Custom fields for Booking

[Lwoods2]

Hello! I have a dog grooming salon and there are specific items I would like to collect during booking. I saw in a previous post about a work around, but I’d be kidding if I thought that was okay for a paid service. Is this something you all can do as this is a make or break for me. Thanks!

[#2]

Hi Sellers! 👋

We've got some exciting news to share!

You can now use Custom Fields to collect custom information from customers when they book Appointments and Classes online! This feature is available with a Square Appointments Plus or Premium subscription.

You can set up, view, add, hide, and edit custom fields from your online Square Dashboard or Square Appointments App:

From the Square Dashboard

1. Navigate to Customers.
2. Click Settings > Configure Profiles.
3. Click Create Custom Field.
4. Name the field and select a field type.
5. Click Save.

From the Square Appointments App

1. Navigate to More > Settings > Customers.
2. Click Add Field.
3. Name the field and select a field type.
4. Click Save.

Once you’ve created the custom fields you want to collect, you can add those fields to your online booking flow.

From the Square Dashboard

1. Navigate to Appointments > Online Booking > Settings.
2. Scroll down to Customer profile fields.
3. Click Add Custom Field under When customers book an appointment or class.
4. Select your newly created field.
5. Click Save.

From the Square Appointments App

1. Navigate to More > Online Booking.
2. Scroll down to Customer profile fields.
3. Click Add Custom Field under When customers book an appointment or class.
4. Select your newly created field.
5. Click Save.

We'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this new feature, so please feel free to drop your comments below!

@Lwoods2 @RG2952 @EcoCarCafe @Jacky_MBL

[COD76177]

Thanks for suggestions. As mentioned in my original post, I only use Square Appointments. 

[lorimakesmoves]

I hear you. I have been thinking of switching my appointment booking software to Square Appointments, and it's the constant need to add-on or upgrade that makes me hesitate. Wish there were more features built in.

[hometown_arcade]

I have implemented different versions of a service and incorporated custom attributes, but unfortunately, these attributes are not currently visible on the appointments page. I would like to understand the purpose of custom attributes better. Specifically, I would like to collect the name of the person when they book an appointment, along with a few other questions. Could anyone please guide me on resolving this issue?

[TheRealChipA]

Hi @hometown_arcade.  Custom attributes are pretty much only useful internally in a couple of scenarios.  The first is if you are using a third-party app integration with Square and that app needs to maintain additional information as part of your item catalog entries in order to be useful.  The second is if you want to add additional information to be used from your dashboard for things like search refinements and so forth.  Customer attributes are not available for use in any of the Square POS apps, online, or in any customer-facing scenario.  They were built with a very limited purpose in mind, and the one you are suggesting was not part of that purpose.

Beyond that, the Online Appointments Booking page already collects the name of the person when they book an appointment, along with a few other pieces of contact information and the service they wish to book.  What other information, exactly, are you trying to collect that the booking form doesn’t collect already?

[hometown_arcade]

Thanks for the quick reply @TheRealChipA . I am looking to ask the name of a birthday person, and the gaming console (PS5, XBOx, etc) they would like to reserve for the birthday party at the gaming arcade. Is it possible to ask those question whenever a customer books a birthday party on the bookings page?

Thank You!

[TheRealChipA]

Don’t thank me just yet, @hometown_arcade.  LOL.  You might not like what I’m going to say.  Ha.

First, you can’t do exactly what you want to do with the Online Booking page right now.  That capability just doesn’t exist.  Nor will custom attributes work for you in this case, as that was not the purpose for which they were created.  I spent a little time doing some research, and I might have a workaround, though.

Square Appointments allows you to send digital contracts to collect additional information from your customers after an appointment is booked.  This is on the Appointments -> Settings -> Communications tab, about halfway down in a section called “Digital Contracts.”

You can create your own contract template that will include custom data collection fields (this is a paid feature with the Appointments Premium tier), and then add it to your booking flow. This would at least allow you to seamlessly collect the data you need.  Here is the Getting Started with Contracts guide.

I think (and hope) that this will be a solution for you.

[najioh68]

I want to get specific information from the customer who makes an appointment.

But I can't find any way to add a custom field or custom message on the service appointment setting.

Please let me know. Thanks

[TheRealChipA]

Hi @najioh68.  Currently, there is no mechanism for adding custom fields or messages to the appointment flow.  If you’d like to suggest this, you can submit a feature request to the Appointments Team here.  Just give them specific examples of what you are trying to accomplish.

I will also say that it is possible that you could collect the information you want with a contract that can be sent to customers after they book an appointment.  But, since you didn’t give any specifics about what you are trying to accomplish, I can’t be certain that would work, yet.

Regards,

[EcoCarCafe]

Not a dog groomer but an auto detailer here. Having the ability to add a step to the booking/appointments user flow would be super helpful. We'd love to capture customer vehicle information and/or home address (for our mobile services).

[Jacky_MBL]

Hey @EcoCarCafe , this feature is actually available now in Appointments > Settings > Calendar & Booking

You can add up to 5 custom fields. Not enough for us to replace having Invoice Plus yet but its better than nothing.