The Book-by-Slot mode revolutionizes your salon's appointment system with group drop-offs, smart slot management, and automated booking controls.
Perfect for businesses that:
Handle group drop-offs (e.g., 5 dogs at 9 AM)
Need precise control over daily capacity
Want to eliminate scheduling back-and-forth with clients
💡 Note: Available for salon businesses only.
How to Set Up Book-by-Slot
Step 1: Switch to by-slot mode
Go to Settings > Staff > Shift Management.
Under Availability Type, select By Slot: This applies to all staff members.
Step 2: Configure Working Days & Hours
Select a staff member.
Check their working days.
Set Working Hours: It is reflected with grey shades on the calendar. The system will notify you when there is an appointment conflict with non-working hours.
Max pets per day (overall limit): When daily setting conditions are met, no further appointments can be booked for that day
Step 3: Customize Time Slots
Divide the day into slots (e.g., 9 AM–10 AM, 10 AM–11 AM) and add slots.
For each slot: Set max pets allowed
(Optional) Click on "Edit" to add booking limits (size/breed/service): Learn more about booking limits.
Step 4: Repeat for All Staff
Configure each team member’s slots based on their capacity.
Advanced Settings
Rotating Schedules
Set repeating weekly patterns (every 2/3/4 weeks).
Learn more about rotating schedules.
Date Overrides
Adjust slots for holidays or special events.
Learn more about date overrides
Slot-free service
Slot free services will not occupy slots.
Learn more about date overrides
How It Works
Calendar View
By default - Hover over dates to see :
Slot occupancy (e.g., "3/5 pets booked")
Fully booked status
Enable slot indicators in Calendar > Config:
Show slot time/location
Display occupancy
Sync With Online Booking
Go to Online booking > Settings > Availability > Team Schedule
Toggle on "Staff shift sync" for consistency in manual booking and online booking.
You can still decide which staff are available for online booking, but to edit details of each slot, please go to Settings > Staff > Staff management.
💡 Note: The date override and rotating schedule will take effect regardless of whether or not the sync toggle is on.
Customer Experience Booking Online
Single Pet
For single-pet families, the booking process remains familiar - they'll only see available slots based on your book-by-slot configuration.
Multiple Pet
When it comes to multi-pet parents, if you have preferred groomers, it will also provide special flexibility for the book-by-slot mode.
Parents can choose to either:
Book all their pets with the same groomer in consecutive slots, or
Schedule multiple pets with different groomers in the same time slot
Example Scenario:
A client is booking an appointment for two pets and wants to select the 10:00 AM time slot.
Staff A can handle two pets in the same time slot
Staff B can handle one pet per time slot
Possible Booking Options
Based on staff availability and capacity, the following booking scenarios are supported:
One pet with Staff A at 10:00 AM and one pet with Staff B at 10:00 AM
Same start time, different groomers
Two pets with Staff A at 10:00 AM
Both pets scheduled in the same time slot with the same groomer
Two pets with Staff B in consecutive time slots
One pet at 10:00 AM
One pet at 11:00 AM
These options allow the system to accommodate multi-pet bookings while respecting each staff member’s capacity and availability.
This intelligent slot logic adapts to their preferences while always respecting your business rules and capacity limits.
Important Note:
Online booking Multi-pet logic currently only supports a maximum of two pets per booking request. These two pets can be scheduled either:
In consecutive time slots with the same groomer, or
At the same time with different groomers
Example:
If a client attempts to book three pets (more than 2 pet) online and there is no available slot that can accommodate all three pets at once, then the system will show no available slots. In this case, the client will need to contact the business directly to complete the booking manually.
Slot Capacity Logic
Slots reflect true calendar occupancy, considering actual service times (not just appointment starts)
It counts upwards to the nearest slot as capacity.
E.g., Both 9:10 AM and 9: 50 AM appointment occupies the 9 AM slot
Each pet’s service time independently blocks slots
E.g., Pets starting at 9 AM and 10 AM in one appointment will block 9 AM and 10 AM slots.
Rules work together seamlessly
E.g., Pets at 9:00 AM and 10:50 AM (rounds to 10 AM) will block 9 AM and 10 AM slots.