Easy Appointment Booking can send text messages (SMS) as well as emails. Texts are paid for from a prepaid balance, separate from your plan.
| Text | Plans |
|---|---|
| Confirmation, when a customer books | All plans |
| Change, when a booking moves | All plans |
| Reminder, before the appointment | Standard and higher |
| Follow-up, after the appointment | Standard and higher |
Step 1: Add funds
The app only sends texts while your SMS balance is above zero. Texts start at $0.05 each.
- Click Account in the app menu.
- Find Text/SMS Notifications.
- Click Add funds and choose an amount.
- Approve the charge in Shopify.
The card shows your balance and about how many texts it covers.
Step 2: Turn on texts for a service
- On the Dashboard, open the service.
- Click the Notifications tab.
- Check the texts you want:
- Send Text Message upon Confirmation
- Send Automatic Reminder Text Message
- Send Automatic Follow-up Text
- Click Save in the bar at the top of the page.
Send Text Message upon Confirmation also turns on the text customers get when their booking moves to a new time.
Reminder texts go out at the same time as reminder emails. You set that time on the same tab, in Send reminders...
Step 3 (optional): Change the message
- Click Settings > Email & SMS notifications.
- Scroll to SMS Notifications.
- Edit the Text Message for each type: When a booking is made..., When a booking is rescheduled..., Reminder of upcoming appointment, and After a booking ends...
- Click Save.
You can use variables, such as {{first_name}}, {{event_name}}, {{start_date}}, and {{start_time}}. The full list is at the bottom of the same page.
Example:
Hi {{first_name}}, your {{event_name}} is booked for {{start_date}} at {{start_time}}. – {{shop_name}}
Keep texts under 160 characters. A longer text is sent as two or more parts, and each part is charged.
Where phone numbers come from
- Paid bookings: the phone number the customer gives at Shopify checkout. To make sure you get one, go to Shopify Settings > Checkout and make the phone number required.
- Free bookings: the Phone field on the booking form.
If a number has no country code, the app assumes it is in your store's country. If you have customers in other countries, ask them to type their number with the country code, such as +44 for the UK.
If a customer wants to stop getting texts
The app does not handle reply words such as STOP. If a customer asks you to stop, remove the phone number from their booking.
If you send a lot of marketing texts, a tool such as Klaviyo handles opt-outs for you.