The Bookatu blog
Practical, no-nonsense advice for service businesses. Cutting no-shows, building steady income, getting found online, and keeping more of what you earn.
Before and after photos, kept where you will actually find them
Your camera roll is not a filing system. Keep before and after photos on the client's profile, private to your team by default, so last visit's work is one tap away at the next appointment.
The QR code on your counter that books clients while you work
Every 'I'll book later' is a booking you might not get. A QR code on the counter, the mirror, or the window sends people straight to your booking page while the intention is still warm.
Offer online sessions and let the video link make itself
Mark a service as an online video call and every booking for it gets its own Google Meet link in the confirmation email. Here is how a personal trainer kept the clients that distance was costing him.
Ring up counter sales in a few taps, discount included
A client at the counter wants the serum you just used and a top coat to go with it. Here is how to ring that up in a few taps, take 10 percent off on the spot, and have the sale land in your books the moment it happens.
Airy for a spa, bold for a barber: choosing a look for your booking page
Your booking page should feel like your shop, not like a template. Bookatu comes with six shop-front looks. Pick one in settings, preview it in your own brand colour, and save. Your layout and your colours stay exactly where they are.
Promo codes that fill a quiet week and tell you what worked
A code that expires tonight can fill this afternoon's chairs. Give it a channel and every booking it brings is counted, so next month you are not guessing whether the post worked. You read it in a table, in dollars.
Your booking page speaks your clients' language
Your clients should not have to book in a language they do not think in. Pick your booking page's language in one setting, let dates and prices follow, and keep your own dashboard in the language you prefer.
Get the health history and consent signed before the client arrives
A first facial should not start with a clipboard. Build your intake and consent form once, attach it to the right services, and clients fill and sign it on their phone before they walk in.
Turn a cancellation into a booking with the waitlist
Your best day is one text away from having a hole in it. Here is how the waitlist fills a Saturday cancellation in minutes, with the slot offered to the clients who already asked for it.
Know what your retail shelf is worth
A salon that sells skincare, polish and haircare should be able to see what is running low and what the whole shelf is worth. Here is how to turn on stock tracking and read that one number.
How to do a stocktake from your phone, no clipboard needed
A physical stock count without printing a list or sitting at a laptop. Walk the shelf, type what you actually count, and let the system correct your on-hand and log the difference so you can see what walked off.
Move your stock spreadsheet into Bookatu without retyping it
You already keep your retail in a spreadsheet with columns like Brand, Item, SKU, In Stock and Price. Save it as a CSV and import it. Bookatu reads your column names as they are, matches on SKU so nothing duplicates, and a price-only sheet updates just prices.