Intake questions let you ask customers for extra information before they complete a booking — things like allergies, preferences, addresses, or anything else you need to serve them well. The answers are collected as part of the booking flow and show up in the booking detail view, notification emails, and optionally in your Google or Outlook Calendar events.
When to use intake questions
Intake questions work well for any information that's specific to a booking rather than a customer account. Common examples:
- A spa asking about allergies or skin sensitivities
- A fitness studio asking about injuries or fitness level
- A home services business asking for a service address
- A photographer asking about the shoot location or shot list
- A wine tasting asking which flight the customer prefers
Do not use intake questions to collect payment details, credit card numbers, or other sensitive financial information. Payments are always handled through Shopify's secure checkout.
Adding a new intake question
Intake questions are managed under Intake Questions in the main app navigation.
- Go to Intake Questions in the app.
- Click New Intake Question.
- Choose a question type (see below for the full list).
- Enter a Label — this is the question text your customers will see.
- Optionally add Help Text to explain why you need the information.
- If you chose Dropdown or Multiple Choice, enter your options — one per line.
- Assign the question to one or more services, or leave it unassigned to add it to services individually later.
- Check Set this field as required if customers must answer before booking.
- Click Create Field.
Question types
The app supports six question types:
| Type | When to use |
|---|---|
| Text | A single-line text field. Good for names, addresses, short answers. |
| Date | A date picker. Useful if you need a date that's separate from the booking date — for example, a date of birth. |
| Dropdown | A menu where customers pick one option from a list you define. |
| Multiple Choice | Checkboxes where customers can pick one or more options from a list. |
| Confirmation Checkbox | A single checkbox customers must tick. Use this for consent statements or terms acknowledgments. |
| Signature | A signature pad. Useful for waivers or consent forms. |
Use a Confirmation Checkbox when you need customers to acknowledge something specific — for example, "I confirm I have read the cancellation policy." The customer must check the box before they can add the booking to their cart.
Making a question required or optional
When creating or editing a question, check the Set this field as required option to make it mandatory. Customers will not be able to add the booking to their cart without answering required questions.
Leave the checkbox unchecked to make the question optional. Optional questions are still shown in the booking form but customers can skip them.
Keep required questions to a minimum. Every extra required field adds friction before checkout. Only mark a question required if you genuinely cannot provide the service without that information.
Assigning questions to specific services
By default, a new intake question is not automatically attached to any service. You can assign it during creation or afterwards.
During creation: Use the Assign to events selector in the new question form to attach it to one or more services.
After creation: Open the service in the app, go to the Intake Questions tab, and toggle on the questions you want to include for that service.
A question can be assigned to as many services as you like. If a question is not assigned to any service, it will not appear on any booking widget.
Changing the order questions appear
When a service has multiple intake questions, you can control the order they appear to customers.
- Open the service in the app.
- Go to the Intake Questions tab.
- Click Reorder.
- Drag questions into the order you want.
- Save.
Where answers appear
Once customers submit intake question responses, you can find them in several places:
Booking detail view — Open any booking from the Bookings dashboard. A section called Intake Questions shows each question and the customer's answer. You can also edit answers directly from this view if needed.
Notification emails — Customer confirmation emails and staff notification emails include intake question responses below the booking details. No extra setup is needed.
Google Calendar and Outlook — If you have Google Calendar or Outlook sync enabled on a service, you can turn on the setting Include customer details in calendar event description. When enabled, the calendar event description includes the customer's name, email, phone number, and all intake question responses.
The Google and Outlook calendar option is especially useful for one-on-one appointments. Having the intake responses in your calendar means you can review them on any device before the appointment without opening the app.
Editing or archiving a question
To edit an existing intake question, go to Intake Questions, find the question in the list, and click Edit. You can change the label, help text, options, required setting, and service assignments.
To remove a question, click Archive. Archiving hides the question from all booking widgets without deleting the historical answers already collected.
Next steps
- Translate & customize text — change the wording of buttons and labels in the booking widget
- Calendar appearance & colors — adjust colors and what shows inside time slots