Way to sell
Take bookings, not just orders.
Some businesses do not sell things, they sell hours. Customers pick a service, choose a slot that is genuinely free, and book themselves in. You get the day laid out in front of you, route the work to the right person, and cut no-shows with automatic reminders.
What is it
Bookings run alongside your catalog rather than replacing it, so a salon can sell retail shampoo and book chair time on the same storefront.
- Services carry their own duration, price, photo and optional prep or cleanup padding. A 60-minute treatment with 15 minutes of cleanup blocks 75 minutes of your day while the customer still sees a 60-minute appointment.
- Real availability is computed per day from your opening hours minus every booking already taken, pending ones included. A time that is gone never appears, and if two people race for the same slot only the first wins.
- Two ways to sell time. Flexible appointment times for one customer at a time, or scheduled sessions with a seat limit, for classes, workshops, fitness and tours.
- Four ways in, one panel. The Book button and booking cards on your storefront, a shareable link with its own QR code, a floating widget for any external site, and a booking block on pages you build with WhatsMenu.
How it works
- Turn on Reservations in Settings > Apps, then switch on Take bookings online so customers see the booking entry.
- Add your services under More > Services: name, duration, price and any padding. Route a service to specific team members and each one gets their own calendar, so booking one person never blocks another.
- Choose flexible times or scheduled sessions with a seat limit, add up to five booking questions, and decide whether that service confirms itself or waits for you.
- Share the booking page: cards on your storefront, a link and QR for WhatsApp and Instagram, or the widget snippet on your own site. Reminders then go out automatically, and every message carries a secure link for the customer to cancel or reschedule.
Who picks this mode
Any business where the calendar is the product. Salons and barbers booking chair time per stylist. Clinics and dentists with consultation slots. Tutors and training centres running preview classes and fixed weekly sessions. Trainers, yoga and pilates studios. Photographers, detailers, groomers, cleaners and workshops with a fixed seat count. Tour operators with two departures a day. Consultants who meet over Zoom rather than in a room. Restaurants use it for table booking, assigning a table from the floor plan when the Tables module is on.
Pairs well with
Features that pair with bookings:
Bookings & Appointments
Customers pick a service, choose a slot that is genuinely free, and book themselves in. You get the day laid o...
Learn more →Staff Accounts
Each team member gets their own login with a trimmed view — live orders, the menu, your storefront share link...
Learn more →Customer Reviews
Every customer whose order is delivered or closed can leave a star rating and a written review — no account re...
Learn more →Frequently asked questions
Can customers book a specific person?
Yes. Mark a service as performed by specific team members and customers pick who they want, or choose No preference and WhatsMenu books whoever is free, spreading those evenly. Each person has their own calendar, their own working hours including split shifts, and their own time off, so they are never offered while away.
Can I take bookings for a class, a workshop or a tour?
Yes. Set the service to scheduled sessions and add each weekly start time with the number of seats it takes. Customers only see days that have a session, each shows the seats left, and a full one stays visible as "Fully booked". One booking can take more than one seat, so a parent signs up two children at once.
Do I have to approve every booking?
Only if you want to. Automatic confirmation is set per service, so a haircut can confirm itself while a consultation waits for you. A booking awaiting approval holds its slot from the moment it is requested, and releases it automatically if its time passes without action.
Can I still sell products as well?
Yes, and that is the usual case. Bookings sit alongside your catalog rather than replacing it, and booking runs independently of the Ordering setting, so the Book button works whether you sell retail through a cart or run a catalog with WhatsApp enquiries.
Does it work for sessions held online?
Yes. Put your Zoom, Google Meet or Teams link on the service and every confirmed booking gets a Join button in its confirmation, its reminder and on the customer's manage-booking page. Customers never see the meeting link itself, each booking gets its own join link, and cancelling a booking kills it.
How does pricing work?
Flat monthly subscription, the same as the rest of WhatsMenu. No commission and no per-booking fee however many you take, which is the whole difference against booking marketplaces that charge per appointment or per referred customer.
Other ways to sell on WhatsMenu
Open your calendar to customers today.
Services, staff calendars, classes, reminders, no per-booking fee.
Create your storefront