27% of spa booking cancellations happen on the day
Anyone who works in the spa industry will know how upsetting a last-minute cancellation or client no-show can be. It's one of the biggest challenges facing the industry and now new research has revealed that a huge 27% of all spa booking cancellations take place on the day of the appointment.
The stats, gathered by spa booking software company Trybe, have revealed what a big problem last-minute cancellations are to beauty and spa professionals, especially as a further 37% of guests cancel with just two days to go before their booking, the report found.
This news isn't totally surprising though. For example, 73% of beauty salons experienced unprecedented cancellations in December due to the spread of the Omicron variant, found a different report, showing that the Covid-19 pandemic's impact on the industry is still ongoing.
Check out our guide which explains 11 ways to prevent no-shows in your salon.
In the event of a client failing to attend their appointment or cancelling last-minute, things such as "no-show protection" will allow salons and spas to charge the client directly, using the payment details used by the customer to book their appointment, but what more can be done to stop the issue?
This type of system is common in hospitality – often when you make a restaurant reservation, your card details are taken and you're charged a fee if you don't honour your booking. This works in the same way, so is a system customers will likely be familiar and comfortable with.
Booking platform Trybe has come up with a new no-show protection feature to help safeguard beauty businesses from cancellations and no-shows. When reserving an appointment, clients are prompted to put their card details in at the final stage of the booking process.
Once taken, Trybe saves the details against the client's profile and holds the money, with the customer being able to pay in full on arrival.
If the customer doesn’t show up for the appointment, the spa is able to log into the platform and charge the client's saved card details accordingly. The development is already being used by spas such as Shrigley Hall Hotel & Spa, The Lowry Hotel Manchester, and Adventure Parc Snowdonia.
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