Booking system for a massage and therapy studio
In a massage, physiotherapy or wellness studio, the therapist's hands are busy. The phone rings mid-session and goes unanswered — and the client books somewhere else. In the evening there are messages to reply to and notes to make about who has back pain and who can't tolerate a particular oil. And once a week someone simply doesn't turn up, without letting you know.
What studios say most often
- "I can't answer the phone during a session, but clients want an appointment right away."
- "People cancel at the last minute and that hour goes unpaid."
- "My clients' health information is in my notebook — I know that's not the right place for it."
- "Gift vouchers are on paper and I don't know how many are still unused."
Online booking that works even during a session
In the bookings module of NUNDINAE, clients see free slots on a seven-day strip and choose for themselves. A service has a duration and buffer time, so there's time between sessions to get the room ready. Alongside the therapists, the calendar includes rooms. Double bookings are impossible in the system.
The client gets a confirmation with a calendar file straight away, and a reminder before the appointment — by email and, if you like, by SMS. The confirmation email has a "manage booking" link where the client can cancel their appointment themselves. When a slot frees up, the system offers it to someone on the waiting list.
Prepayment and cancellation — rules, not arguments
A prepayment helps reduce last-minute cancellations:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Prepayment (%) | A client booking online pays part of the service price in advance via Montonio; the appointment is confirmed only after payment. |
| Free cancellation (hours before) | If the client cancels earlier, the prepayment is refunded automatically to the same payment method. |
| Late cancellation | The prepayment stays with the studio and a cancellation fee is added to the invoice. |
Bookings made over the phone or in person don't ask for a prepayment. If a client doesn't show up, you mark them as "Did not attend" — no-shows are visible on the client card and in the reports. How to assess a booking system in general is covered in booking system: what it needs to be able to do.
Health data in the right place
In therapy, the client card is a working tool: complaints, contraindications, notes from the last session. This is special category personal data, and NUNDINAE handles it like this:
- Encrypted storage — the warning, internal note, visit notes and card fields are stored encrypted in the database.
- Consent — the card has a checkbox for explicit consent, and the date is saved.
- Audit log — every opening of a card is recorded.
- Permissions — a therapist sees only their own clients; the warning is visible next to the booking, but not in the therapist's daily schedule email.
- Clients' rights — exporting data, restricting processing and anonymisation are available as buttons.
More in client records and sensitive data.
Gift cards and care products
For a massage studio, a gift card is often the best seller. In NUNDINAE you issue a gift card with an amount and a recipient, and the code can be sent by email if you wish. The card shows the remaining balance and its transaction history. It can be used at the till and in the online store, in part or in full — at the till you add the day's booked service with one click and mark the gift card as the payment.
If you also sell massage oils, heat packs or care products, this is where NUNDINAE's biggest advantage lies: the online store and the stock are one application. At the end of a session you add the product to the visit invoice, it comes off the stock and, if it was the last one, disappears from the online store at the same moment. You receive goods with a barcode scanner and see "how many are left?" with one beep. If a service always uses the same material, you attach it to the service and it comes off the stock when the session is marked as completed.
Repeat visits and feedback
The automated messages module sends a repeat-visit reminder based on the service interval, if the client hasn't booked a new appointment themselves, and asks for feedback after the session, optionally with a review link. Marketing messages go only to clients who have given consent, and every email has an unsubscribe link.
What to check when switching
- Clients and visit history come across from CSV (from your current booking software or Excel) with column mapping.
- Health information needs to go into client card fields, not free text — only there is it encrypted.
- Prepayment and cancellation rules should be written down before setup and published on your own site too.
- Therapists' pay can be calculated from service turnover in the reports' payroll section.
I do the migration and setup myself. If you'd like to see how this works for your studio, order NUNDINAE or ask for a demo.
