Bookings | Managing Bookings

The Bookings section in Orbit allows you to manage service appointments for your service-type products, view them in a calendar or list, update their status, and block out time so certain slots cannot be booked.

From here you can see who has booked which service and when, open a booking to view the customer and service details, mark a booking as completed or no-show, cancel a booking with a reason, and reserve time so customers cannot book it.

Accessing Bookings

To access Bookings:

• From the left-hand menu, go to Commerce.

• Select Bookings.

The Bookings page will open, showing your appointments and time blocks.

Calendar view

By default the page opens in Calendar view, showing a month grid. Use the arrows beside the month name to move between months, or click Today to return to the current month. Each booking appears in its day cell with its start time and the customer’s name, and busy days show a count of how many bookings they contain.

A status legend runs along the bottom of the calendar so you can tell bookings apart at a glance:

• Confirmed — the appointment is booked and paid for.

• Pending — the appointment is awaiting payment.

• Completed — the appointment has taken place.

• Cancelled — the appointment has been cancelled.

• No-show — the customer did not attend.

• Blocked — time you have reserved so it cannot be booked.

List view

Click List in the top right to switch to a table of bookings. The list shows the same appointments in a row-by-row layout with the following columns:

• Date — the day the appointment is scheduled for.

• Time — the start time of the appointment.

• Duration — how long the appointment lasts, in minutes.

• Customer — the customer who made the booking. Time blocks show a dash, as they have no customer.

• Status — the current status of the booking, shown as a coloured label.

You can switch back to the grid at any time by clicking Calendar.

Opening a booking

Click any booking in either the calendar or the list to open it in a side drawer. The drawer shows:

• When the appointment takes place, including the date, start and end times, and duration

• The service product the booking is for, with a link to view the product

• The customer’s name, email address, phone number, and address, with a link to view the customer

• A link to the related order, where one exists

• Any note left by the customer, and a cancellation reason if the booking was cancelled

Time blocks have no customer or order attached, so the drawer shows only the service and the reserved time.

Booking actions

The actions available in the drawer depend on the booking’s status. For a confirmed booking you can:

• Mark complete — record that the appointment took place.

• Mark no-show — record that the customer did not attend.

You can also cancel a booking that has not already been completed, cancelled, or marked as a no-show. When you select Cancel booking, you are prompted for an optional reason, which is shown to the customer, and the customer is refunded according to your cancellation policy.

Blocking out time

Blocking out time reserves part of the calendar so that no customer can book it — useful for holidays, maintenance, or any period when a service is unavailable.

To block out time:

1. Click Block time in the top right of the Bookings page.

2. Choose the service product the block applies to.

3. Enter a Start date and time.

4. Enter an End date and time. The end must be after the start.

5. Click Block time to save.

The blocked period appears on the calendar with the Blocked status, and those slots are no longer available for customers to book.

Service availability

The slots customers can choose when booking a service are driven by your service hours. To set the days and times each service is available, go to Settings > Service Hours. Bookings can only be made within these windows, alongside any time you have blocked out.

Why Bookings is important

The Bookings section gives you a single place to manage every service appointment, keep track of who is coming and when, and keep your calendar accurate by recording outcomes and reserving unavailable time.

By using the Bookings section, you can:

• See all your service appointments in a calendar or list

• Open a booking to view the customer and service details

• Mark appointments as completed or no-show

• Cancel a booking and refund the customer

• Block out time so certain slots cannot be booked

If you have any questions, please contact us at support@orbitcommerce.net