Bookings by stylist, service duration and room, WhatsApp reminders that turn no-shows into reschedules, prepaid packages that track every sitting, GST bills that keep services and retail apart, and commission figures stylists can check themselves. Built for unisex salons, day spas, bridal studios and skin clinics in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Pune and across India.
Reply within one business day · Navi Mumbai team · Website, app and admin under one roof
Three parts that share one client list, one calendar, one stock ledger and one set of reports, so a booking made on the website shows at the front desk straight away.
A fast site that shows the real service menu and takes bookings without a phone call, branch by branch.
A client app for rebooking and package balances, and a staff app so each stylist or therapist sees their own day.
The software behind the counter, plus an online shelf for the products you already sell.
A salon sells time on a chair, a wash basin or a therapy room. An empty hour on a Saturday afternoon is gone for good. Yet most salons in India still take bookings on a phone that rings while the receptionist is billing someone else, on the owner’s personal WhatsApp, and in a diary or Google Sheet that only the morning shift updates. The front desk finds out about a no-show when the client simply does not walk in, and the stylist who was kept free for a 90-minute keratin job ends up idle.
Packages and memberships bring cash in up front: six sittings of laser hair reduction, a facial series, a pre-bridal plan, a yearly membership with a discount. When those balances sit in a register or in a stylist’s memory, two things go wrong. Clients argue about how many sittings are left, and the owner treats package money as earnings when part of it is still owed as service. Consumer commissions in India have ordered beauty and wellness businesses to refund unused sessions, so loose package records are a real risk, not just a nuisance.
Colour, developer, wax, facial kits and keratin are used by the gram, and nobody checks how much each service takes. Commission is added up in Excel at month end, and every stylist disputes it. Stylists keep client numbers on their own phones, so when a senior stylist leaves, a slice of the client list leaves too. And since 22 September 2025, salon and wellness services are taxed at 5% GST without input tax credit, so many billing setups had to change their service rates and stop claiming credit on inputs for those services.
Infoways, a web, app and software company in Mahape, Navi Mumbai, designs and builds booking websites, client and staff apps, and front-desk admin panels for salons, spas and beauty clinics. This page explains how each module should work, the rules and terms your software has to respect, how it compares with ready-made salon software such as Zenoti, Fresha, Salonist, Zylu, Invoay and MioSalon, the numbers worth tracking, and how to roll it out without upsetting your regulars.
Talk to us about your salon & spa businessEight modules, who uses each one, and the awkward cases that decide whether the software helps or gets ignored by Saturday.
Used all day by the front desk and the branch manager. Every service carries its real duration and a buffer: a haircut 30 minutes, root touch-up with blow-dry 90, a couple massage 60 plus 15 for room cleaning. A booking blocks the right stylist and, for spa work, the right room and the second therapist. Skills are set per person, so a junior stylist is never booked for a bridal look or a colour correction. Processing time can free the stylist mid-service, so a colour client sitting with foils does not block a quick trim. Walk-ins drop into gaps the screen shows in colour.
Solved in your appClients book on the website, the app or a link from your Google Business Profile, by branch, service and stylist or “any available”. They see only slots that fit the full duration. For long or high-value work, such as bridal make-up, keratin, smoothening or a full-day spa package, you can ask for a deposit through a payment gateway in your own name, adjusted in the final bill. Cancellation and deposit terms are shown before payment and stored with the booking, so there is no argument later about what the client agreed to.
Solved in your appThe system sends a confirmation at booking, a reminder the day before and another a few hours before, using approved WhatsApp Business templates with buttons to confirm or reschedule. A reschedule frees the slot at once. After the visit it asks for a Google review, and later it sends a rebook nudge based on that client’s own pattern: root touch-up every four to six weeks, a facial series every month, the next laser sitting when your protocol says it is due. Clients who opt out of messages are respected, and the opt-out is recorded.
Solved in your appA package is stored on the client profile with the services it covers, sittings bought and used, the branches where it is valid and its expiry date. Each sitting is deducted at billing with the date and stylist, and the client can see the balance in the app or ask for a statement on WhatsApp. Family sharing, carry-forward of unused sittings and upgrades are settings. The software keeps unused package value as an owed balance, so the owner sees what is still to be served. Gift cards work only at your own salon, and the code and balance are tracked like a package.
