For reservation sites, operation is as important, if not more important, than production.

Creating a reservation site is not the end. It is necessary to operate the site appropriately and respond to the various requests from customers.

Therefore, this time, we will introduce you to the reservation management and operation of the Shopify reservation site creation tool "Sakurabook".

We will provide specific information on how to prevent double bookings, how we will respond when customers make reservations over the phone or in-store, and how we will respond when customers who have already made a reservation inquire about changing or canceling their reservation. I would like to introduce you to

What is Sakurabook: An app that allows you to accept reservations on the Shopify site

Sakurabook is a reservation system developed as an extension (app) of Shopify, an e-commerce cart system. By introducing Sakurabook to an e-commerce site built with Shopify, you will be able to accept various reservations such as store visit reservations and service usage reservations.

One of Shopify's major features is that it allows you to create a reservation site with a high degree of freedom thanks to its rich design, rich functionality, and collaboration with various other Shopify apps.

Additionally, as it is a cloud service, it can be managed from an internet browser without the need to install special software on a management terminal such as a computer or smartphone.

On a Shopify site that has installed Sakurabook, you can register the reservation services you provide to customers as product pages and post an easy-to-understand reservation calendar. Customers can check availability from the reservation calendar and apply for a reservation on their desired date and time.

What is the operation of a reservation site: Reservation management, handling of reservation additions, changes, cancellations, etc.

Next, I would like to provide a little more detail about the work that occurs when operating a reservation site.

There are various tasks, but broadly speaking, you need to deal with adding reservations, changing reservation details, canceling reservations, etc.

Reservation management is also important. For example, when another reservation is made at the same time as a date and time that has already been booked, it is called double booking.To prevent such double bookings from occurring, we carefully manage the availability of reservations and use the reservation calendar. It is necessary to reflect this.

Let me show you how this kind of reservation site practice works at Sakurabook.

Sakurabook double booking prevention function

First, let's talk about Sakurabook reservation management. Sakurabook has various mechanisms to automatically prevent double bookings.

Sakurabook's system automatically calculates the availability of reservations for its services and reflects it in the reservation calendar. This system's calculations take into account not only whether the reservation is already taken, but also various other factors.

Service opening hours and break times

One is the business hours of the service.

Sakurabook allows you to set business hours for each service that accepts reservations.

You can also include break times in your business hours settings. For example, you can set your business hours to exclude those hours, such as "lunch break between 12:XNUMX and XNUMX:XNUMX noon." In other words, you can set it so that no reservations are made during your lunch break.

Availability of staff in charge

In addition, the availability of the staff in charge will also be reflected in the reservation calendar.

For example, let's say that a staff member, Mr. Saito, is in charge of two services: haircuts and perms. Let's say you have a reservation for a haircut on July 7th from 10:13 to 14:XNUMX. Perm reservations are still available for this date and time. However, Mr. Saito, who is in charge, deals with haircut customers, so if perm reservations are scheduled for the same date and time, he ends up double-booked.

Sakurabook also has a mechanism to prevent such double bookings.

Sakura Book has a system where you can register not only the services provided to customers, but also the staff in charge of those services. Then, we link and register who is in charge of which service in the system.

Sakurabook's system not only calculates the availability of service reservations, but also the availability of staff reservations. Using the previous example, if a reservation is made for a "haircut" provided by "Saito" on "July 7th from 10:13 to 14:7", other services provided by "Saito" will also be booked. , "July 10th from 13:14 to XNUMX:XNUMX" will be reflected in the reservation calendar as no available slots.

<Mr. Saito is in charge of haircuts and perms>

If you have a reservation for a haircut between 7:10 and 13:14 on July XNUMXth...

⇒Reservations for the "perm" provided by "Saito" will not be accepted on the same date and time (July 7th from 10:13 to 14:XNUMX).

It can also be configured if there are two or more staff members in charge.

For example, let's say that Mr. Saito and Mr. Tanaka are in charge of haircuts and perms. In this case, even if a haircut is booked between 7:10pm and 13:14pm on July XNUMXth and Mr. Saito is in charge, Mr. Tanaka is still available, so we will accept reservations for a perm on the same date and time. can do.

