Every British Web Design website has online booking built in: customers pick a service and a free time, and can pay a deposit or the whole price by card when they book. Booking is part of the monthly price, and British Web Design charges no fee per booking. A business that only wants enquiries has booking switched off.
Four ways to take a booking
- Time with a person: a haircut, a massage, a boiler service. The customer chooses a team member, or anyone, and only sees times when that person is free for the whole appointment.
- Places at a time: tables at a café or restaurant. The business sets how many people it can take at once, and each booking takes its party size out of that. Setting a lower number keeps tables back for walk-ins.
- Classes at set times, with the places left shown under each time.
- Whole days: hire by the day, or the day a job starts.
During the build, booking is switched on for a business that takes appointments or reservations, with its services, prices and times already in.
What the customer sees
The booking page takes the site's own colours and type. The customer chooses a service (or a party size), a day and a free time, then gives their name, email address, phone number and a note. No account or app is needed.
Availability comes from the opening hours, each team member's hours, time off, the notice needed and the gap wanted between bookings. The check runs again at the moment of booking, so two people cannot take the last slot. The customer gets a confirmation email with a calendar file, and can cancel from its link up to a set number of hours before, if the business allows it.
Deposits and paying up front
A British Web Design site can take nothing online, a deposit or the whole price when someone books. In the admin panel's Booking settings the owner can make the deposit a fixed amount or a percentage, give a service its own deposit or none, ask for a deposit from new clients only, or let the customer choose between the deposit and the whole price.
A service with no price, such as a free quote visit, is booked without paying. While the customer pays on Stripe's secure page, the time is held for them for 30 minutes unless the owner changes it; if they do not pay, the time is free again. Payments go into the owner's own Stripe account, by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Until Stripe is linked, bookings are paid on the day. See Card payments and online shops.
The calendar, and Google Calendar
Every booking is emailed to the owner and shown on a calendar in the site's admin panel, by day, week or month, coloured by team member. The owner can add bookings taken by phone, confirm each booking or let them confirm straight away, move or cancel a booking (refunding what was paid), and mark a no-show.
An owner who uses Google Calendar can connect it once from Booking settings. Every booking then becomes an event, with the customer invited (this can be switched off), and moves or leaves the calendar when the booking does. If Google cannot be reached, the booking still goes ahead.
How different businesses use it
| Business | How booking is usually set up |
|---|---|
| Salon or barber | Treatments with prices and times, a choice of therapist, a deposit to cut no-shows |
| Plumber or heating engineer | Boiler services paid in full when booked, free quote visits alongside, emergencies by phone only |
| Builder | Free quote visits and paid design consultations, only on the days set aside for visits |
| Café | Tables by party size, afternoon tea priced per person |
British Web Design has set up made-up example businesses to show each of these working with test cards: a salon, a plumber, a builder and a café.
Limits
- Recurring payments and class passes are not available.
- Each booking is one visit, so a landlord with three properties books three.
- A business already using Fresha or Treatwell can keep it: British Web Design can put a Book now button on every page linking to the existing booking page, and leave its own booking switched off.
Questions
Can a British Web Design website take bookings?
Yes. Online booking is built into every British Web Design website at no extra cost, for appointments, tables by party size, classes and whole-day bookings. A business that only wants enquiries can leave it switched off.
Can customers pay a deposit when they book on a British Web Design site?
Yes. A British Web Design site can take a deposit, as a fixed amount or a percentage, or the whole price when someone books, by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, into the owner's own Stripe account. A free quote visit is booked without paying.
Does online booking cost extra with British Web Design?
No. Online booking is part of the $11.99/month for each British Web Design website, and there is no fee per booking. Stripe takes its standard fee from card payments.