How to manage Covid-19 vaccine passports and status in your salon

With a New Year beginning, new Government guidelines on coronavirus are sure to follow. As we endeavour to minimise the impact of the Omicron variant, some countries are imposing vaccine passports to help with the ongoing fight against Covid-19. 

While an NHS Covid Pass, or equivalent proof is now a requirement at some venues and events, it it currently not mandatory for UK salons. However, some are choosing to check status in order to protect their clients and teams.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the hair and beauty industry has been one of the hardest hit, with numerous lockdowns and strict guidelines on contact and distancing.  Policing vaccine status of customers can add yet another level of stress for embattled salon owners.  

In addition to the awkwardness of challenging customers regarding vaccine status, many salon owners have voiced concerns that, were it to become mandatory, checking customers’ status on arrival would simply not be tenable and would be likely to cause queues at the busiest time of the year.  

Thankfully, booking systems are constantly adapting to help make the process easier for salons, with platforms such as leading management system Booksy’s AI powered booking platform – launched as an appointment booking tool in 2014, aiming to help salon owners keep on top of vaccine status. 

How you can safely cover all bases with Booksy:

The Booksy platform covers all aspects of salon management to enable smooth running with minimal effort for salon owners, with a range of features including:

Appointment booking – Powered by artificial intelligence, Booksy allows customers to book and manage their own beauty and hair appointments 24/7 through its handy mobile app.  As well as being convenient for customers, this saves salon owners time and money by eliminating the need for a dedicated receptionist.  

Salon owners can customise the booking tool to include a request for vaccine status information at the time of booking, confirming it before the customer arrives to cut down on the risk of queues and bottlenecks within the salon.  

Salon management – Booksy makes light work of scheduling for salon owners to help maximise appointments while maintaining social distancing guidelines by using AI to calculate appointment timings based on historical data and previous visits.  

Not holding the folding – Salon owners are able to request payment and pre-payment for treatments directly through Booksy’s mobile phone app. This helps to cut down on hand-to-hand contact, reduce no-shows and speed up the book-keeping process. 

Marketing materials – As well as appointment booking and management, Booksy provides a whole suite of marketing tools to help budgets stretch that little bit further, including email outreach which can be used to keep customers informed about new guidelines regarding booking and behaviour within the salon. 

Selling – For a lot of salon owners, the selling of products and upselling of services provides a much-needed revenue stream, particularly at a time when guidelines are restricting the number of in-salon appointments. The removal of retail walls within salons has posed a significant problem for salon owners but help is at hand with Booksy’s in-app selling features.  

This year, it’s more important than ever for salons to have a successful year to help bounce-back post-coronavirus. While a requirement for vaccine passports would no doubt pose a challenge if it became mandatory in the UK, it’s one that Booksy is able to rise to, as well as providing salon owners with lots of other great features to help their salons to thrive in the face of adversity.  

Find out more about Booksy and its booking software for salons.

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