Walk-ins fill a shop's empty minutes, and appointments fill its week ahead. The trouble starts when the two meet in the same chair: a walk-in started at 2:40 runs into the client booked for 3:00, and the person who planned ahead is the one who waits.
That client has already shown they plan to come back, so protect them first. Everything below follows from that rule.
Decide which clients you are protecting
A walk-in you turn away costs you one service. A booked client kept waiting twenty minutes can cost you every visit they would have made after it. That is why the booked time comes first, and a walk-in gets the time that is genuinely free.
- A walk-in never pushes back a booking. If the service won't finish before the next client, offer another person or a later start.
- Your most requested people stay on appointments. Their clients plan ahead, and their time is worth guarding.
- Wait times are said out loud. A walk-in who knows it is twelve minutes is more likely to stay than one left guessing.
Learn when your walk-ins actually come
Most shops have a pattern: the lunch hour on weekdays, all day Saturday, the hour after offices close. Your own pattern is what matters, and you can only see it if every walk-in is written down in the same place as your appointments.
Put every walk-in on the calendar for a few weeks, even the quick ones. Then look back at which days and hours they came, and plan from that: keep a chair mostly free of appointments in your walk-in rush, and let appointments fill the quiet hours.
Keep the last gaps for the door
A client booking online at 1:50 for a 2:00 slot and a walk-in arriving at 1:55 want the same gap. Whoever gets there first wins it. If walk-ins are a big part of your business, you can decide that question in advance by asking online clients for some notice.
- Set a Booking window, such as two hours' notice, so the next two hours stay open for whoever walks in.
- Your team can still book any free time on the calendar, so a walk-in can take a slot online clients can no longer book.
- Put breaks into each person's working hours, so nobody gets booked online through lunch.
The trade-off is real: an online client who wanted the next hour sees later times instead. Choose the notice from how much of your day comes through the door. In Onsuki, the Booking window is in Settings, Business, Booking Controls, and it limits online bookings only.
Book the walk-in where the whole service fits
The usual mistake is checking whether a chair is free now, not whether it stays free long enough. Onsuki's Walk-in button asks the second question for you.
- Select Walk-in on the calendar and add the service the client wants.
- Leave Provider on Next available, or choose a person if the client asks for someone.
- Pick a row. Each row is a team member and the earliest time they can start, such as "Now" or "In 12 min", soonest first.
Each start on that list is one where the whole service fits around the person's bookings, hours, and breaks, so the walk-in won't run into the next client. If nobody can take them today, the panel says so and shows the next times. Once booked, the time is taken on your booking site too.
Give the client a real choice
A walk-in who asks for their usual barber and is told "maybe half an hour" has nothing to decide with. Read them the rows instead. The list already shows each person and their earliest start, so the honest answer takes one look.
- Name the trade-off: "Twelve minutes with your usual barber, or now with the next one." Most clients pick quickly when both options are on the table.
- Quote the start, not a range: a time you read off the row is a time you can keep. A guess is a time you have to apologize for.
- Offer a booking when today is full: if the list shows the next times on a later day, book one before they leave, so the walk-in becomes an appointment.
Take only the details they offer
Some walk-ins are happy to give a name and number. Others just want the service. Take what they give you and move on, because a long form at the door is how you lose the next person in line.
- A regular: search their name, and the visit goes on their history.
- Someone new: turn on New client and enter a name, plus a mobile number or email if they give one, so you can recognize them next time.
- No name: leave the client empty and they are booked as Walk-in.
Check everyone out the same way
Check walk-ins out exactly like booked clients: from the appointment, when the service is done, by cash, card, or GCash and your other accounts. When every sale goes through the same place, the day's sales are in one list to check against the cash drawer and your GCash history at closing. See Payments and how to close out the day.
Onsuki books walk-ins and appointments on one calendar and lists who can take a walk-in soonest without running into the next booking. Turn on Walk-ins in Settings, Business, Features. See Appointments.
