booking system is a 21st century must-have. It gives your beauty salon a set of handy tools like online booking, widget, personal mini-website, notifications, etc. EasyWeek salon system software not only covers all the needs of any beauty shop in the current market but also offers simply chic design and pleasant pricing with a variety of tariffs. Plus, EasyWeek has a handy app, which is available for IOS and Android, so it's suitable for Mac, IPad, iPhone as much as for many other laptops.

Don’t hesitate to try EasyWeek salon scheduling software! Anyway, you can do it for free with a 14-days trial and then decide whether it works well for your beauty parlor. If you have any questions, feel free to contact our support team, they’ll be glad to help with setting up.