Bookings and POS together: a guide for service businesses
Author: Matti Toorikka, Head of SalesUpdated
A customer calls in the middle of a haircut. Can you answer, or does the booking go elsewhere? In the evening you copy the booked services into the till and check whether you sold a gift card or a care product. When booking and the till are in the same system, each thing is recorded once. This guide explains how it works in Solmio.
A ready template for your field
Setup starts from an industry template. There are templates for ten fields: barber and hairdresser, beauty salon, nail studio, lash and brow studio, massage, physiotherapy, foot care and podiatry, tattoo and piercing, personal training and pet grooming.
A template has the field's typical services with durations, preparation and cleaning times, add-on services, opening hours and a cancellation limit ready. The tattoo template includes an age check and a longer cancellation limit. Everything can be edited, and the template can be run again without losing your changes.
If you have more than one field, for example a barber and a nail studio, the second template can be added to the same booking page. Each field can also have its own booking link.
The service price comes from the till
Each service is linked to a till product. The price on the booking page is the same as in the till, and it can't accidentally change in only one place. When the customer comes for the visit, the service and any care product sold go on the same receipt.
Each staff member gets the services they perform. When several people perform a service, the customer can choose First available. Free times are then combined, and the booking goes to the person with the fewest bookings that day.
The customer books themselves
The customer books on your company's own booking page, with your logo, colours and contact details. Before confirming, the customer sees the cancellation and rescheduling limit and your contact details.
The confirmation arrives by email with a calendar invitation. If the customer wants, it also comes to WhatsApp. A reminder goes out before the visit.
The customer can move or cancel the booking from the link in the confirmation. When a slot frees up, you get a notice by email. If no suitable time is available, the customer can leave their details on a waiting list.
Customer card and treatment details
The person booking is saved in the customer register. If the same customer has bought from the online shop, the same customer card is used, and the card shows they are also a booking customer.
Treatment visits can be recorded on the customer card with the field's form template. Health background is stored only with the customer's consent, and withdrawing consent deletes it. Every view and change of treatment details is logged. Cashier users can't see treatment details.
In massage, physiotherapy and podiatry the official patient records belong in a patient record system. Solmio reminds you of this during setup, and in these fields treatment cards are visible only to users with recording rights.
Gift cards and care products online
Booking doesn't take an advance payment, but gift cards can be sold online. A gift card shop is created with the template. The customer pays online, gets the gift card by email and can save it to their phone wallet. The till reads the gift card from the QR code.
Care products can be sold in the product shop. For example, shampoo in different sizes or nail polish in different colours shows as one product, and stock comes from the salon's inventory. The customer chooses delivery or pickup from the salon.
Read more in the guide Which online shop fits your sales?
Getting started
- Choose an industry template and check the services, durations and opening hours.
- Link services to till products so the prices match.
- Add staff and choose which services each person performs.
- Set your logo and colours so the booking page and messages look like you.
- Share the booking link on your website, social media and Google profile.
Let's look at your setup together
In service businesses the till, booking, gift cards and care products are often in four different services. In Solmio they are together. In a demo we look at how your services, staff and products fit in.
See the POS for service businesses or tell us how you take bookings now.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to enter service prices in two places?
No. A service is linked to a till product, and the price comes from the till. When you change the price in the till, the booking page shows the same price.
Does booking charge the customer in advance?
No. The customer pays for the visit at the till. Gift cards and products can still be sold online.
Can the customer move or cancel a booking themselves?
Yes, within the limit the company sets. The link is in the confirmation message. You get a notice when a slot frees up.
Does booking work if I do everything myself?
Yes. When only one person performs a service, the customer isn't asked to choose, and booking takes three steps: service, time and confirmation.
Can I record a customer's treatment details?
You can record treatment visits and, with the customer's consent, health background on the customer card. In massage, physiotherapy and podiatry the official patient records belong in a patient record system. Solmio's notes only support them there.
