A Complete Guide to the Groupon Booking Tool

The Groupon Booking Tool is an online solution to easily and intuitively manage Groupon and non-Groupon reservations. It puts you in control of attracting new and returning customers and managing your schedule in a simple, straightforward manner. 

This guide explains the different functionalities of the Calendar View, Capacity View, and Schedule View, and how you can use the Booking Tool to manage your customer interactions and bookings. In addition, it explains how the Groupon Booking Tool can be synced with other booking platforms.

The Groupon Booking Tool can be easily accessed via the Merchant Center. Our recommendation is to download the Groupon Merchant Centre App, where Booking Tool functionalities can be easily accessed.

For more information on how to login the Booking tool watch this video.

• Calendar View
• Capacity View
• Schedule View
• Voucher Redemption Functionality
• Booking Functionality
• Search Functionality
• Class Functionality
• Synchronising the Booking Tool

Views

The booking tool is divided into three viewpoints: the Calendar View, Capacity View, and Schedule View. 

Calendar View 

The Calendar View gives an at-a-glance overview of bookings through a weekly view.

How to Use the Calendar View

• Click on the Calendar tab to see the initial overview.
• Toggle through the time frame option to select the weekly view from the dropdown list.
• If you have multiple locations, you can select from a dropdown list to view the calendar for a specific location.
• The calendar view shows all bookings by default, but you can also filter to view only Groupon or non-Groupon customers.

• Customer types are colour-coded: Groupon customers in green and non-Groupon customers in white.
• Blocked time, such as when the business is closed, is displayed in grey. 

• Click into a specific reservation to see your customer’s name and phone number. When clicking on the preview, you will be redirected to the booking details.

More information on how to use the Calendar View can be found in this video.

Capacity View 

This function enables you to manage your Groupon capacity and pause online bookings. Additionally, you can adjust your available time slots by clicking on the chosen day. You can then increase or decrease capacity or block a time slot if you don’t want to accept more bookings on that specific day.

How to Use the Capacity View 

• In this section you can make adjustments to specific available time slots. Clicking into the particular time slot enables you to adjust the capacity of that slot using the + and – buttons or pause the slot, in case you don’t want to receive any more customers for that day.

More information on how to use the Capacity View can be found in this video.

Schedule View 

The Schedule View enables merchants to see the customers that are currently booked, check them in, or view their customer details. The core purposes of this view are to give insights into who has booked, and to let you quickly redeem a voucher. 

How to Use the Schedule View

• Click on the Schedule link on the top navigation to access this view.
• See a list of incoming customers and their details through the selected day.
• Here, you can also view the check-in status of each booking. We will outline how to complete check-in in the Voucher Redemption section of this post.

• Clicking into a scheduled booking highlights it and displays details about it such as contact details, party size, and booking options.

More information on how to use the Schedule View can be found in this video.

Functionality

This section details how to use the Booking Tool to manage your customer interactions and bookings.

Voucher Redemption Functionality 

You have 2 options to get paid:

• The easiest and quickest one is to access the Groupon Booking Tool via computer or the Merchant Mobile App and check in your customers as they arrive. Our recommendation is to check each customer in immediately, so as not to lose track of which booking they’re associated with. 
• Should you have any trouble identifying the customer, ask them to show the barcode that can be found in the digital version of the voucher, and scan it using the Merchant Mobile App. Please be aware that this flow won’t allow you to see booking details at time of redemption, so our recommendation is always to use the check-in button in your Groupon Booking Tool.

Checking in every Groupon customer or redeeming their voucher is mandatory. Please be aware you don’t need to take both actions. You can check in customers at the time of service, or up to 7 days afterwards.

How to Check Customers In

• Log into the Booking Tool.
• Click on the Schedule View.
• Click on the Check-In button. Your customer is now checked in.
• The redemption is triggered to happen the night after the check-in is made. Payment follows the normal frequency.

More information on how to check in customers can be found in this video.

In the Redemption section you will be able to check whether specific vouchers were redeemed or not. You can see all redemptions or filter by redemptions that happened yesterday; in the last 7, 30, or 90 days; or during a specific date range.

To redeem Groupon vouchers through the Booking Tool, make sure that you are Checking In each customer.

If a client does not show up for their booked appointment, mark them as No Show from the Bookings section within seven days of their original booking to be paid.

