The new online booking workflow is similar to the classic workflow with some key changes. This article will walk you through each step of the new online booking process. Some steps are optional and may or may not be present, depending on your individual setup. To learn more about setting up your OBM 2.0, you can read this article.
Date Selection
This is the landing page for the online booking site. Customers will see a calendar representing party availability along with a selection of your parties. The calendar dates will be green if there are a good number of party schedule slots available on that day, yellow if there are a few left, or grey if there are no available slots. Customers can apply a filter to the page if they want to search for certain parties.
In the event that a particular party is not available on the desired date, the customer can click 'Find Next Available Date' and the system will automatically take them to the next available slot. If a customer clicks 'Read More' on a party, a new window will appear showcasing the associated photos and party details.
To proceed to the next step, a guest needs to select a party name, or a specific time for that party.
Booking Information
The customer will see the pricing, duration, and guest limits at this stage of the booking. They'll also see the party details and image gallery. They can select their desired number of guests and pick a time if they have not done so already. The price of the party will be shown in the reservation details as well.
Once they click 'Confirm Selection', PCS will reserve the schedule slot. When this happens, the customer will have anywhere from 15-60 minutes to complete their reservation and make a deposit (If required). The exact time can be set in your online booking settings.
Booking Questions
If your party has any booking questions assigned to it, that question set will be displayed here. Customers will need to answer any required questions and can answer optional questions as well. If there are no question sets associated with their party, this step will be skipped.
Click here to learn more about setting up booking question sets.
Select Optional Add-Ons
Likewise, if your party has any add-on items available, those will be displayed on this page. Customers can click on these items to read their description or look at any associated images. They can also add them to their order through the plus and minus buttons. If there are no add-ons available for the selected party, this step will be skipped.
Create an Account or Sign In
If a customer has an existing account, they can sign in by entering their email and password. Otherwise, they can sign up for an account by supplying the necessary information, as determined in the Required Customer Fields section of the software.
Customers are required to setup a password when they create their account. They have the option of enabling two-factor authentication with their account.
Once they sign up for their account, they can add dependents or organizations to their account to be used as the guest of honor.
Agreements
If there are any agreements associated with the reservation, the customer will need to sign those. All of the agreements will be printed on this page and the customer can sign to proceed to the next step. A copy of their agreement will be sent to them, and you can view it on their party order.
Click here to learn more about managing agreements.
Payment
Customers make a payment for their deposit at this step. If no deposit is due, they'll receive a message stating such, and can continue to the next page.
Confirmation
Once a customer makes the payment for their deposit, they'll be taken to the confirmation page. They'll be shown a copy of their invoice and be emailed a copy as well. If your site has waivers enabled, they'll be prompted to sign a waiver.
Additional Menus
In the event that a customer remains idle for too long, they'll receive a pop up asking them to confirm that they are still present. If they do not do so, then their booking slot will be cleared and freed up for another customer.
The Sign In option is present at all stages of the online booking process. Customers can sign into their existing accounts and manage their account information from this menu. The information they can edit is identical to the information they can enter when they sign up for an account.