Solved in your appEach visit records the services, the stylist, the colour formula and developer strength, products used and notes such as scalp sensitivity or a skin type. For chemical, laser and skin treatments, the card stores the patch-test date and a consent form signed on the tablet. Before and after photos are saved only if the client agrees in writing, and that agreement is kept with the photo. Any stylist can repeat a result even if the original stylist has left, and the client list stays with the salon, not on personal phones.
Solved in your appThe front desk bills from the booking, so nothing is typed twice. Services and retail products go on separate lines, because they carry different GST treatment: beauty and well-being services at the 5% rate without input tax credit since September 2025, and products at their own rates as your CA advises. Payments can be split across UPI, card, cash, package sittings and gift card balance. Discounts need a reason, and discounts above a limit need the manager’s PIN. The invoice goes to the client on WhatsApp, and daily totals export to Tally or Zoho Books.
Solved in your appYou set how much product each service uses: grams of colour and developer for a root touch-up by hair length, a facial kit per facial, wax per area. Billing deducts it from that branch’s stock. Retail products are scanned in and sold by barcode. Each week the manager sees expected use against actual stock counts, by branch and by stylist, and items near their expiry date. The gap usually points to a training issue or a service being done off the books, which is a conversation for the owner, not the software.
Solved in your appService and retail commission is worked out from billed amounts, after discounts, using your own slabs and targets. Shared services split the credit the way you decide, for example 70:30 between the colourist and the assistant. Package sittings earn commission when they are served, not when sold, or as your policy says. Each stylist sees their running figure in the staff app every day, which cuts month-end disputes. For chains and franchises, the head office sees sales, chair use and package liability across branches, and a franchise owner sees only their own branch.
Solved in your appTell us your branches, stylists, rooms and which services you sell as packages. We will tell you which module to set up first.
The points below are general and mostly national. Municipal licences and labour rules vary by city and state. Treat this as a checklist to discuss with your CA and adviser, not as legal advice.
| Term or rule | 1What it means | 2How the software handles it |
|---|---|---|
| GST on salon and spa services | From 22 September 2025, beauty and physical well-being services (salons, barbers, spas, health clubs, fitness and yoga centres) are reported at 5% GST without input tax credit, under Notification 15/2025-Central Tax (Rate). CBIC’s FAQs said this rate is mandatory, with no option to charge 18% and claim credit as before. | Service rates and tax codes are settings, so the 5% rate went in without code changes. Reports separate service turnover from retail sales, so your CA can see where input tax credit can and cannot be claimed. |
| Retail products on the same bill | Shampoos, serums, hair tools and skin products you sell are goods, taxed at their own GST rates, which also changed for many items in September 2025. | Each product carries its own HSN code and rate from the product master. Services and goods print as separate lines on one invoice. |
| Shops and Establishments registration | In Maharashtra, salons come under the Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 2017. Depending on headcount, an establishment either registers or sends an intimation to the facilitator. The Act also limits daily and weekly working hours and sets rest breaks. | Staff rosters keep each person’s hours and weekly off, so long Saturday and wedding-season shifts are visible. Registration numbers can be stored per branch and printed where needed. |
| Municipal trade and health licences | Many city corporations, including the BMC in Mumbai, have trade or public-health licensing and self-certification for hair dressing saloons. The exact licence, its name and conditions differ by city and premises. | Licence numbers, expiry dates and renewal reminders are stored per branch, so a renewal is not missed in a busy month. |
| Deficiency in service under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 | A client who suffers a burn, an allergic reaction, hair damage or a botched bridal look can file a complaint before a consumer commission for deficiency in service. Commissions have ordered salons and clinics to refund and pay compensation. | Each visit records who did what, products used, patch-test date and signed consent. That record is what you and your adviser will need if a complaint comes. |
| Packages, expiry and refunds | Consumer commissions have ordered beauty and wellness businesses to refund unused package sessions, and one-sided “no refund under any condition” terms can be challenged as unfair. How your terms will hold up is a question for your lawyer. | Package terms are shown to the client and stored with the sale. Sittings used, dates and balances are always visible, and refunds of unused value can be worked out by the rule you set. |
