An empty chair on a busy Saturday. No message, no excuse. No-shows cost salons revenue every week and frustrate your team. One of the most effective brakes? Asking for a deposit when booking.
Clients who have already paid something are more likely to show up. That is not theory, it is daily practice in hair salons, nail studios and treatment centres. The problem is not that deposits work. The problem is that many salons either do not set them up, or apply them too bluntly: the same amount for everyone, or nothing for anyone.
In Salontailor you configure deposits very precisely. Per service, per category, globally for your entire salon, and even per client. That way you protect your calendar against no-shows without unnecessarily burdening loyal clients.
Why deposits reduce no-shows
A no-show is more than a missed appointment. You lose the revenue from that treatment, the time you could not fill and sometimes also confidence in your planning. Reminder emails help, but they are no guarantee. A deposit adds an extra layer: financial commitment from the moment of booking.
That does not have to mean every client pays the full amount upfront. A small fixed amount on a colour treatment can already make the difference. The point is that booking costs something if you do not show up, not that you scare clients away with thresholds that are too high.
Salontailor gives you the flexibility to get that exactly right. Not one rule for everyone, but a system that fits your salon and your client base.
Read more: Preventing no-shows in your salon
Deposit per service category
The fastest way to start: set a deposit at category level. All services within that category automatically inherit the same amount.
Practical example: you have a Colour treatments category and a Haircuts category. On colour treatments you set a €25 deposit, on haircuts nothing. Every new colour service you add automatically picks up that rule. No separate work per service.
You configure this via Settings → Services. Open a category and fill in the deposit amount. Once online payments are active, the client can pay that amount immediately when booking via your booking widget.
Deposit per individual service
Sometimes you want to differentiate within one category. A balayage requires more preparation than a toner, but they sit in the same category. For that you set the deposit at service level.
For each service you fill in a separate deposit amount. Want the service rule to take priority over the category? Enable Override category deposit amount for this service. That way a single premium treatment can have a higher deposit while the rest of the category keeps the standard amount.
Does a client book multiple services in one appointment? Salontailor adds up the deposits per selected service. Colour (€25) plus haircut (€0) becomes €25 deposit. Two services at €15 each becomes €30.
Read more: Multiple services in one appointment
Global deposit for your entire salon
Want one rule for everything, regardless of individual services? Use the global deposit in your payment settings. That overrides per-service or per-category amounts once it is active.
You have three options:
- Individual per service or category: the default mode. Each deposit follows what you configured on services.
- Fixed amount: for example €20 per booking, regardless of which services the client chooses. Optionally multiply that amount by the number of selected services.
- Percentage: for example 30% of the total price of the selected services. Useful when you want the deposit to scale with the treatment price.
A global percentage works well when your salon has many different prices and you do not want to maintain each amount manually. A fixed amount is easier to communicate to clients: "When booking online we ask for a €15 deposit."
Only for new clients
Many salons do not want a deposit from regular clients who have been showing up faithfully for years. Logical: that group rarely causes no-shows. The risk is mainly with first-time visitors you do not know yet.
Salontailor supports that in two ways.
Deposit for everyone, except recognised clients
Set your deposit rules as described above. For existing clients, set the deposit policy in the client file to No deposit. Does the booking widget recognise the client via the same email address? Then no deposit is charged. New visitors who are not yet in your system do pay the deposit.
Only existing clients may book online
Do you not want new clients to book online at all? Configure in the widget settings that only existing clients may reserve. New visitors are politely referred to get in touch. That is stricter, but gives you full control over who ends up in your calendar.
The middle ground works for most salons: everyone may book, but new clients pay a deposit and regular clients do not. You combine that by setting broad deposit rules and individually waiving deposits for loyal clients.
Read more: Online booking: deposits, access and discounts
Turn on or off per client
Besides "no deposit" you have more options per client. Open the client file and go to Deposit for online booking. There you choose:
- Standard (salon rules): the client follows your general settings per service, category or globally.
- No deposit: even if a deposit is configured, this client pays nothing when booking online.
- Half deposit (50%): the client pays half of the calculated deposit. Useful as a middle ground for clients you want to keep, but who have failed to show up before.
- Full service price upfront: the client pays the full treatment price when booking. The strictest policy, for example for clients with a no-show history or for premium treatments.
The system recognises the client in the widget once the email address matches your client database. You do not need to manually check who should or should not pay: the rules are applied automatically.
How clients pay the deposit
Deposits work once you have activated online payments in your payment settings. Via Salontailor you choose which payment methods you offer, such as Bancontact, credit card or iDEAL. You decide what clients see at checkout.
Salontailor does not charge a percentage on payments. The money goes straight to your account. Want to pass on your payment provider costs? You can set an administrative fee yourself, charged on top of the deposit.
When booking online via the widget, the client pays the deposit immediately during the reservation process. The appointment is only final after a successful payment. Do you see in the calendar that the deposit is still open? You can resend the payment link by email.
Deposit and checkout at the POS
A deposit is not separate administration. In Salontailor everything flows through one system.
Was the deposit paid online? You see that immediately in the appointment. At checkout in the POS, the amount already paid is automatically deducted from the total. You do not need to calculate manually or invoice twice.
That also applies when a client booked multiple services or bought products at the counter: the deposit is separate from the rest, but the POS takes it into account. One flow, no separate spreadsheet.
Read more: Checkout: POS and calendar as one system
Practical examples per salon type
Every salon is different. Here are three scenarios you can replicate in Salontailor.
Hair salon with a loyal client base
No deposit on haircuts. €20 on all colour treatments via the Colour category. Regular clients with more than two years of history get No deposit in their file. New clients booking a colour appointment online pay €20.
Treatment centre with expensive sessions
Global percentage of 30% on all online bookings. Clients with previous no-shows get Full service price upfront. Everyone who normally shows up pays a reasonable deposit that scales with the treatment price.
Nail studio with short appointments
Fixed global deposit of €10 per booking, multiplied by the number of services when someone combines gel polish and a manicure. No per-category deposit needed: one simple rule that applies to everything.
Conclusion: deposits that fit your salon
Deposits are not a punishment for your clients. It is a way to protect your time and your calendar. And with the right settings, you do not have to lose loyal clients in the process.
Salontailor lets you choose at which level you work: per category, per service, globally or per client. Combine that with online payment, automatic recognition in the widget and a POS that includes deposits, and you have a complete system against no-shows.
Start small. One category, one fixed amount, and measure whether your no-shows drop. Then adjust per client or per service. That is how you find the policy that works for your salon.