<Mr. Saito and Mr. Tanaka are in charge of haircuts and perms>

If you have a reservation for Mr. Saito's "haircut" from 7:10 to 13:14 on July XNUMXth...

⇒ Mr. Tanaka's reservation slot is still open, so you can reserve a "perm" for the same date and time.

In this way, Sakurabook's reservation management system calculates based on the service's business hours, break times, service availability, staff availability, etc., and only makes reservations for dates and times when the service can actually be provided to the customer. Automatically update your reservation calendar to no longer accept requests.

In the case of traditional reservation systems, even if you receive a reservation from a customer, there are questions such as "Can we provide the service? Is it really okay to accept the reservation?" "Will I be double-booked?" "Is the person in charge available in the schedule?" Without confirming these things, we would not be able to accept your reservation. However, Sakurabook automatically performs these complex confirmation tasks, making reservation management operations extremely smooth.

How to respond when a customer makes a reservation by phone or in-store

The reality is that even if you operate a reservation site, you may actually accept reservations in a variety of ways. For example, a case where reservations are accepted at a store. It is not uncommon for customers to verbally make their next reservation by saying, ``Thank you for your time next week.'' In some cases, reservations can also be made by phone.

Even if a reservation is made from a source other than the site, Sakurabook allows you to manually add a new reservation from the dashboard of the management screen.

As a result, reservations made over the phone or in-store can be managed all at once using Sakurabook's reservation management system.

Handling reservation changes and cancellations

Another important aspect of operating a reservation site is handling reservation changes and cancellations. It is not uncommon for us to receive a variety of requests from customers, such as ``I want to cancel my reservation,'' ``I want to change the date and time of my reservation,'' or ``I want to change the course I'm booking.'' In such a case, we will show you how to deal with it with Sakurabook.

The current version of Sakurabook does not have the ability to cancel or change reservation details by the customer themselves. This is currently being considered for future implementation.

Therefore, if a customer changes or cancels their reservation, you will need to do so manually from the Sakurabook management screen. With Sakurabook, you can delete reservations or change reservation details from the calendar displayed on the dashboard of the management screen. Please use this function to respond.

Additionally, we currently do not have a function that automatically handles payments due to changes or cancellations of reservations. Please use payment services such as Shopify Payments to respond to customers via email, etc.

Application of cancellation policy (collection of cancellation fees, etc.)

I think many restaurants have conditions that will incur a cancellation fee if your reservation is cancelled. For example, a restaurant's rule may be, ``Cancellations made 2 days or less before the reservation will incur a cancellation fee.''

In accordance with these cancellation rules (cancellation policy), we may charge a cancellation fee from the customer, or in some cases, may even provide a refund, but the current version of Sakurabook does not handle payments associated with such cancellations. , not compatible with automation. Therefore, we ask that you use a payment service such as Shopify Payments and respond to customers via email, etc.

Automating the application of cancellation policies is also a feature planned for future development.

Summary: Create a reservation site with Sakurabook, which has a reservation management function.

That will be included in this summary. This time, we introduced Sakurabook's reservation management and operation.

Sakurabook has various functions to prevent double booking. Even when providing multiple reservation services, we manage not only the availability of the services, but also the availability of the staff in charge of them, so that reservations can only be made when ``we are truly in a situation where we can provide the service to the customer.'' This is how it works. Therefore, with the introduction of Sakurabook, most of the prevention of double bookings can be automated.

Additionally, if you make a new reservation by phone or in-store instead of on the website, you can add a new reservation from the management screen. Therefore, reservations made from places other than the website can be managed centrally on Sakurabook.

Although we support cancellation of reservations and changes to reservation details, we do not currently have a function for customers to make changes or cancellations themselves. In addition, the current version does not support automation regarding payment and cancellation policy application due to changes and cancellations. These changes and cancellations must be made manually from the admin screen. You will need to do this manually from the Sakurabook management screen. Automation of these functions will be implemented in the future.