| Gift cards and prepaid balances | RBI’s Master Directions on prepaid payment instruments treat closed-system instruments, which can be used only at the issuer’s own business and allow no cash withdrawal, as outside its authorisation need. Gift cards usable at partner businesses are a different matter. | Gift cards and wallet balances work only at your own branches, cannot be cashed out, and are tracked with issue and expiry dates. If you want cross-brand cards, we will ask you to check with your adviser first. |
| Client photos and data under the DPDP Act 2023 | Phone numbers, visit history, skin and scalp notes and before and after photos are personal data. The salon is responsible for having the client’s consent and using the data only for the purpose given. | Consent at sign-up and for photos is recorded, marketing messages need opt-in, staff see only what their role needs, and exports are logged. |
| Treatments with a medical edge | Laser, chemical peels, injectables and some skin procedures may need a doctor or fall under medical rules, depending on the treatment and your state. Clinics run by dermatologists also follow medical council rules on advertising. | Services can be flagged so only listed practitioners can be booked for them, with consent forms and practitioner names on record. Ask a medical-legal adviser which treatments apply to you. |
We have taken these points from CBIC material as reported by tax publications, from the Maharashtra Act, from RBI directions and from reported consumer commission orders. Rules change, and your city may have its own licence conditions. Confirm each point with your CA, lawyer or local ward office before it goes into your setup. We set up the rules you approve; we do not decide them for you.
Most salon owners who call us are already on, or have been pitched, a ready-made salon software subscription. Zenoti is an enterprise platform used by large spa and salon chains across many countries. Fresha is known for free online booking with a client marketplace. Indian products such as Salonist, Zylu, Invoay, MioSalon and DINGG focus on billing, packages, WhatsApp messages and stylist reports for Indian salons. Many single-chair parlours simply use a billing app and WhatsApp Business. All of these keep adding features, so compare their current versions with your own list rather than old reviews.
For one to three branches with standard needs, a ready-made subscription is usually the right first step, and we will say so. It is quick to start, the vendor carries the upkeep, and staff can learn it in a day. Before you sign, check that it bills services at the current GST rate and products separately, that package rules match how you actually sell, that commission can follow your slabs, that deposits go to your own payment account, and that you can export every client, visit and package balance in Excel if you leave. Also ask whether the vendor lists your salon on its own marketplace next to competitors.
Your own app and admin make sense in a narrower set of cases: a chain or franchise that wants one system and its own brand in the client’s phone, a spa or skin clinic with room, therapist and doctor rules that ready-made tools force into workarounds, a salon that sells heavily in packages and memberships with unusual terms, or an owner who wants the client list held only by the business. Our guide on custom software vs off-the-shelf covers the trade-off in more detail.
A plain comparison. The right answer depends on branch count, package sales and how much control you want over the client list.
| Factor | 1Diary, phone and WhatsApp | 2Ready-made salon software | 3Your own app and admin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | One chair or a small parlour, mostly walk-ins | One to three branches with standard services and packages | Chains, franchises, day spas and skin clinics with their own rules |
| Online booking | By phone or chat only | Yes, sometimes inside the vendor’s marketplace | Yes, in your brand on web, Android and iPhone |
| Package and membership rules | Paper register | Standard rules, check the edge cases | Any rule you set: sharing, branch limits, carry-forward |
| Commission and targets | Excel at month end | Standard slabs | Your exact incentive structure, visible daily to staff |
| Rooms and therapists | Kept in the receptionist’s head | Supported by some tools | Booked together as resources, with cleaning time |
| Who holds the client list | Staff phones and diaries | The vendor, under its terms | Your business, on a server in your name |
| Time to start | Already running | Days | Weeks to a few months, in phases |
Product names are mentioned only to help you compare. Features and terms change, so check each vendor’s current offering directly.
None of these needs an accountant. Good salon software puts them on one screen per branch.
Hours booked and served divided by hours available, per stylist, chair and room, split into weekdays and weekends. A weekday afternoon that stays low is where an offer or a walk-in push belongs, not Saturday.
Solved in your appBookings where the client did not come, or cancelled inside your cut-off, divided by all bookings. Track it before and after reminders and deposits go live, so you know whether they work for your clients.
