Unified waitlist

One list for the booking page and the front desk.

Online clients waiting on a cancellation and walk-ins at the door sit in one place. When a slot opens up, Flowesce finds the next matching client and sends them a link before you have to lift a finger.

For the salon that loses revenue to cancellations, not because no one wants the slot, but because no one got called in time. The list runs quietly in the background while the front desk runs the salon.

Waitlist

Auto-match

Walk-in queue

3 waiting
M

Priya S.

Gel manicure · Walk-in now

J

Cassie L.

Brow shape · 12 mins waiting

N

Aisha D.

Express facial · 28 mins waiting

Online waitlist

4 online

June

M

T

W

T

F

S

S

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

M

Mia T.

Balayage · Jun 14–21

Morning
J

Eva R.

Cut + style · Jun 15–20

Afternoon
L

Zoe K.

Lash lift · Jun 14–28

Any
N

Nadia B.

Hydrafacial · Jun 16–23

Afternoon

Demo. Auto-match runs every time a slot frees.

Live preview

01/

Two ways onto the list, one place to manage it.

When a client checks your booking page and finds no slots, a Join the waitlist option appears right there. They pick a date window and an optional time of day, then they're on the list. Walk-ins at the front desk go on the same list through a quick Add walk-in form. Both sets of clients sit together, and whoever asked first is at the front.

Public booking page · no slots step

3

Choose a time

No slots on June 14

Maya is fully booked for Balayage that day.

Preferred window

Jun 14
to
Jun 21

Time of day (optional)

One CTA. Clients pick a date window and optional time preference. No friction.

  • No dead ends on the booking page.

    When no slot fits, the client doesn't just see a Sorry message. A waitlist form appears in the same flow so they can stay in the running without leaving.

  • Walk-ins take thirty seconds to add.

    Name, service, preferred stylist if they have one, time of day if they care. That's it. The front desk can add someone while they're still standing at the counter.

  • First in, first called.

    Whoever joined the list earliest gets the first shot at a matching slot. No hidden ordering, no manual sorting.

  • Seat a walk-in on the spot.

    If a chair opens up and someone in the walk-in section is right there, one click drops them into an appointment starting now. It lands on the calendar and you check them out the usual way.

02/

When a slot opens, the right client hears about it automatically.

Every cancellation and every reschedule triggers an automatic match against the list. Flowesce finds the client at the front who wants that service, at that branch, in that time window. They get an email with a link only they can use to claim the slot. You see a notification in your admin so you know who got the offer.

Auto-match sequence

Cancel

Appointment freed

Sat 14 · 10:00 · Maya

Match

FIFO scan picks Mia T.

Balayage · Jun 14–21 · Morning

Notify

Claim email sent

02:00:00

A cancellation kicks off the match. The first client in line who fits the slot gets the offer and has two hours to claim it. No one has to pick up the phone.

  • Two hours to claim it.

    The link holds the slot for two hours. Enough time for someone to check their phone and respond, not so long the slot sits empty waiting on someone who's moved on.

  • Only one client can claim it.

    Even if two clients somehow get a link to the same slot, only the first one through actually books it. The second sees a clear message and a prompt to find another time.

  • You see every match as it happens.

    A notification appears in your admin when a slot is offered out. You can see who got the offer, for which service, and how long they have left to respond.

  • The match checks every detail.

    Service, branch, preferred stylist, date window, time of day. If a freed slot doesn't match on any of those, Flowesce moves to the next person on the list.

03/

The list keeps itself tidy.

If someone doesn't claim a slot within two hours, their hold expires and the slot reopens for everyone. A daily cleanup sweeps out any expired offers so the list stays current. The next time a slot opens, the next person in line gets a fresh chance. No manual tidying, no rows stuck in limbo.

Walk-in queue

4 waiting
M

Priya S.

Gel manicure · Walk-in now

J

Cassie L.

Brow shape · 14 mins

N

Aisha D.

Express facial · 29 mins

L

Lena O.

Nail art · 41 mins

Click Seat now. The row slides into a seated appointment on the calendar.

04/

Walk-ins and online clients on one screen.

Your waitlist page shows the walk-in section at the top and the online section below. Each row shows the client name, the service, their staff preference, and the date window they're flexible across. Online rows that are currently on hold show the claim deadline so you know how long remains.

Admin notification

L

Click the bell. The notification shows who got matched, which slot, and how long they have to claim it.

  • Remove anyone at any time.

    When a client calls in and books a different date, pull their row. The removal is logged so you have a record of what happened and when.

  • Lives next to Requests in the sidebar.

    Waitlist and Requests sit together under Manage bookings. Both are places where clients have asked for something and you decide what happens next.

  • Clients know they're on the list.

    When someone joins online, they get a confirmation email straight away. They know they're in the running, not waiting and wondering.

  • The offer email is clear and simple.

    When a slot opens, the client gets one email with one button. Claim the slot. No login, no back-and-forth.

05/

Cancellations fill themselves.

A salon with an active waitlist turns same-day cancellations into same-day bookings. A four-chair salon with two cancellations a week recovers most of that revenue without a single phone call. The list does the matching, the email does the notifying, and the client does the booking. You just show up for the appointment.

Public claim page

M

Maya's Studio

🎉

Your slot is open!

Saturday, June 14

10:00 AM · Balayage

With Maya

Confirm in the next 2h

The claim page lives at /book/your-slug/claim/token. One tap confirms the booking race-safe against the exclusion constraint.

Common questions

Honest answers, including the ones we don't love.

Does the automatic match respect my cancellation policy?

The match runs whenever a slot is freed, whether a staff member cancelled it, a client cancelled it, or someone rescheduled. Any late-cancel fee on the original appointment still applies the usual way. The slot opening and the fee are handled separately.

Can a client wait for more than one service?

Each row on the list covers one service. A client waiting for two different services enters two separate rows. Each gets checked independently, so the first one that gets a matching slot wins.

What if two clients both try to claim the same slot?

Only one of them can book it. The first claim through completes. The second sees a clear message that the slot is gone and a prompt to find another time.

Do walk-ins take slots away from online clients?

They compete for the same slots, yes. A walk-in waiting for any haircut with any stylist is in line ahead of an online client who joined later. The list is first-in, first-called regardless of how someone got on it. Add a preferred stylist or a preferred time of day to a walk-in row and the match becomes more specific, which means fewer slots qualify.

Can I use the list without the automatic matching?

Today the automatic match is how it works. If you want to manage it manually, remove the row and handle it yourself. A manual-only mode is on the post-launch list if enough salons ask for it.

Fourteen days. No card.

Try Flowesce on a real Saturday.

No card required, no auto-charge at the end. If Flowesce isn't for you, export everything in one click and walk.