A common concern for many business owners who are considering starting their own salon could be managing their schedules and appointments. Therefore, finding the right salon booking software may turn out to be beneficial for your salon business. This article will list the best four online salon booking software as reviewed by Canadians.
According to the Market Data Forecast, the global spa and salon software market is predicted to grow with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.11% during the forecast period of 2022-2027. Considering it’s a growing industry, salon owners may want to consider investing in practices that garner greater efficiency, such as utilizing salon booking software.
Using salon software, salon business owners can take a lot of pressure off their team by automating various tasks including appointment scheduling, sending reminders, and invoice processing. Keeping this in mind, this article offers a curated list of the best four online salon booking software that salon owners can use to streamline their day-to-day customer-management-related salon operations.
The tools listed below are arranged in alphabetical order. We have selected these software products based on the following factors and the full methodology can be found at the bottom of the article:
- Products that have at least 10 reviews from Canadian users over the past year from October 2021- October 2022
- Have an overall rating of at least 4/5 stars by users
- High search volume in Canada
- Meet the market definition of salon software
1. Acuity Scheduling
- Overall rating: 4.8/5
- Ease of use: 4.6/5
- Customer service: 4.7/5
- Features: 4.7/5
- Value for money: 4.7/5
Acuity Scheduling is a cloud-based salon system that can be used by salon owners to manage bookings and customers’ data online. Leveraging its appointment scheduling feature, clients can view the salon service provider’s real-time availability and self-schedule their appointments. Using Acuity Scheduling’s performance metrics feature, salon owners/managers can gain insights into potential clients visiting their site and which service they are looking for.
The software’s client database feature allows salon managers/owners to view client profiles that include information about their appointments, service packages, intake forms, subscription codes, and gift certificates.
The alerts and notifications feature allows salon owners/managers to send notifications of upcoming appointments to salon staff. Via this software, they also receive a notification each time an appointment is scheduled, cancelled, or rescheduled. In addition, the SMS reminders feature enables clients to receive automatic reminders for their upcoming appointments through texts on their mobile phones.
Acuity Scheduling’s one-week free trial gives access to all paid features and after that, users can upgrade to any monthly or annual plan based on their needs.
2. DaySmart Salon
- Overall rating: 4.3/5
- Ease of use: 4.3/5
- Customer service: 4.3/5
- Features: 4.2/5
- Value of money: 4.1/5
DaySmart Salon is a salon business management platform for salon owners and managers that allows them to manage their daily operations. Using its online appointment scheduling feature, clients can book salon appointments online, and staff can remotely access their schedules.
The client database feature on DaySmart Salon software allows owners and managers to securely store client data such as purchase history, personal notes, and services availed, all in one place so they can more conveniently target marketing campaigns to existing customers.
By sending automated SMS reminders, the DaySmart Salon platform can potentially save salon staff’s time spent on calling clients to remind them about appointments. Salon owners/managers can also set up email or text reminders for their employees to keep them in the loop on any newly scheduled appointments, last-minute cancellations, or changes in schedule through the alerts/notifications feature.
DaySmart Salon software offers a free trial for two weeks after which users can upgrade to a plan of their choice based on their requirements.
3. Vagaro
- Overall rating: 4.7/5
- Ease of use: 4.7/5
- Customer service: 4.7/5
- Features: 4.6/5
- Value for money: 4.7/5
Vagaro is a cloud-based platform that salon managers or owners can use to manage salon appointments and packages on different devices. By using Vagaro’s appointment scheduling feature, salon managers/owners can view appointment details in one place, filter bookings by employees, and manage employees’ calendars.
Providing booking integrations with Facebook, Instagram, and Yelp, Vagaro also allows clients to book their salon appointments directly from the salon’s social media channels as well. Furthermore, the software also enables salon owners/managers to store all client information —contact details, detailed client notes, signed waivers, and intake forms— in the client database. Salon managers can also set up automated SMS reminders using Vagaro software so that clients can receive confirmations and reminders related to their appointments.
The tool’s in-app alerts/notifications feature can help users get instant notifications about scheduled, rescheduled, or cancelled appointments. Vagaro salon software provides a 30-day free trial so that users can test all the features before buying it. More information related to pricing can be found on the seller’s website.
4. WellnessLiving
- Overall rating: 4.4/5
- Ease of use: 4.3/5
- Customer service: 4.4/5
- Features: 4.3/5
- Value for money: 4.3/5
WellnessLiving is a cloud-based salon booking tool that provides online salon booking, payroll processing, email marketing, and rewards programs solutions to salon business owners/managers. Utilizing the appointment scheduling feature, clients can book their salon appointments using either a desktop computer or a mobile device. WellnessLiving’s alerts/notifications feature can notify both staff and clients of updates, cancellations, and changes in schedules.
The client database feature can give salon managers/owners a list of clients who have signed up to avail salon services along with their information such as the contact number, address, gender, referrer, and services availed by them.
Using the SMS reminders feature, users can stay engaged with their clients by sending them automated notifications and reminders about upcoming appointments. Salon owners can also leverage the benefit of the notifications feature to provide their staff with timely updates of scheduled and rescheduled appointments as well as last-minute cancellations.
WellnessLiving’s performance metrics feature allows salon business owners to gain insights into sales, revenue figures, and client visit history. Users can schedule a free demo to learn more about WellnessLiving salon software and find more information related to pricing on the seller’s website.
Methodology
Products in the above list have been arranged in alphabetical order and were selected based on the following factors:
- The existence of more than 10 local reviews from users in Canada over the past year from 12th October 2021- 10th October 2022.
- Software that are specifically designed for the salon industry.
- Software having a minimum of 4/5 star rating for all components —ease of use, customer service, value for money, features, and overall rating.
- Software that match Capterra’s market definition of salon software: salon software automate and manages salon and spa operations. Salon solutions – also known as salon management software – typically feature easy integration with cash registers, bar code readers and other point-of-sale hardware. Hair salons, tanning salons, beauty parlours, nail salons, massage therapists and day spas across Canada typically use salon apps to improve efficiency and add value to a wide variety of business processes including appointment scheduling, online calendar, client management, marketing, employee data, commission calculation, inventory management, payroll, point of sale and other features.
- Besides all the above, the products also have the following core features: appointment scheduling, client database, and software that cater to salons and spas.