Solved in your appShare of clients who come back within their usual gap, for example eight weeks for colour. A falling figure for one stylist is an early warning, often before that stylist resigns and takes clients along.
Solved in your appTotal billed divided by visits, with services and retail shown apart. It shows whether stylists suggest treatments and products, or only do what was booked.
Solved in your appMoney taken for packages and memberships minus the value of sittings already served. This is service you still owe. It belongs on the owner’s weekly screen, not mixed into the month’s earnings.
Solved in your appProduct sales credited to each stylist, against their service sales. Retail is often the easiest growth in a salon, and the figure shows who needs product training.
Solved in your appProduct actually used, from stock counts, against what billed services should have used. A large gap in one branch is worth a visit and a quiet look at unbilled services.
Solved in your appFirst-time clients by where they found you: Google search, Instagram, a referral code, a walk-in. It tells you which marketing to keep paying for.
Solved in your appSay you run a unisex salon with branches in Vashi and Kharghar, eight stylists, two beauticians and one spa room in Vashi. The numbers here are only to show the flow. On Friday night a regular client opens your website, picks Vashi, chooses root touch-up with blow-dry, and sees her usual stylist is free at 11:30. The calendar blocks 90 minutes because that is what you set for those two services, with 25 minutes of processing in the middle when the stylist can take a quick trim. She has a prepaid colour package, so she pays nothing now.
On Friday afternoon she gets a WhatsApp reminder with the time and her stylist’s name, and taps Confirm. Another client, booked for a 2 pm keratin job, taps Reschedule and moves to Tuesday. The 2 pm gap shows on the front-desk screen, and a walk-in takes it. In the spa room, a couple massage blocks the room and two therapists for an hour, plus 15 minutes for cleaning, so nothing else can be booked into it by mistake.
At 11:30 the stylist opens the visit in the staff app and sees the colour formula from five weeks ago and a note about a sensitive scalp. At billing, the desk deducts one sitting from her package, leaving 3 of 6, adds a serum she buys, and takes the balance by UPI. The invoice shows the service at the 5% rate and the serum on its own line, and reaches her on WhatsApp. Stock for colour and developer drops for Vashi, and the stylist’s service and retail commission updates in her app.
Four weeks later the system sees her usual gap is about five weeks and sends a rebook nudge. At the end of the month the owner sees, branch by branch, chair and room use, the no-show rate since reminders started, package value still to be served, retail sales per stylist and colour used against standard. The accountant gets the daily sales as a Tally export with services and products apart.
We sit with your front desk for a few hours and list every service with its real duration, processing time, buffer, which staff can do it and which room it needs. We also write down your package, membership, deposit, cancellation and commission rules, and you check them with your CA where tax is involved.
The booking calendar, the billing screen and the package view are used hundreds of times a day, so we design them first as clickable screens and test them with your receptionist before any code is written.
We import your client list, visit history where it exists and every open package balance from Excel or your current software. The owner signs off package balances client by client, because the system will honour whatever figure it is given.
Admin, staff app, client app and website are built on one backend. You open a payment gateway account and a WhatsApp Business account in your salon’s name, and we get your message templates approved.
The front desk runs the new system next to the old diary at one branch for a week. Every booking, bill and package deduction is compared, and every difference is fixed before other branches start.
Receptionists, managers and stylists are trained at their own branch, in the language they are comfortable with, with a one-page guide at the desk. Stylists learn the staff app in ten minutes between clients.
Before sign-off we check bookings, reminders, invoices, package balances, commission and exports with you. Apps go live under your own developer accounts, and maintenance and support continues after launch, including rate and rule changes.
Send us your service menu, your package terms and the tools on your shortlist. We will tell you honestly whether a ready-made tool fits or a custom build is worth it.
Every salon is different, so we quote after understanding yours. A booking website with a stylist calendar, WhatsApp reminders and simple billing for one or two branches is a small project. Adding a client app, a staff app, packages and memberships, back-bar stock and commission reports makes it a medium one. A platform for a chain or franchise, with head-office reports across branches, franchise owners who see only their own data, and an online retail store, is a large one.
