Square Appointments - How to allow multiple bookings for the same time slot using online booking

[Madebymepottery]

I am setting up a pottery studio. Each day, I have three time slots that people can book:

10:30 - 12:30

13:00 - 15:00

15:30 - 17:30 

I have 25 spaces available in each time slot. 

I have spent hours trying to work out how to make this work using Square appointments. I have a square website too. I have set up classes with spots, but cannot link this to the booking system. When clicking book on my website, it just says no services available. The person booking via class or service also cannot specify the quantity of spots [e.g. x4 people attending as a family/group]. 

I have tried to set this up in services - but if one person books, it then removes the option for someone else to book the same time session, which could be disastrous as I will only have one booking for a slot. Ideally, it would be great to set up a service and specify how many are available for that time slot so if one person books, it will still show to people that there are spaces available to book for that time session? It would also be good for someone booking to say how many people they are booking for? Is this possible? 

I have spent hours looking at the community feedback, I've watched so many videos and I am still very stuck. I am considering cancelling square appointments and looking at something else as I can't believe how hard this is.... Does anyone have any useful advice or solutions? 

Thanks, Kelly 

[Summer2024 · Accepted solution]

Hi, @Madebymepottery ! Welcome to the Square Community. 

Bad news first: Square Appointments is designed more for 1:1 bookings rather than classes or group sessions with multiple participants per time slot. That’s why you're seeing it block the time once one person books. 

Good news next: I can provide some workarounds/options for you to achieve what you are wanting to achieve. 

• Use Square Online with "Shoppable" Events (Classes as Items):
  Instead of relying on Appointments, you could create your classes as physical items with stock counts (25 per time slot). You'd list each time slot as a product (e.g., "Pottery Class  10:30–12:30") with 25 available. Customers can select the number of spots they want, and inventory will update accordingly. This would also require you to switch your site to a shop all site versus a booking site. 

• Use Square + Event Management Tool Integration:
  Third-party tools like Bookeo or Acuity Scheduling integrate with Square and are better suited for managing group bookings, participant counts, and time slot control. This might be worth considering if you need more flexibility.

• Set Up Classes in Square Appointments 

1. Sign in to Square Dashboard and go to Appointments.
2. Click Calendar > Create.
3. Select Class from the Event Type dropdown.
4. Click Class name > +Add new class and enter a class name, category, description, price and any applicable taxes. Click Save.
   • You can also select an existing class.
5. Under Class schedule, select the class location, date, time, and repetition.
6. Enter the spots available and choose your instructor.
7. Click Save.

Let me know if you have any questions. I hope this helps. 

[Madebymepottery]

Thank you Summer. If I chose option 3 - set up classes in square appointments, how do I then add these to my square website so people can start booking them? How would this work if someone wants to book for a family of 4 [for example?] do they have to make a booking per person? 

[Summer2024]

@Madebymepottery Once you've created your classes in Square Appointments, they will automatically appear on your Square Online Booking Site. 

Right now, Square Appointments does not natively support group booking for classes in one transaction. Each person in the group needs to book their spot separately under their own name/email. You can communicate this in the class description so customers know.

Not ideal for group bookings, but hopefully we will see that become an option in the future. 😄