Running a pop-up shop by appointment, from booking page to closing day
Appointments turn a pop-up from a crowd you can't plan for into a day you can staff: fittings, tastings, consultations or private viewings, one slot at a time. The page can be small. What matters is that the slots match the days you're actually open, that nobody books the same slot twice, and that people know where to go. Here's the workflow, including where Anticode's calendar fits and where it doesn't.
Appointments, walk-ins, or both
Decide first what a booking is for. A bridal or tailoring pop-up books fittings and turns walk-ins away. A food or homeware pop-up might keep the door open and book only private tastings or a quiet first hour. Write down the length of a slot, how many customers you can serve at once, and the days and hours you'll trade. Those three facts decide whether Anticode's built-in calendar fits or you need a booking service.
How Anticode's booking calendar behaves
It helps to know the calendar's rules before planning around it. The booking form asks for the service, a day, a time, and the visitor's name, phone and email. It always shows the coming days, with Mondays skipped, rather than a set of dates you choose, and each day offers the same six fixed times: 09:00, 10:30, 12:00, 14:30, 16:00 and 17:30. You can't set your own hours, slot lengths or closed days. Dates in the past or more than 120 days ahead are refused. Each service can be booked once per day and time slot, so two visitors can't take the same one. There are no deposits, no sync with another calendar and no staff rotas.
- Fits well
- A pop-up that runs for a few weeks starting now, open Tuesday to Sunday, where the six fixed times suit your appointments.
- Fits with care
- A pop-up open on some days but not others, or with hours that don't match the fixed times. Say the trading days and hours clearly beside the form, and contact anyone who books a closed day or time.
- Doesn't fit
- A pop-up on specific dates months from now. Take booking requests through the contact form instead, or use a booking service built for fixed dates and link to it.
If you can serve two customers at the same time, list the service twice ("Fitting, room one" and "Fitting, room two"), since each service holds one booking per slot.
Building the page
- Describe the pop-up in a sentence or two: what it is, where, the dates, and that visits are by appointment. Ask for a booking page with the calendar as the main action.
- Put the essentials at the top: the address with directions and step-free access details, the trading dates and hours, and what an appointment includes.
- Name the services as your slot types, such as "Bridal fitting" or "Private tasting for two". The times on offer are the calendar's fixed ones, so keep each appointment short enough to fit between them.
- Read the wording around the form. Remove anything you won't do, such as a promise of an automatic confirmation email: Anticode can email bookings to you, but it doesn't email the visitor.
- Decide where bookings go. Each one is saved in the dashboard and can be emailed to you; a connector can post it to Slack, Telegram or a Google Sheet for whoever runs the door.
- Publish and make a test booking, then try to book the same slot again and check it's refused.
Running the bookings
Confirm each booking yourself, by message or email, the same day: the time, the address, and how to cancel. Ask people to reply if they can't come, and keep a short waiting list from the contact form for slots that free up. The evening before each trading day, print or share the day's bookings from the dashboard or the sheet.
Cancellations need a person. There's no visitor link to change or cancel a booking, so note cancellations in your sheet and offer the slot to the waiting list.
When the pop-up closes
Don't leave a live calendar taking bookings for days you won't be there. On closing day, ask for the change in a sentence: "replace the booking calendar with a thank-you note, photos from the pop-up, and a newsletter sign-up for the next one". Publish it. The newsletter form can feed Kit or Mailchimp, so you can tell this crowd about the next pop-up from your email tool.
What goes wrong
- Bookings on closed days. The calendar shows the coming days (except Mondays) at the same six times regardless, so state trading days and hours beside the form and check new bookings daily.
- No-shows. Without deposits, a reminder message the day before is your main defence.
- The calendar outlives the pop-up. Change the page on the last day, not a week later.
Limits
Anticode gives you the page, a calendar that prevents double bookings, stored bookings and forwarding. It doesn't let you pick which dates or times appear, set slot lengths, take deposits, sync with your calendar, send confirmations or reminders, or sell tickets. For more on the calendar, see booking calendar and adding a booking calendar.
Questions people ask
Can two people book the same slot on my pop-up shop booking page?
No. Each service can be booked once per day and time slot, and a second attempt is refused.
Can I choose which dates appear in the calendar?
No. It always shows the coming days, with Mondays skipped, at six fixed times. For a pop-up on fixed dates further ahead, take requests through the contact form or link to a booking service.
Can I take a deposit to reduce no-shows?
Not through the booking calendar. You could send a payment link from your own provider with your confirmation, but the booking itself doesn't wait for payment.