5 Best Scheduling Apps for Beauty & Wellness Businesses

Summary

For the modern beauty business, building a strong online presence is crucial. Most (if not all) of your clients turn to the web for information, inspiration, and entertainment, and it’s the first place most people will interact with your brand. It's important to make exploring and booking services online easy for your clients, but not all scheduling apps for businesses are created equal. Some booking apps are multifunctional, offering an array of features to handle various facets of your business, while others offer tools limited only to calendar sync, appointments, and reminders. This article contains a detailed look at several software features and apps that will make managing your self-care business easier.

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3 Reasons to Incorporate Scheduling Software into Your Business

If you want to attract new clients and ditch the double-booking drama, you need to make scheduling software your new BFF. Here’s why:

1. Improve time management

Using an appointment scheduling app is like having a personal assistant who keeps your calendar organized and your day running smoothly – no more frantic back-and-forths with clients or scrambling to find a pen and paper when someone wants to make an appointment. With booking software, you can:

• Effortlessly manage appointments: Get a dedicated booking page where clients can not only schedule appointments, but reschedule or cancel with just a few clicks.
• Send automated reminders: Reduce no-shows and keep clients informed about their upcoming appointments with automatic email or text reminders.
• Optimize your schedule: Identify gaps in your calendar and maximize your availability for bookings.

2. Enhance the client experience

Ready to give your patrons the VIP treatment they deserve? A user-friendly scheduling software solution makes booking appointments a breeze. It lets clients:

• Book appointments 24/7: Clients can schedule appointments online or in the mobile app at their convenience, even when your salon is closed.
• Receive instant confirmation: No more waiting around for confirmation – a quick automatic email confirmation or text confirms the client is on your calendar.
• Manage their appointments online: People can easily reschedule or cancel without having to call you directly.

3. Streamline business operations

Say goodbye to administrative headaches and hello to streamlined efficiency. An appointment scheduling app can help you:

• Reduce paperwork: Ditch the paper appointment book and manual spreadsheets and store client information digitally within the appointment scheduling software.
• Create client history records: Keep track of client preferences, appointments, and purchase history all in one place.
• Generate reports: Gain valuable insights into your business performance and track key metrics.

Try GlossGenius free for 14 days!

5 Best Scheduling Apps

Selecting the right booking app depends on the type of support you need to optimize your day-to-day. While it’s important to always do your own research, we’ve compiled a list of the best scheduling apps for businesses in the beauty and wellness industry.

1. GlossGenius

GlossGenius is a booking app and so much more. With GlossGenius, clients can view your availability through your booking page and social media websites and book with you 24/7 (unless you prefer to limit booking times to a specific window, in which case you can set restricted booking hours). You’ll also get access to calendar sync that works with Outlook, iCal, or your Google Calendar so you can always have an accurate accounting of your schedule on all of your devices. In addition to critical features like appointment reminders and automated confirmations, GlossGenius also includes staff management tools for your employees to set and manage their own schedules. 

If that wasn’t enough for a booking app, you can also take advantage of client management tools to make it easy to view customer appointment history and other details, as well as reports and analytics to collect insights into your business performance. And on top of that, inventory management features that let you keep track of your products and supplies without the need for manual input, along with point-of-sale options to simplify and streamline payment processing. 

Plus, if you own a med spa, GlossGenius’ extensive features now offer HIPAA compliance coverage.

GlossGenius offers a free 14-day free trial, followed by several paid plans designed to fit your needs. Standard plans start at $24/month, with Gold plans starting at $48/month, and Platinum plans starting at $148/month.

2. Calendly

Of course, there are many scheduling apps for businesses that focus more on booking appointments and less on additional support features. Calendly offers calendar sync across Google, Outlook, and Microsoft Office so you can easily manage your availability while also controlling reminders and other notifications. Add locations to your appointments, and even integrate video conferencing for beauty and wellness consultations.

Calendly does offer a few other features beyond just scheduling, such as payment processing through third-party integrations like PayPal and Stripe. However, it’s important to note that Calendly is a general scheduling app for businesses and not specifically geared toward the beauty and wellness industry, so users who need additional support may find their features lacking.

Calendly offers a free version of their appointment scheduling app, with their Standard paid plan starting at $10/month, and their Teams plan available for $16/month. 

3. Square

Square appointment scheduling offers plenty of calendar-centric features to support your daily booking needs. With their free, customizable booking page and website integration, you’ll get access to a booking widget to share across various platforms, which you can design to reflect your brand and help boost your online presence. Square also offers Google Calendar sync, along with automated appointment reminders and messaging to ensure your clients never forget their appointments. 

If you own a fitness business, Square also has the option for class booking, where you can schedule single or recurring classes with their own set prices for clients to sign up for. And with their waitlists feature, you can ensure you’ll always be able to fill any gaps or cancellations in your schedule. 

Square offers a basic plan starting at $0, with their Plus and Premium paid plans starting at $29 and $69, respectively. 

4. Vagaro

Another popular scheduling app for businesses in the beauty industry, Vagaro has an array of booking features designed to optimize your day and keep operations running smoothly. With Vagaro, client booking is completely under your control. Set booking rules and get the option to approve or deny potential appointments – useful for flaky clients with a history of no-shows. You’ll gain access to waitlist features, and will also have the ability to list your cancellation/refund policies to avoid conflict with deposits later on. 

