Wix Bookings: Adding a Time Buffer Between Appointments

3 min read
Set a time buffer between your appointments to space them out. This gives you enough time to prepare for the next session, especially if it's at a different location. 
Tip:
A time buffer reduces the availability of your service. For a complete list of the factors that determine the availability of appointments, click here.
In this article, learn more about:

Setting a time buffer

You can set a time buffer for each of the services you offer, according to your needs. For example, if you set a time buffer of 15 minutes, clients can't book sessions 15 minutes before or after a booked session.

To set a time buffer:

  1. Go to Booking Services in your site's dashboard.
  2. Click the relevant appointment.
  3. Click  to reveal the Service Details section.
  4. Click the Duration drop-down to choose how long your service lasts. 
    Tip: Choose Custom to enter a specific duration in hours and minutes.
  5. Click the Buffer Time drop-down to choose how long of a break you have between appointments.
    Tip: Choose Custom to enter your own buffer time duration in hours and minutes. 
  6. Click Save.
A screenshot showing how to set the buffer time between appointments in the Bookings Services section of the dashboard.

Time buffers in your Booking Calendar

Here's an example of the time buffer feature in use. Holly is a photographer who offers two-hour photo shoots. Her business hours are from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM and she has set her appointment time slots to 30 minutes. Holly has a 30-minute time buffer. 
Her calendar looks like this before any bookings are made.
A screenshot showing booking calendar availability on a day without any bookings.
After a customer books a two-hour photo shoot from 1:00 - 3:00 PM, the calendar looks like this:
A screenshot showing the available time slots on a booking calendar after a 2-hour booking is made.
Customers cannot book an appointment at 11:00 because there is a 30-minute time buffer. An appointment starting at 11:00 would end at 13:00 leaving no time between before Holly's 13:00 booking. Similarly, clients cannot book at 15:00, because that would cause back to back bookings. 
Note:
Creating buffer time does not add 'busy' slots like those from personal appointments in your Google Calendar. You can manually extend the 'busy' slot in your Google Calendar to allow for any additional time you need as a buffer.

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