Discounts at Checkout for Square Appointments

[Raef]

The title of this thread has been edited by a Square Moderator from the original: Discount code or coupon at checkout

I've noticed several requests for this feature, and I'm currently evaluating Square for online appointment booking. However, the lack of a discount code option is a major drawback for me, as I need to offer promo codes to my clients.

How are others handling this? I don’t want to allow bookings without payment, as that leads to no-shows. Additionally, I noticed that payment settings apply to all services universally—you can either require a credit card for a hold, charge at the time of booking, or not require one at all. Without the ability to apply discount codes, charging at the time of booking isn’t viable, and requiring a credit card hold for every appointment isn’t great for customer experience.

Has anyone found a workaround? It seems like this feature has been requested for years but hasn’t been implemented, which suggests it may be complex from a development standpoint and that leads me to believe that I need to evaluate this booking tool with the assumption that it will never be implemented. Any insights or solutions would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks!

[JTPets]

Square is constantly working to improve their services, I would comment on any feature requests you an find regarding your needs and consider posting new ones if you have detailed use case scenarios like this (this also sometimes forces mods to consolidate threads and they see a thread has 200 replies they may advocate during internal discussions), and engage with them often. The more chatter around a feature the more likely it is to get approved. I also encourage you to join betas. They give you direct access to push for changes and innovations as you provide feedback to the beta you are in. Helping you drive awareness for your need.

[Raef]

Thanks! Appreciate the advice 

[MALqueerhair · Accepted solution]

We have a BIPOC sliding scale that we process via discount codes. We display the discount codes on our website and request that clients specify their choice in their appointments notes and then we apply the discount code at checkout. You can also set up a structured checkbox field too under Customer Profile Fields (Appointments > Online Booking > Settings). You can't miss the customer profile notes or appt notes when reviewing the appt. so we haven't had any issues with this approach.

Even though the credit hold isn't 100% perfect, its pretty secure from a client perspective. We can only charge in the event of the no-show and only for the amount booked. If you want to store a credit card, the process is completely different.

See a feature request for partial deposit here:
https://community.squareup.com/t5/Square-Appointments/Deposit-for-Appointment/idc-p/769328#M2680

[Raef]

Thanks so much for sharing this. Unfortunately this would not work for me as what I am trying to do is get payment at the time they book the service. I can always apply the discount in person when they are at the location. The issue is that it becomes too easy for a client to book a service and then cancel at the last minute leaving me with a non-revenue hole in my calendar. It's super important for me as I only have one light system (the only service I offer)  and therefore when someone cancels at the last minute it is devastating for my business. I appreciate your idea though. Many thanks again.

[JTPets]

Here is a work around, it will require some manual work but will allow you to take a fee ahead - invoice them

Change the wording to meet your needs, but essentially say:
"All appointments booked will be issued an invoice for services to confirm their appointment, it must be paid in full prior to your appointment being confirmed"

[Raef]

Thanks so much. I will explore this idea 

[Sammie_C]

@JTPets and @MALqueerhair, this is very helpful and I appreciate the input!

I am sorry to hear that these options weren't able to solve this for you, @Raef, but posting on Ideate would be a good idea in the meantime. 

Please feel free to reach out anytime if you end up having any other questions or concerns about this or anything else Square.

[Raef]

Thanks so much. I have posted there.