Wix Bookings: Adding and Setting Up an Appointment Waitlist

The appointment waitlist helps increase your earnings by filling schedule gaps caused by last-minute appointment cancellations or reschedules. It's also a great way to collect leads and accept more appointments on a certain day, even if there are no cancellations.

For example, if your client sees no relevant slots are available for a haircut on their preferred day, or if they can’t find a relevant slot, they can join the waiting list. As soon as a spot becomes available, you can contact them and book them in.

In this article, learn more about:

• Adding the appointment waitlist in the dashboard

• Adding the appointment waitlist to your live site

• Adding clients to your appointment waitlist

• Managing clients on the appointment waitlist

• Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Adding the appointment waitlist in the dashboard

You can add an appointment waitlist that is only available for your internal staff members to use from the booking calendar in your dashboard. This is a great way to stay as booked as possible throughout each day, as cancellations or reschedules occur.

Need a waitlist that clients can add themselves to?

To allow clients to add themselves to an appointment waitlist, you must add the waitlist to your live site. See the steps in the next section for details.

To add the appointment waitlist in the dashboard:

1. Go to Booking Calendar in your site's dashboard.

2. Click the Waitlist icon  at the top right.

3. Click Get it now.

Adding the appointment waitlist to your live site

Add a waitlist to your booking calendar on your live site, so clients can easily join if their desired time is unavailable.

To add the appointment waitlist to your live site:

Wix Editor

Studio Editor

1. Go to your editor.

2. Go to your Booking Calendar page:Click Pages & Menu  on the left side of the editor.
   Click Bookings Pages.
   Click the Booking Calendar page.
   

3. Click the Booking Calendar element on your page.

4. Click the Plugins icon .

5. Hover over Appointment Waitlist and click + Add.

Adding clients to your appointment waitlist

You can add clients to the waitlist for your appointments at any time from the booking calendar in your site's dashboard.

To add a client to your appointment waitlist:

1. Go to Booking Calendar in your site's dashboard.

2. Click the Waitlist icon  in the top right.

3. Click + Add New.

4. Enter the Client name.

5. Enter the appointment details, including the Date, Start time, and Location.

6. Select the relevant appointment from the Service drop-down.

7. Select the relevant staff member from the Staff drop-down.

8. (Optional) Click + Add Another Service if the client wants to be added to the waitlist for another service, and repeat steps 4-8 above.

9. (Optional) Enter a Note to self with any additional instructions. For example: "Client requested a phone call if no slots become available so they can schedule an appointment next week."

Managing clients on the appointment waitlist

You can sort and filter your appointment waitlist to make it easier to manage. You can also share the service calendar for the requested service to arrange alternative dates and times with the client.

To manage clients on the appointment waitlist:

1. Go to Booking Calendar in your site's dashboard.

2. Click the Waitlist icon  at the top right.

3. Choose what you want to do:

Filter and sort the appointment waitlist

1. Click Filter at the top.

2. Select the relevant filters from the drop-downs: Date, Staff, Service, or Location.

3. Click Apply.

4. Click the Sort icon .

5. Select the relevant option: By session date or By request date.

Schedule an appointment from a waitlist application

1. Click Schedule next to the relevant entry on the appointment waitlist.

2. Select the relevant client.

3. Click Continue.

4. Check and confirm the details are correct.

5. (Optional) Select the Notify client with an email checkbox.

6. Choose the relevant option:Click Book to accept payment later.
   Click Book & Collect Payment to create an order and charge the client for the service using the available options.
   

FAQs

Click on a question below to learn more.

Can clients change their time slot preferences on the waitlist?

No, clients cannot change their time slot preferences online once they have joined the waitlist. They can choose as many time slots as they wish on the waitlist, though these waitlist slots do not appear in the My Bookings section of the Members Area.

Are clients notified immediately when an appointment slot becomes available?

No, currently you must manage the waitlist manually. This is to prevent automated bookings that no longer suit the client.

Is it possible to prevent clients from adding themselves to the waitlist?

Yes, you can choose whether to publish the appointment waitlist on your live site, or only allow you and your site Admins (Co-Owners) to manage the appointment waitlist from the dashboard. You can remove the appointment waitlist plugin from your live site at any time.

Can I allow my staff members to manage the waitlist?

Currently, it is only possible for you, the site owner, and site Admins (Co-Owners) to manage the appointment waitlist. Staff members without the relevant permissions do not have access to view or manage the appointment waitlist.