How to Set Up Online Booking for Your Salon
Go live with a professional booking experience in less than a day — with deposits, custom rules, and your own domain.
Setting up online booking for a salon takes less than a day when you follow the right order. The steps below walk through everything — from building your service menu to sharing your booking link with clients. By the end, you will have a branded storefront that accepts bookings 24 hours a day and collects deposits automatically.
Build your service menu with accurate durations and prices
Your service menu is the foundation of online booking. For each service, set the name, duration, price, and which staff members can perform it. Accurate durations are critical — if a colour service takes 3 hours but is set to 90 minutes, your calendar will double-book staff. Review your most popular services first and work through the full menu.
Include buffer time within the service duration if you regularly need time between clients to clean up or prepare. This is simpler than adding buffer rules separately.
Set staff availability and working hours
For each team member, configure their standard working days and hours. This determines when clients can book with them. Set different hours for different days if your team works variable schedules. For part-time staff, block the days they do not work so no bookings land in their calendar by mistake.
Configure your booking rules — deposits, lead time, and cancellation policy
Before you go live, set your booking rules. Minimum notice period (how far in advance clients must book), maximum advance booking window, and deposit requirements per service. Write your cancellation policy into the booking flow — clients should see it clearly before confirming. These rules protect your calendar and your revenue from the first booking.
A minimum notice period of 2 to 4 hours is common for most services. Longer-duration services or high-demand stylists may warrant 24 hours.
Customise your storefront to match your brand
On OpenChair Pro, your storefront uses your colours, fonts, and logo — not a generic template. Connect your custom domain so clients book at your own URL. Upload your team photos, write short staff bios, and add your location and Google Maps link. The first impression of your booking page is also the first impression of your salon.
Add your booking link everywhere clients will look
Once your storefront is live, your booking link belongs everywhere: your Instagram bio, Google Business Profile, Facebook page, website header, email signature, and any printed material with a QR code. The more places the link appears, the less often clients will resort to calling or messaging to check availability.
OpenChair features that help with this
Related guides
How to Take Booking Deposits at Your Salon
Collect deposits at the time of booking, protect your revenue, and handle forfeitures without awkward conversations.
GUIDEHow to Reduce No-Shows at Your Salon
Five practical steps that consistently bring no-show rates below 5% — without policing your clients.
Common Questions
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