When a day is full, customers can join a waitlist instead of leaving. If a booking is cancelled or moved, the app can email the people on the list so they can take the place.
The waitlist needs the Pro Plus plan or higher.
Turn on the waitlist for a service
- On the Dashboard, open the service.
- Click the Availability tab.
- In Waitlist, choose when customers can join:
- Any time — the waitlist form always shows with the calendar.
- Only when a day is fully booked — the form shows only on full days.
- Never — no waitlist for this service.
- Click Save in the bar at the top of the page.
What customers do
- They open a full day on your store and see the waitlist form.
- They fill in their Name and Email, and choose a Time. The Date is the day they picked.
- They get an email: "You've been added to our waitlist."
- When a place opens, they get an email with a Book Now button.
- They book as normal.
How places are offered
When a booking is cancelled or moved, the app can email the people waiting for that time, in the order they joined.
- When a customer cancels or moves their own booking, the email goes out by itself if Automatically invite waitlisted customers is checked on the Waitlist page. It is off until you check it.
- When you cancel or move a booking, the app shows who is waiting. Leave Notify waitlist customers that a spot has opened up checked to email them.
The email does not hold the place. The first person to book gets it. The waitlist does not record group size, so a customer who needs 6 places can be told about 1 free place.
When a waitlisted customer books, their entry changes to Booked, and they get no more emails about it.
If Klaviyo is connected, these emails are sent through your Klaviyo flows instead. See Connect Klaviyo.
See and manage your waitlist
Click Waitlist in the app menu. Each entry shows the customer, the service, the date and time they want, and a status:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Waiting | On the list, not contacted yet |
| Messaged | Told that a place is free |
| Booked | Booked after joining the waitlist |
| Expired | The time passed and they did not book |
Filter by service, status, or dates, or search by name or email. To share the list with your team, click Export. You get a CSV of every entry that matches your filters.
The waitlist form only asks for a name, email, and time. Answers to your intake questions are collected when the customer books.
To contact someone on the list, use the buttons on their row:
- Invite: opens an email that tells them a place is free. The message is filled in for you. You can change it.
- Message: opens an empty email, for example to offer a different time.
Type a Subject and a Message, then click Send Email.
Change the waitlist text
You cannot change the wording of the waitlist form or the automatic waitlist emails yet. They use the app's built-in text:
| Text | Built-in wording |
|---|---|
| Form title and button | Join the waitlist |
| Text above the form | If a spot opens up, we'll send you an email so that you can make a booking. |
| Message after joining | Thanks for joining the waitlist! |
| Email after joining | You've been added to our waitlist |
| Email when a place opens | A spot opened up: service name |
This text is translated into the calendar's language. Choose the language in Settings > Text & Language. See Change the text on your booking calendar.
The waitlist text is not in Booking text on that page, and the waitlist emails are not in Email & SMS notifications. To use your own words in an email, send it yourself with Invite or Message on the Waitlist page. If Klaviyo or Omnisend is connected, the waitlist emails go through your Klaviyo flows or Omnisend automations, so you write them there.