“I’m a little annoyed we didn’t play with it sooner… this is what we wanted two years ago.”
That was Callum's reaction when Easy Appointments released its bookings packs solution. Callum is part of the leadership group at The Oakwood. In this story, he shares how his team bought into appointments on Shopify, how it's helped them scale, and the features that drove more revenue.
The Oakwood is a fitness and adventure community for the whole family. It invites people to join for activities like rock climbing, skiing, and more. The Oakwood leadership team had a clear philosophy to set itself apart: no friction points for guests. But a few realities slowed them down:
They heard about EAB from their in‑house restaurant, who adopted it first and recommended it. After switching:
What helped continue the commitment with EAB was knowing their team was on top of existing challenges and future opportunities
The time-saving features and reliable support fits within our focus of "no friction points". The Easy Appointments team is very capable. Mistakes are very little.
Every activity at The Oakwood is booked through the Easy Appointment Booking calendar. Guests navigate to the service they're looking for, choose a time, book, and pay to confirm — no extra steps, no confusion. Customers receive an email with instructions and preparation for arrival. Reminders and follow ups are handled out of the box with no configuration needed.
As bookings come in, the team is notified by email and manages everything through the app's Agenda View, their operations command centre. From there, they can open bookings, check in guests, process refunds. Thanks to the Shopify Orders & Customers integration, they can jump straight into the order or customer record with a single click. This central hub keeps their entire front-of-house workflow smooth and efficient.
Loyalty is built through session packs, a feature that proved its worth with Ski Socials. Guests can “buy a pack, redeem over time,” encouraging repeat visits without adding manual work for staff. It’s a seamless way to increase return bookings and keep the community engaged.
Looking ahead, The Oakwood plans to bring the Junior Ski Club and other programs fully onto session packs in EAB. They see a path to retiring the two Google Sheets currently used for check-ins with the in-app check in buttons, which will save an additional 30 minutes per week. They’re also exploring calendar views in the app to maximize occupancy — particularly for filling last-minute gaps when cancellations occur.
In the future, they’re excited about improvements to availability management. A more visual, at-a-glance view of bookings, combined with seasonality-friendly scheduling, will allow them to spot and fill holes in their weekly calendar faster, with fewer clicks.
