Missed appointments
Missed appointments: reminders, card holds, deposits
A booked slot that stays empty is a lost service and a client who could have had it. With Blissa’s three protections, a two-person salon recovers on average €16,338 in revenue per year. You choose where to apply them: never to your regulars, always where it costs you.
What a missed appointment really costs
A working person sees six appointments a day on average (UNEC panel) and, without reminders, about 15% are missed. For a team of two, that is 9 missed appointments a week. At an average ticket of €42 (Fiducial Observatory 2025), that is €18,144 in revenue that never comes in over the year. And a slot freed up at the last minute almost never gets refilled: the client who would have wanted it booked elsewhere, or later.
- A long service, balayage, extensions, a facial, blocks half a day, not half an hour.
- On Saturdays, the lost slot is also the one three clients wanted.
- The leading cause is forgetting, not bad faith: nearly one missed appointment in two, according to an Odoxa poll for the Mutuelle nationale des hospitaliers (a French health insurer) in the healthcare sector.
- Online booking, with no commitment, makes impulse booking easier.
The result: three different causes, forgetting, the unexpected and a lack of commitment, and so three levers.
Your lost revenue, with your numbers
The averages are pre-filled. Adjust the sliders to your salon to see what missed appointments cost you over the year, and what Blissa’s levers can recover.
SMS reminders, against forgetting
In the beauty industry, about 15% of appointments are missed without a reminder; SMS reminders recover up to 85% of them (beauty industry study). The reminder goes out automatically from your calendar, with the date, the time and your name. For forgetting, it is the lever that is most often enough.
The card hold, for commitment without a charge
When booking, the client saves her card. Nothing is charged. If she does not show up, you decide whether to trigger the charge, for the amount stated in your terms. For the client, it is painless as long as she comes; for you, the slot is secured, not just noted down. It is the most widely accepted lever for new clients.
The deposit, for services that cannot be refilled
For a balayage, extensions or a long facial, the deposit is paid online at booking and deducted from the total at the salon. You set the amount, as a fixed sum or a percentage, service by service. If the client cancels within the rules, you refund from the calendar, in one click.
- Any amount or a percentage, set by you for each service.
- Paid by card at booking, recorded in your NF525-certified POS (NF525 is the French certification for POS software).
- Refundable from the calendar.
Targeted, never imposed on everyone
The worry is familiar: asking for a guarantee risks offending a client of ten years, or looking distrustful. That is why you choose who you ask. New clients, whom you do not know yet. Clients the software flags as at risk based on their history of missed or late-canceled appointments. Long services only. Your regulars book as before, without noticing any change.
A cancellation? The waitlist refills the slot
When a client cancels, the slot is not lost for everyone: you offer it to the clients on your waitlist, from the calendar. The one who wanted that Saturday gets it, and your day stays full.
Frequently asked questions
Deposit or card hold: what is the difference?
A deposit is an amount paid online at booking and deducted from the total at the salon. A card hold saves the client’s card without charging anything: you are the one who triggers the charge if she does not show up, under the terms stated at booking. The card hold is the gentlest for the client, the deposit the firmest for you.
Can I apply it only to certain clients or certain services?
Yes, and that is the right way to do it. You choose which services it applies to and the amount, as a fixed sum or a percentage. You can also ask for it only from new clients, or from clients the software flags as at risk based on their history. Your regulars never see a thing.
What if the client cancels in time?
You refund the deposit from the calendar, in one click. With a card hold, nothing was charged, so there is nothing to refund. The cancellation terms you display at booking apply.
Aren’t SMS reminders enough?
They fix the most common cause, forgetting: in the beauty industry, about 15% of appointments are missed without a reminder, and SMS reminders recover up to 85% of them (beauty industry study). They do not protect you from impulse bookings or from long services canceled the day before: that is where the card hold or the deposit takes over.
A slot opens up at the last minute: what happens?
You offer it to the clients on your waitlist, from the calendar. A cancellation becomes a spot for someone who was waiting.
What our clients say
A real asset every day: my clients easily book their appointments directly in my online schedule. On my side, I stay fully in control of my calendar and block certain dates or periods as I need.
My colleagues and I share one online calendar: each service has its own duration, price and time slots depending on each person’s days. Whenever we need support, they answer right away and fix things in under four hours.
Simple, intuitive software. I use the calendar and online booking, and I have been delighted for over a year. A friendly team that responds quickly to bugs, which are extremely rare.
Excerpts from reviews published on Trustpilot for the Blissa software, translated from French: rated 4.8/5 from 121 reviews as of October 28, 2026.
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