Minimize Gaps in Appointments

[MALqueerhair]

Squarespace offers a Minimize Gaps setting that when enabled, the booking flow only suggests available appointment slots that fit the selected service duration near an already scheduled appointment so that any "gaps" are closer to EOD

Their Tooling allows you to select from one of 2 options:

- Avoid any gaps between appointments during the day

- Avoid small gaps but allow gaps of at least [hour drop-down] (ex. 2 hours)

Because Square Appointments does not have a comparable Minimize Gaps feature, we've had to open up another day so instead of working 4 days, we now have to work 5 days!

This is because clients can book anytime during the day causing gaps that no service can fit eating into our daily availability & costing us money.

You will save service providers MONEY & TIME if you release this functionality!

[#2]

Squarespace offers a Minimize Gaps setting that when enabled, the booking flow only suggests available appointment slots that fit the selected service duration near an already scheduled appointment so that any "gaps" are closer to EOD

Their Tooling allows you to select from one of 2 options:

- Avoid any gaps between appointments during the day

- Avoid small gaps but allow gaps of at least [hour drop-down] (ex. 2 hours)

Because Square Appointments does not have a comparable Minimize Gaps feature, we've had to open up another day so instead of working 4 days, we now have to work 5 days!

This is because clients can book anytime during the day causing gaps that no service can fit eating into our daily availability & costing us money.

You will save service providers MONEY & TIME if you release this functionality!

[Sineaid]

Hi @SuperiorImages,

Thanks for sharing your experience of this with the Community. 

At this time, the most effective way to minimize gaps between appointments would be to set your online scheduling according to service duration. Appointments > Online Booking > Settings > Online Scheduling.

I appreciate that this option might not fully address the concerns you’ve raised, so I’ve gone ahead and merged your post with an existing Feature Request thread where other Sellers and service providers have discussed this in the past. 

If I hear of any new features in the pipeline that might help further streamline scheduling, I’ll be sure to circle back with an update.  

[Djimmy]

I'm really looking forward to having this function on Square rendez-vous, which is blocking my migration to your tool. I'm staying with squarespace scheduling in the meantime.

https://www.sellercommunity.com/t5/Application-Solution-PDV-Square/Eviter-les-trous-de-planning-sur-...

[HavenHolistic]

I share the frustration with Square's current booking duration options. As someone who books larger services, the limit of 60-minute increments is far too restrictive for my needs. The majority of my appointments are 2.5 hours, and being unable to set that specific duration creates issues in my scheduling.

Currently, when clients book through Square, the system only shows one available time for longer appointments. For example, if I’m working an 8-hour shift and a client wants to book a 4-hour and 15-minute service, only the 9am slot will appear, even though a 12:45 slot would also work. This limits my booking flexibility and client options.

Other systems like Acuity allow booking at the start or end of the day or around existing appointments, and Vagaro lets me set larger service durations. I love Square for its user-friendly interface, but this gap in functionality is making it difficult to manage my time effectively.

I strongly urge Square to develop a more advanced gap management feature, one that understands the varied needs of service providers and offers customizable duration settings. Implementing such a change would save service providers like myself both money and time while improving our client booking experience."

[Jasteca]

Has this been resolved yet? I waste a lot of time every week messaging and calling clients to move their appoint 15-30 mins forward or back to make room for another appointment.

If they stayed consecutive this wouldn’t be an issue and would save me SO much time and stress. Considering other platforms because of this.