Guide
How to reduce no-shows in a salon
The no-shows you can prevent come from three things: people forget, skipping costs them nothing, and cancelling is harder than not turning up. Send a reminder with a cancel link, make cancelling and moving a booking easy, take a deposit for the slots that matter, show a clear cancellation policy before people book, and keep a record of who doesn’t come so repeat no-shows get firmer treatment.
Measure it first
Count your no-shows for a month and divide by the appointments that were booked. That is your no-show rate, and it is the number every step below should move. Put it into the no-show cost calculator with your average price to see what it costs you a year — that tells you how much effort, and how large a deposit, is worth it.
1. Send a reminder, with a way out
Often a no-show is someone who forgot, or whose plans changed. A reminder a day before catches both, as long as it includes a link to cancel or move the booking. A client who cancels the evening before frees a slot you can still fill; a client who just doesn’t come does not.
2. Make cancelling easier than not coming
If cancelling means phoning during opening hours, some clients will simply stay away instead. Let them cancel and reschedule online, up to a deadline you choose — 24 hours before is a common starting point.
3. Take a deposit for the slots that matter
A deposit gives the booking a small cost, and if the client doesn’t turn up, it pays for part of the slot. You don’t have to take one everywhere: long, expensive or hard-to-refill services, and first-time clients, are the usual places to start. See should you charge a booking deposit?.
4. Say what happens before they pay
Write a short cancellation and deposit policy and show it at the moment of booking, not in small print afterwards: until when they can cancel, whether the deposit comes back, and what a no-show costs. Our deposit policy template is a starting point.
5. Keep a record of who doesn’t come
A no-show from a regular client is a different thing from the third one this year by the same person. Note every no-show against the client, and treat repeats differently — see how to handle repeat no-show customers.
6. Ask for a phone number
An email address is easy to change; a phone number less so. Asking for both makes it much harder for someone with a no-show history to book again under a new address, and gives you a second way to send reminders.
How Rezervito helps
Rezervito, our booking app for Shopify, launches in November 2026. It sends booking reminders by email (24 hours before, to start with — you choose the timing), lets clients cancel or move bookings online up to the deadline you set, and takes deposits — a fixed amount or a percentage — through your store’s own Shopify checkout. When you mark a no-show, your no-show fee, less any deposit kept, is recorded as a debt the client pays with their next online booking, and you can block a client from booking online altogether.
Questions
What is a normal no-show rate?
It varies a lot by service, price and clientele, so a number from someone else's salon tells you little. Measure your own for a month — no-shows divided by booked appointments — and judge each change by how it moves that figure.
Should reminders go out by email or text message?
Use whichever your clients read, or both. What matters most is the timing — far enough ahead that the slot can still be filled — and that the reminder has a link to cancel or move the booking.
Is it worth calling a client who didn't turn up?
For a first no-show, a short, friendly message often works better than a charge — something came up, and they rebook. Keep the firmer steps (deposits, fees, blocking) for clients who do it again.
Will a deposit put new clients off?
Some people will choose not to book, which is the point for slots they would not have turned up for. Keep the amount modest, say what happens to it before they pay, and refund it when they cancel in time.