They also provide HIPAA-compliant text/email notifications and reminders, a necessary feature for med spas that may handle sensitive medical information. Vagaro goes beyond your standard booking features with other tools like marketing, social media integration, and a custom branded app. You can even offer memberships and bundles to clients looking to prepay for their services, eliminating the need for physical checkout. 

Vagaro’s paid plans start at $23.99/month for one bookable calendar at a single location. 

5. Setmore

Setmore is a free appointment scheduling app that offers 24/7 booking and reminders. With its customizable booking page, you can design every aspect of your online presence from logos, to colors, to pictures. This booking page syncs to your calendar, so you can quickly and easily manage your schedule from your desktop, tablet, or mobile devices, anywhere, any time – even share your booking link across your website and social media sites. 

When clients book appointments with Setmore, your calendar will update in real time, and customers will receive an automated confirmation with all of the details they need (along with a handy link to reschedule their appointments should any conflicts arise). Color-code your tasks, set your availability, and block out time, while also providing calendar access to your staff members to manage their own schedules. Setmore also offers video call integration, so you can host online classes or consultations depending on the nature of your business. 

Pricing starts at $0/month for their basic plan, and $12/month for their Pro plan.

9 Scheduling Software Features for Beauty and Wellness Businesses

There’s more to booking software platforms than meets the eye. Here’s what to look for to give your clients (and yourself) the best, most intuitive experience possible:

1. Dynamic scheduling and visibility

A good appointment scheduling app lets you effortlessly set, display, and update your availability, including calendar blocks for vacations (or the occasional mental health day, because you need self-care too). Clients will be able to see your hours of operation and book appointments in increments that suit your services. And if you choose scheduling software that allows you to set auto-approval rules, you won’t have to waste time manually approving or denying every appointment that goes through your site.

2. Automatic confirmations and reminders

No more last-minute cancellations or frustrating no-shows – a top-notch booking app sends automatic confirmations and reminders to keep clients on track. People can choose how they want to receive reminders, which the appointment scheduling software sends periodically to keep the upcoming appointment top of mind. You can even require clients to add a card on file to make collecting no-show or cancellation fees easy.

3. Team calendar syncing

As your team scales, your appointment scheduling software needs to grow right alongside it. Look for software that allows you to add multiple users and sync their calendars to the booking website. Adding and syncing multiple calendars means each team member can manage their own schedule, hours, and appointments. They can even create their own profiles so clients can see which professional is qualified and available to provide the desired service. 

4. Payment, tip, and rebooking integrations

The fewer moves a client has to make to engage with your business, the better. Look for software that seamlessly integrates with your point-of-sale and payments system so clients can book, pay, tip, and rebook all in one place. Making rebooking easier means more clients will schedule another appointment – just ask beauty professional Matthew Landis, who achieved a near-100% rebooking rate with GlossGenius. 

Not convinced? An integrated booking and payments system streamlines your experience, too. It makes tracking and analyzing your payments, expenses, and profits a cinch.

Try GlossGenius free for 14 days!

5. Centralized client management

There’s something irresistible about a salon that remembers a client’s favorite hair color formula or shade of lipstick. That information is easy to track with the right booking app. You should be able to add essential details to each client’s profile, recording everything from contact information and appointment history to retail purchases. 

This treasure trove of information helps you personalize customer experiences, create targeted marketing campaigns, and build strong relationships your clients won’t want to walk away from.

6. Email marketing

Want to keep your clients in the loop and your appointment book full? Then you need a booking app with built-in email marketing features – think automated email blasts, birthday messages, and targeted campaigns that give people the reminder they need to book their next appointment, along with promos that entice them to return to your salon or spa. With the right marketing tools, it’s easy to stay top-of-mind and keep your clients coming back for more.

7. AI features

A scheduling app equipped with AI-powered features helps your beauty business strut into the future with the fierceness of a supermodel. From smart scheduling assistants that optimize your calendar to personalized recommendations that wow your clients, AI works smarter, not harder to support everyday tasks. 

8. Forms and waivers

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Say goodbye to paper clutter and hello to eco-friendly efficiency. With a scheduling app that supports digital forms and waivers, you can streamline your intake process and keep all important documents organized in one place, making them simple to access in a pinch when you need them. 

9. Payroll

Think you need a separate employee scheduling software solution to manage your team’s time and pay? Think again. Built-in payroll can help keep your finances organized so you never fall behind on your budget or payments. The payroll features offered by a platform like GlossGenius let you manage employee wages, enjoy effortless time tracking, and even generate pay stubs. It’s easier than ever to keep your team organized and paid on time.

Elevate Your Beauty and Wellness Business with GlossGenius

Want a booking app that does it all? Try GlossGenius, the all-in-one platform designed to help you manage calendars, elevate the client experience, and achieve your business goals. 

With GlossGenius, you get the lowest payment processing fees, in-app payment processing, and a customizable booking website. Our booking software makes it easy to manage appointments, clients, and team members’ schedules and services all in one place. GlossGenius can even help you set (and crush!) your business goals. 

Sign up for a 14-day free trial of GlossGenius today to bring the future of beauty into focus.