The cost goes up with the number of rules. Simple packages (pay once, get six sittings) are quick. Family-shared memberships, branch-limited packages, carry-forward, tiered commission with targets, room and therapist pairing for spas, doctor-only services for skin clinics and a franchise royalty report take more work. Moving messy package balances from an old system also takes time. It comes down if you start with the calendar, reminders and billing, which fill the most chairs, and add the apps once clients are booking online.
Timelines: a booking website with calendar and reminders usually takes 4-6 weeks. Adding the client and staff apps, packages, stock and commission takes about 3-4 months from approved screens. A multi-branch or franchise platform runs 4-6 months in phases. A separate Shopify store for retail products can be quicker than building a store into the app. Our guide to app development cost in India explains the general drivers.
Do not set every service to the same 30-minute slot. The calendar will lie, Saturdays will run late, and staff will stop trusting the screen within a week. Real durations, processing time and buffers are the single most important setup step.
Do not launch packages without written terms, expiry dates and a balance the client can see. Unclear package terms are where most salon disputes start, and consumer commissions have sided with clients over unused sessions. Have your lawyer read the terms before you print them.
Do not let stylists keep client numbers and before and after photos on their own phones. Keep them in the salon’s system, with consent, so the relationship belongs to the business and photos are used only as the client agreed.
And do not build your own app for one branch with mostly walk-in clients. A good booking page, a well-kept Google Business Profile, steady reviews and WhatsApp Business will do more for you, and a ready-made billing tool will cover the counter. Build once you have several branches, heavy package sales or rules that ready-made tools cannot follow.
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Ask on WhatsAppFrom 22 September 2025, beauty and physical well-being services, including salons, barbers and spas, are reported at 5% GST without input tax credit. CBIC said salons cannot choose 18% with credit instead. Products you sell are taxed at their own rates. Confirm the details with your CA; the software applies the rates you set.
For services taxed at the 5% rate without credit, input tax credit is not available on the inputs used for those services. Retail sales of goods are treated separately. How to split your inputs is a question for your CA, and the software keeps service and retail sales apart so the split is easier.
You can have written terms, but one-sided terms can be challenged, and consumer commissions have ordered beauty and wellness businesses to refund unused sessions. Ask your lawyer to review your package terms. The software shows the terms at sale and keeps sittings used and balances visible, which helps if a dispute comes up.
Yes. Clients pick a stylist or “any available”. You decide which services each person can do, so a junior stylist is never booked for bridal work or a colour correction.
They usually turn a silent no-show into a reschedule, because the reminder has a button to confirm or move the slot. Measure your own no-show rate for a month before and after, rather than trusting anyone’s figure, including ours.
Yes. You set a deposit per service, collected online at booking through a gateway in your salon’s name and adjusted in the final bill. The cancellation terms are shown before payment and saved with the booking.
RBI’s prepaid payment instrument directions treat closed-system instruments, used only at the issuer’s own business with no cash withdrawal, as not needing its authorisation. Gift cards usable at other businesses are different. Check your plan with your adviser; our gift cards work only at your own branches.
Commonly a Shops and Establishments registration or intimation, a municipal trade or health licence where your corporation requires one, GST registration once you cross the limit or choose to register, and professional tax for staff. Requirements vary by city and premises, so check with your CA or ward office.
Yes. Each visit stores the colour formula, developer strength and products used, plus the patch-test date and a signed consent form for chemical, laser and skin work. Any stylist can repeat the result.
Yes. Commission is worked out from billed amounts after discounts, using your slabs, targets and split rules for shared services. Package sittings earn commission when served, or as your policy says. Staff see their own figures daily in the staff app.
Yes. Rooms and therapists are booked together as resources, so a couple massage blocks one room and two therapists for the right time, with cleaning time after.
Usually, yes. If your current software exports clients, visits and package balances to Excel or CSV, we import them and you check package balances before switching. We will also tell you honestly if your current tool already does what you need.
Client phone numbers, visit notes and photos are personal data under the DPDP Act 2023, and the salon is responsible for consent and use. We record consent at sign-up and for each photo, require opt-in for offers, limit what each staff role can see, and log every export.
You do. The apps are published under your developer accounts, the server is in your name, the client list stays with your business, and the source code is handed over at the end of the project.
Step-by-step articles on the problems salon & spa ask us about most.
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