Automatic Waitlist Management
Tip
Automatic Waitlist Management enables your guests to join a waitlist for their preferred appointment time and date through your webstore or customer mobile app (CMA). When a slot becomes available due to a cancellation or rescheduling, the system automatically notifies the first guest in line via email or SMS, giving them the chance to confirm the appointment within a specified time frame. If the guest does not respond in time, the system moves on to the next person on the list, and so forth, ensuring that your appointment book remains as full as possible.
To prevent notification overload, the system applies the following limits per guest:
A notification for the same slot is not sent to the same guest until the configured wait time (T minutes) has elapsed since the previous notification for that slot.
No more than 3 notifications are sent to the same guest for the same slot.
No more than 20 notifications are sent to the same guest within the same day.
The waitlist notification queue processes guests independently based on the slot they are waiting for. The following rules apply:
Guests queued for different time slots are notified independently. For example, if Guest 1 is in the queue for a 7 PM slot and Guest 2 is in the queue for an 8 PM slot, the system does not wait for Guest 1's notification window to expire before sending the notification to Guest 2. Guest 2's notification is sent at the scheduled time regardless of Guest 1's status.
If Guest 1 accepts a slot, this does not block notifications from being sent to Guest 2 for a different slot. Acceptance only removes the slot from availability for the same time slot, it does not affect guests queued for other slots.
If a guest is already in the queue for a slot, a new queue is not started for the same time slot. Any new guests added for that slot are placed in the next available queue thread.
The system waits for T minutes before sending a second notification for the same time slot to the same guest.
Example
Ashley, a guest, wants to book a HydraFacial appointment via Webstore on June 17 at 10:00 AM but sees it’s fully booked. She joins the waitlist for any available morning slots on that day. |  |
On June 16, a guest scheduled for a 10:00 AM appointment on June 17 cancels due to an emergency. The system identifies Ashley as the first person on the waitlist for the 10:00 AM slot and sends her an SMS and email notification to confirm the appointment within 120 minutes. Ashley sees the notification and confirms the appointment within 10 minutes. The system holds the slot for Ashley, updates the appointment book, and sends her a confirmation. |   |
If Ashley had not responded within 120 minutes, the system would have automatically sent the notification to the next person on the waitlist. |  |
Once a waitlisted guest has been sent a notification for a slot and the notification window has not yet expired, the system will block the front desk from booking that slot manually. This prevents a situation where a front desk operator books a slot that has already been offered to a waitlisted guest. The block is lifted once the notification window expires or the guest responds.
When appointments are moved or rescheduled internally, a slot may briefly appear available and trigger a new waitlist notification. To prevent this, a center-level setting is available that blocks a second notification for the same provider and time slot from being sent to the same guest before the first notification has expired. This applies when the guest selected "Any provider" when joining the waitlist. This setting is disabled by default.
Why use this feature?
Use this feature to ensure that appointment book remains full even with cancellations. You can gauge demand for popular timeslots, and proactively reach out to guests, optimizing booking efficiency and maximizing revenue potential.
When a slot becomes available, the system notifies the first guest on the waitlist. If the guest rejects the slot or does not respond within the allotted time, the system then offers the slot to the next guest on the list, ensuring that the appointment book remain consistently full.
Note
When guests select Any Provider from the Webstore, CMA, or other guest-facing channels, Zenoti checks provider availability before creating an appointment. Providers marked Exclude from catalog are not considered during this check, so guests receive notifications only for providers visible in your catalog.
How to set up this feature?
How can I assess the impact of this feature on my business?
If this feature is enabled, you can assess its impact by reviewing the relevant signal from the Admin dashboard.
