This article explains to you how we generate bookable slots in our marketplace in the Playtomic Applications. You can find our read the Frequently Asked Questions to check how they work in a summarised form.
Here you can find information on how the Reservation Rules work and examples in configuring availability with your prices:
Also we have a explanation of configuration suggested
What are Reservation Rules and how do they affect your clubs availability?
When you are creating pricing rules, these rules define how we display availability in our Playtomic Marketplace for your club. The Reservation Rule defines what kind of spaces between reservations are allowed by the system in the marketplace.
There are three options for the Reservation Rule which we go through in detail next.
Frequently Asked Question:
What Does Fixed Mean?
Fixed Reservation Rule means simply that the system does not allow
reservations to span onto multiple price rules and blocks making
reservations that would leave slots shorter than the bookable
durations for the price rule.
What does Flex Mean?
Flexible Reservation Rule means simply that the system allows
reservations to span onto multiple price rules.
There are two configuration options you can do for Flexible
Reservation Rules, which are allowing those unbookable slots to be
created, or blocking them being created.
Most Popular Settings
Most commonly we recommend our customers to use Flexible Reservation
rules with 30 minute slots being blocked (Flex, Block 30 min). This
way the system allows the durations you define for your prices to be
booked, but it avoids creating 30 minute slots that are not commonly
booked by players.
This price rule also allows reservations to be blocked across multiple
price rules, so they can start from one and continue onto the other
one.
Fixed
When the reservation rule is selected as Fixed means that from the beginning of the price rule all reservations have to start at times equal or proportional to the allowed durations.
For example, in our club we want all reservations to be 90 minutes from the beginning until we close and that all reservations have to start every 90 minutes. We must configure a price rule FIXED, enable the duration of 90 minutes and set the start and end time.
If the club opens at 11:00, reservations can be made at 11:00, 12:30, 14:00, etc.
Flexible, Allow Unbookable Time
When the reservation rule is selected as Flexible, Allow Unbookable Time, this setting allows reservations to start every 30 minutes from the start of the price rule, regardless of whether unbookable slots are left. It is usually applied during low occupancy hours. It allows reservations to span onto multiple price rules, whereas fixed requires to be within the same one.
For example, in our club in the mornings during the week we have very few reservations and we want to allow flexibility for clients so that they can adjust their matches as best suits them even if they generate slots that cannot be booked. If our club from 11:00 to 16:00 has low occupancy, we can configure a price rule for clients to book at 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 12:30, etc, even if there are 30 empty slots minutes between reservations. We have to configure a price rule Flex, Allow Unbookable Time to enable the durations we want and set the start and end time.
Flexible, Avoid Unbookable Time
When the reservation rule is selected as Flexible, Avoid Unbookable Time, this setting allows reservations to start every 30 minutes from the start of the price rule, as long as no slots are left unbookable. This configuration offers flexibility when booking and ensures that all times, spaces between bookings (beginning and end of the day) are bookable. It allows reservations to span onto multiple price rules, whereas fixed requires to be within the same one.
For example, we want customers to be able to make reservations of 60, 90 or 120 minutes, starting at o'clock and half, but never leave slots that cannot be reserved. To do this, we must configure a price rule Flexible, Avoid Unbookable Time, enable the duration of 60, 90 and 120, and also set a start and end time.
If our club opens at 9:00, the first reservation may be at 9:00, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, but never at 9:30 because we would be leaving half an hour before the reservation that can´t be bookable. The same would happen if we have a reservation that ends, for example, at 12:00, the next reservation has to start at 12:00, 13:00, 13:30, etc. but never at 12:30 since there would be half an hour between reservations.
Configuration suggested
One of the most common configurations in clubs, in order to achieve higher occupancy, is to allow flexibility to clients during low occupancy hours and limit it during high occupancy hours.
To do this, we will have to configure two prices rules within one day.
Price rule 1: Allow customers to book from the start to the end of the price rule every half hour even if they leave 30-minute slots that are not bookable.
To do this, when creating the price rule we must select the option Flexible, allow unbookable time, select a start and end time, for example from 10:00 to 15:00, and durations of 60, 90 and 120 mins.
Price rule 2: when applying at rush hour, we want to optimize the occupancy so that there are no spaces that are not bookable, so we will use the following configuration.
When creating the price rule we must select the option Flexible, avoid unbookable time, select the start and end time, for example from 3:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., and durations of 60, 90 and 120 mins.