An empty chair cannot be sold twice. A cancelled slot with two days' notice can be refilled; a no-show at ten past cannot. That is why a no-show costs more than a cancellation, and why the fix is about notice rather than about punishment.
Two things reduce no-shows more than anything else, and neither is a stern policy page: money committed at the time of booking, and a reminder that arrives while there is still time to move the appointment.
Take something at the time of booking
The moment a booking costs nothing, it is free to forget. A deposit changes the arithmetic without changing your prices.
You have three options, and they suit different trades:
- A deposit. A fixed amount or a percentage. Enough to matter, small enough not to deter a first-time client. This is the right default for most salons and clinics.
- Full payment. Best for short, high-demand slots and for classes, where the whole value is lost if nobody comes.
- No payment, card held. Lighter touch, and still a real commitment, because the client has taken out a card.
In Webkio this is a setting on the booking system, not a plugin: choose no payment, a deposit or the full price, and the money goes into your own Stripe account when the appointment is made.
Send the reminder while it is still useful
A reminder an hour before does not prevent a no-show. It just tells you one is coming.
Send it far enough ahead that the client can still move the appointment, which for most trades means somewhere around 24 hours. The reminder should say when, where, how long, and how to reschedule. Automatic confirmations and reminders are built in, so this happens without anyone remembering to send it.
Make rescheduling easier than not turning up
Most no-shows are not malice. Something came up, and cancelling felt like a phone call they did not want to make.
Give them a link instead. Self-service reschedule and cancel turns a lost hour into a moved one, which is the outcome you actually want. A client who reschedules twice is still a client; a client who no-shows once often never books again out of embarrassment.
Set rules you are willing to enforce
Write down three numbers and put them where clients see them before they confirm:
- The free cancellation window. How long before the appointment they can cancel at no cost.
- What happens inside it. Deposit retained, or a no-show fee.
- Minimum notice to book. Stops a slot being taken twenty minutes before you could staff it.
A policy nobody reads does nothing. Shown at the moment of booking, it does most of the work on its own - and the deposit makes it enforceable without an argument.
Watch what it does
Give it a month, then compare. Count no-shows before and after, and check whether deposits pushed away first-time bookings or simply firmed them up. If a full deposit is deterring new clients, lower it rather than dropping it - the commitment matters more than the amount.
Start free and turn deposits on before your next busy week. The booking setup guide covers every setting, and the salon website guide covers the site around the diary.
FAQ
How much should a booking deposit be?
Enough that forgetting costs something, low enough that a new client still books. Many salons and clinics use a fixed amount around the price of the shortest service, or a percentage for longer appointments.
Will deposits put clients off?
Some worry about it, and in practice regulars barely notice. If new bookings drop noticeably, reduce the deposit rather than removing it - most of the effect comes from having committed at all.
What about genuine emergencies?
Refund them. A deposit you can waive is a policy; one you never waive is a reason for a bad review. The point is to change the default, not to win arguments.
Do reminders really help?
They are the cheapest intervention available, and they work best when sent early enough for the client to reschedule instead of simply not arriving.