At the end of this article your shop will have a working walk-in queue. The front desk (or the barbers) can add a walk-in in a few taps, put them in line for a named barber or the next free chair, start the cut, and send the finished ticket straight to the POS. You can also put the board on a screen so clients see their place in line.
Before you start
- Barbers are added with working hours and marked as service providers. See Add chairs and barbers.
- Chairs are added for your location.
- Services have real durations. See Add services with durations and prices.
- Optional: a tablet at the door and a TV or monitor for the board.
Steps
- Turn on the queue. Go to Settings → Business settings → Modules and make sure Bookings and the walk-in queue are on. Save and refresh.
- Open the board. Go to Bookings → Queue. You see a column per barber who is clocked in or working today, plus an “Any barber” line.
- Set queue options. In Bookings → Settings, choose whether the board shows client first names only (good for privacy on a public screen), whether walk-ins can pick a barber, and how many upcoming appointments to show.
- Add a walk-in. Click Add to queue. Type the client’s name and phone, or search an existing client card. Pick the service (for example “Skin fade”) and a barber or “Any barber”. Save.
- Start the cut. When the chair is free, the barber taps Start. The client moves from waiting to in-chair, and the clock starts.
- Finish and check out. When the cut is done, tap Finish. The ticket opens in POS with the client, barber and service already filled in. Add any product sale, take payment and print or send the receipt.
- Handle no-shows. If a client leaves the line, tap Remove and pick the reason. This keeps wait times honest.
- Show it on a screen. Open the board’s display view on the TV or monitor browser and set it to full screen.
- Train the floor. Spend ten minutes before opening walking every barber through add, start, finish.
Read more on the walk-in queue feature page.
A busy Saturday, step by step
A client walks in and asks for a fade with anyone. The front desk adds them to “Any barber”. The board shows three people ahead. The first barber to finish taps Start on the next name, cuts, taps Finish, and the ticket opens in POS ready for payment and a tip.
Common mistakes
- Barbers not marked as working today. They do not get a column. Check their hours or clock-in.
- Durations of zero. Wait estimates show “now” for everyone. Fix durations in Products.
- Full names on a public screen. Show first names or initials only.
- Finishing outside the POS. If barbers take cash and never finish the ticket, tips and commission will be missing.
- One person running the board on the owner login. Use a front-desk login so actions are traceable.
Next step
If you rent chairs, set up the rent ledger: Set up booth rent for chair renters.