Private Memberships
Private memberships give businesses full control over who can discover and purchase select memberships. When a membership is marked as private, it does not appear in the public webstore catalog. Staff can send a secure invite to a specific guest, who can then access and purchase the membership directly from the webstore through a personalised link.
Prerequisites
The Enable Private Memberships organization setting must be enabled.
The staff member must have the Send Private Membership Invite permission, available under the Marketing Manager security role.
The guest profile must have a valid email address or phone number saved.
The Private Membership Invitation notification template must be configured and active.
Enable private memberships
At the organization level, click the Configurations icon.
Search for and select Enable Private Memberships in the Memberships section.
Turn on the setting.
Click Save.
Enable Show in Catalog
The Private Membership toggle is only visible when Show in Catalog is turned on for a membership. You must complete this step before marking a membership as private.
At the organization level, navigate to Master Data > Memberships.
Select the membership you want to make private.
Go to the Catalog tab.
Turn on the Show in Catalog toggle.
Click Save.
Mark a membership as private
The Show in Catalog setting must be enabled to mark the membership as private.
Navigate to Master Data > Memberships and open the same membership.
Go to the Catalog tab.
Turn on the Private Membership toggle.
Click Save.
The membership is now excluded from the public webstore catalog and will not appear in membership listings for general users.
Note
When you are configuring a membership in Zenoti, a private membership behaves like any other membership. The visibility restriction applies only to the Webstore.
Configure notification template for private memberships
Before invites can be sent, the Private Membership Invitation template must be active. This template delivers the secure invite link to guests via Email or SMS.
At the organization level, click the Configurations icon.
Search for and select Templates for email and text from the Notifications section.
Locate the Private Membership Invitation template and click Edit.
Turn on Email, Text, or both, depending on your preferred delivery channel.
Customise the subject line and body text as needed using the available macros.
Click Save.
For default template content and available macros, refer to the Private Membership Invitation notification template.
Send a private membership invite
Required roles: Marketing Manager
Required permissions: Send Private Membership Invite
Open the required guest profile.
Navigate to the Membership tab.
Select Action > Invite to Membership.
Choose the membership from the list.
Click Send.
Zenoti sends the invite using the Private Membership Invitation notification template, based on the contact details available on the guest profile.
Note
The Invite to Membership action is available only at the center level. The Enable Private Memberships org setting must be turned on for this action to appear.
Webstore behavior
Private memberships are not listed in the public webstore catalog and are not visible to guests who have not received an invite. When an invited guest signs in to the webstore, their private memberships appear at the top of the membership listing, above all public memberships, with a Just for you badge. This applies whether the guest opens the invite link or browses the webstore directly while signed in. The rest of the catalog remains visible to the signed-in guest as normal.
When a guest opens the secure invite link, the experience varies based on whether they are signed in.
Guest is not signed in: The private membership is pre-selected on the webstore. The guest cannot deselect it or browse other memberships until they sign in. Once signed in, they can proceed with the purchase.
Guest is already signed in: The private membership is highlighted with a Just for you badge at the top of the membership listing. The guest can also browse other available memberships.
In both cases, the guest completes the purchase through the standard membership checkout flow.
After a guest purchases a private membership, it appears in the Membership tab of their guest profile with the same Just for you badge, clearly distinguishing it from standard memberships.
Important
The secure invite link is mapped to the invited guest. If the link is forwarded to another guest, it will not work.
View Invite Logs
Open the guest profile.
Navigate to the Membership tab.
Click Show Logs to view the invite history for that guest.
Note
The Show Logs option is available only at the center level. The Enable Private Memberships org setting must be turned on for this option to appear.
If an invite cannot be sent, one of the following messages appears on screen. Use the table below to identify the cause and resolve it.
Message | Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
Cannot send invite. Send private membership invite role is not enabled. | The staff member does not have the required role permission. | Assign the Send Private Membership Invite permission under the Marketing Manager security role. |
Cannot send invite. No email address or mobile number found in profile. | The guest profile has no contact details on file. | Add a valid email address or phone number to the guest profile before sending the invite. |
Cannot send invite. Email/SMS templates are not enabled. | Neither the email nor the SMS template is active. | Enable at least one template under the Private Membership Invitation notification settings. |
Cannot send invite. Guest has an email address, but only the SMS template is enabled. | The guest has an email address on file, but the email template is not active. | Enable the email template, or add a phone number to the guest profile. |
Cannot send invite. Guest has a mobile number, but only the email template is enabled. | The guest has a phone number on file, but the SMS template is not active. | Enable the SMS template, or add an email address to the guest profile. |
Impacts and considerations
Private memberships are not visible in the public webstore catalog. For invited guests who are signed in, they appear at the top of the membership listing with a Just for you badge.
In the admin panel, a private membership behaves like any other membership. The visibility restriction applies to the webstore only.
Forwarded invite links will not work for users other than the invited guest.
The Invite to Membership action and Show Logs option are available only at the center level when the Enable Private Memberships org setting is turned on.
Both the email and SMS notification templates must be configured before sending invites.