Booking Functionality 

If customers call or walk in with a voucher, a booking can be created on their behalf using the security code on the customer’s voucher. Non-Groupon customers’ bookings can also be added.

How to Add Bookings or Blocked Time

• Click on Add Calendar Item.

• Enter the security code for Groupon customers or click on Other Bookings to add non-Groupon customers.
• Use Blocked Time if you don’t want to receive bookings. You can block off time for a single event, or set it to recur daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.

More information on how to add a calendar item can be found in this video.

Search Functionality 

If you need to find details on a specific customer, you can search their name.The search bar can be found in the top level menu and is available on all screens.

How to Use the Search Functionality

• Click into the search bar.
• Type at least the first 3 characters of your customer’s first or last name.
• Selecting a result takes you to the corresponding booking in the Schedule View.

More information on how to use the Search Functionality can be found in this video.

Class Functionality

You can add and manage classes from within the Groupon Booking Tool. 

This functionality offers a huge amount of flexibility in configuration options. For example, if you are selling a five-class package of yoga classes on Groupon, you can now specify which classes Groupon customers can apply for: Hatha Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, etc.

How to Add, Edit, or Delete Classes

• To add a class, click on Settings in the left menu, followed by Availability and Add Class.
• You can add specifications for each class such as name, description, and start and end times, as well as specify details on recurrence if applicable.
• A class can be edited or deleted from the Availability or Calendar view:
  • To edit or delete a class in the Availability view, click on Settings in the left menu, followed by Availability. Information about each class can now be edited, or a class can be deleted by clicking Delete Class.
  • Alternatively, a class can be edited or deleted through the Calendar view. Within the Calendar view, click into a specific class, and then click on Edit Class in the popover. Changes can be applied to one or all classes within the series.
  • If bookings already exist for a class, a prompt will pop up to inform you of this before you can proceed to edit or delete that class.

How to Add Bookings for a Class

• Once a class has been added, go to the Calendar view and hover over the selected class.
• Click on Add Booking. For Groupon customers, you will need to add a valid security code at this point.

How to See a Class’s Bookings 

• Hover over a specific class and click See Bookings.
• This will display all bookings associated with this class.

More information on how to manage classes can be found in this video.

Synchronising the Booking Tool 

Google Calendar 2-way sync enables you to connect the Groupon Booking Tool with your Google Calendar to import and export bookings and events. 

There are many benefits to this synchronisation, particularly how it reduces the complexity of switching between two reservation systems and gives you more control over your capacity.

How to Use the 2-Way Calendar Synchronization

• Access your Groupon Booking Tool and click Settings, followed by Calendar Sync.

• Click on the tab to sign into your Google account.
• If you have multiple Google accounts, select the account you want to link to your Groupon Booking Tool.
• Click Allow.

• Select the best option for your business. Ideally you want to select Import & Export as this gives you the best of both worlds: Groupon Booking Tool bookings will appear in your chosen Google Calendar, and Google Calendar events will appear in your Groupon Booking Tool.
• If you have multiple calendars, you will be asked to select a Groupon Calendar to import from, and export to (select from the options given).
• Click Finish.

• Under iCal Subscription, click on Copy URL.
• Go to your chosen Google Calendar, and locate the My Calendars or Other Calendars tab (usually located in the left hand corner of the calendar).
• Click on + .

• Click From URL.
• Paste link from iCal subscription.
• Click Add calendar.¹

      

Note: You can only edit an event from its calendar of origin. 

• If an event is created in Google calendar, it must be edited in the Google calendar.
• If an event is created in the Groupon Booking Tool, it must be edited in the Groupon Booking Tool. It can be viewed in Google Calendar, but not edited in Google Calendar.
• You must still check in customers using the Groupon Booking Tool.

Grow Your Business with the Groupon Booking Tool

The Groupon Booking Tool can act as a cornerstone of your customer engagement experience, with functionality ranging from managing your schedules and capacity to booking and checking in clients as they arrive. This ease of use can form part of a great overall experience for your customers and lead to return bookings that grow your business overall. The booking tool can easily be accessed from the Merchant Center. For any questions on how to optimize your usage of the tool, please contact your sales representative or our merchant service team at auam@groupon.com.

 

The article was originally posted in 2020 and last updated in March 2022.

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 ¹If you cannot see the +, click on ^ to see the +