With more people prioritizing wellness in their daily lives, the global spa market is brimming with game-changing salon booking apps that leverage automation, cloud, and other innovative technologies. According to a recent study, the spa and salon software market is expected to record a CAGR of 7.11% during the forecast period 2021-2026. This indicates why it’s crucial for spas and salons to invest in the best salon online scheduling app to improve their overall efficiency and stand out among competition. These days many businesses are investing in this technology. There are after school program booking software too that many institutes are using. Here’s a list of tips to help you choose the right online booking app for salon.

Identify Your Goals

Each salon business is different; so is every salon online scheduling app. Find out the existing business challenges that you would want the salon booking app to solve. Choose a solution that aligns with your goals. Are you running a hair cut salon, a beauty bar, or a wellness center? Clearly define the type of service you’re providing and choose a salon online scheduling app that caters to all your requirements. If you’re receiving a lot of booking inquiries via phone or email, or having a tough time managing no-shows and unexpected cancellations, you’ll need a salon booking app offering advanced capabilities such as automated appointment scheduling, inventory management, marketing, payroll, employee management, reporting, and other key functions. With a clear cut definition of your goals, you can choose the right online booking app for your salon.

Consider Your Budget

The salon online scheduling app you choose shouldn’t burn a hole in your pocket. It should be cost-effective, offering an all-inclusive plan for a reasonable monthly service fee. Compare the salon booking app features and prices quoted by top vendors and shortlist the best ones. Verify if any additional costs are involved to buy extra features. Make sure that the selected salon online scheduling app doesn’t throw any surprise costs later.

Analyze The Software’s Reputation

It’s important to assess the reputation of the software vendor that develops the salon booking app. Look at their list of clients and examine their reviews and responses on the salon online scheduling app. Analyze the app developer’s portfolio to understand how other spa and salon owners have grown their business with the spa software.

Ask for a Free Trial

Even if a salon booking app features all the required capabilities to run your spa efficiently, it’s important to select a software that offers a free trial for two weeks to a month. This allows you to test how the salon booking app will handle various functions and scenarios in real-life. You’ll get a chance to analyze the pros and cons of the tool and decide if you can go ahead with it or require any software customizations. You can also identify the salon booking app features that matter most to you and eliminate unwanted features to save costs.

Billing Features

Choose a salon booking app that allows you to generate invoices quickly and enables customers to make online payments seamlessly during checkouts. With digital invoicing, you can reduce a huge amount of paperwork and avoid manual data entry errors. Ensure that the app integrates with multiple payment gateways and allows users to pay their bills via different channels such as Amazon Pay, cards, mobile wallets, and so on. The salon online scheduling app should be capable of generating coupons for offers and discounts that can be digitally redeemed at your front desk.

Opting a salon booking app with a user-friendly navigation and UI can extend your salon’s reach far and wide. The app should be scalable to accommodate the growing needs of your business and allow your customers to manage their appointments with ease. It should give you insightful reports on your salon’s performance and offer easy accessibility, no matter where you’re. Follow these tips to pick the right salon booking app that streamlines your business operations, enhances guest experience, boosts employee engagement, and guarantees a high return on investment.