What are no-shows costing you?

A no-show is a slot you held, staffed and could have sold twice. Put your own numbers in and see the year, then see what cutting them is worth before you decide whether deposits are worth the friction.

Appointments booked a weekNo-shows and late cancellations (%)Average appointment value (£)Weeks open a yearMissed slots you manage to refill (%)20% refilled from walk-ins or a waiting listIf you cut no-shows by (%)50% fewer, with reminders, a card held or one-tap rescheduling

No-shows cost you about

£10,752

a year · £215 a week

9.6 missed appointments a week, 384 unfilled slots a year after refills.

Cutting them by 50% is worth

£5,376 a year

In our experience the order of effect is: a card held at booking, then a reminder close enough to act on, then making rescheduling easier than not turning up.

Measure it by day and by service

A single average hides where the problem is. It is nearly always one weekday and one or two services, which is a much smaller thing to fix than “our no-show rate”.

How the figure is worked out

Missed appointments a week are your booking volume multiplied by your no-show rate. Whatever share you manage to refill from walk-ins or a waiting list comes back off, because a refilled slot is not a loss. What is left, multiplied by your average appointment value and your trading weeks, is the annual cost.

It deliberately does not count the staff cost of the empty chair, because in most salons and barbershops that cost is paid whether or not the customer arrives, and counting it twice would flatter the number. If your staff are paid per appointment rather than per hour, your real loss is lower than the figure shown.

What actually reduces them

A card held at booking, with a stated charge for a no-show, changes behaviour more than anything else and costs the reliable customer nothing. Then a reminder close enough to the appointment to act on. Then one-tap rescheduling, because most no-shows are people who meant to come and were too embarrassed to ring.

No-shows, in the glossary →

Questions

About this calculator.

How is the annual cost of no-shows calculated?

Appointments a week multiplied by your no-show rate gives missed appointments a week. Whatever share you refill from walk-ins or a waiting list comes back off, because a refilled slot is not a loss. What is left, multiplied by your average appointment value and your trading weeks, is the annual figure.

Does it include the cost of paying staff for an empty chair?

Deliberately not. In most salons and barbershops that cost is paid whether or not the customer arrives, so counting it would flatter the number. If your staff are paid per appointment rather than per hour, your real loss is lower than the figure shown.

What should I do if the number is large?

Take a card at booking with a stated charge for a no-show: it changes behaviour more than anything else and costs the reliable customer nothing. Then a reminder close enough to the appointment to act on, then one-tap rescheduling. Measure by day and by service first - it is usually one slot rather than the whole book.

Want the booking system that prevents them?

Reminders, a card held where you want one, one-tap rescheduling, and a no-show rate you can read by day and by service.

Barbers and salons →