Adding gap processing time, or gap time, allows service providers to take additional appointments during a client's downtime, maximizing their daily bookings. From the customer's perspective, gap time does not affect the overall appointment duration, as they only see the full service time. Gap time can be adjusted when booking in-house or on the Calendar after booking, but it must first be set in the Service/Class Menu screen. This involves specifying the initial duration (time needed for the first part of the service) and the finish duration (time required to complete the service).
For example, in a hair color service, the 45 minutes a client spends under a dryer is considered gap time, during which the provider can take another appointment. On your Vagaro Listing Page, this gap time appears as available booking time.
On the Calendar, services with gap time show available slots in the middle of the appointment. However, customer-facing calendars, including the Vagaro app and third-party apps, do not display details about gap time.
To see whether gap time is being used effectively at your business, run the Booking Percentage report.
Prerequisites: This feature is available for all Vagaro businesses. At least one service must already be added to your Service/Class Menu.
Gap time can only be added when you create or edit a Vagaro or Custom Service in the Service/Class Menu screen, and it must be specified for individual service providers who want to be able to perform additional services during gap time.
The duration of a service includes both the time it takes to perform the service plus the gap time.
To add or remove gap processing time:
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At the top of the screen, verify that the correct employee has been selected who has the service that needs gap time added to.
If the incorrect employee is currently shown, select the name, then choose the correct employee in the Calendar Navigation pane, then select Show Selected at the bottom,
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Select More
→ → .
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Select Services.
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Select the service to add gap time to, then select Edit.
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Scroll down to Duration, then select Add Gap Time (or Edit Gap Time if it was already set up).
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Specify the gap time:
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For each Service Duration time, use the spinners to select how much time to reserve, then select Done.
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Initial Duration: The amount of time needed to perform the first half of the service.
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Gap (processing): The amount of time reserved for taking additional appointments.
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Finish Duration: The amount of time needed to complete the service.
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Select Apply. Notice that the Duration of the appointment shows the total amount of time entered for the service duration.
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Update any other details, then select Save.
Employees who perform services with gap time will have a Gap Time icon in their Duration box.
To add or remove gap processing time:
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Select Settings
→ .
Your service menu will be shown by default.
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Select the Service tab.
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Select the service you want to edit.
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Scroll down to the list of service providers, select the employee's Duration box, and then select Add Gap Time.
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Enter the amount of gap time, or adjust the amount in five-minute increments using the - and + buttons, then select Apply.
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Initial Duration: The amount of time needed to perform the first half of the service.
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Gap (processing): The amount of time reserved for taking additional appointments.
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Finish Duration: The amount of time needed to complete the service.
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Update any other details, then select Save.
Removing the default gap time in a service will prevent you from adjusting gap time in booked services.
To add or remove gap processing time:
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At the top of the screen, verify that the correct employee has been selected who has the service that needs gap time added to.
If the incorrect employee is currently shown, select the name, then choose the correct employee in the Calendar Navigation pane, then select Show Selected at the bottom.
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Select More
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Select the service with gap time to remove, then select Edit.
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Scroll down to Duration, then select Edit Gap Time.
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Select Remove Gap Time, then select Apply.
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Update any other details, then select Save.
Employees who perform services with gap time have a Gap Time icon in their Duration box.
To add or remove gap processing time:
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Select Settings
Your service menu will be shown by default.
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Go to → → .
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Select the Service tab.
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Select the service you want to edit.
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Scroll down to the list of service providers, then select the employee's Duration with gap time specified.
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Select Remove Gap, then select Apply.
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Update any other details, then select Save.
When you book a service, its gap time can be edited on the Calendar after it's been scheduled. For example, you may want to adjust gap time if a client requests beforehand to get extra time to relax during a facial after a mask has been applied. Changing an appointment's gap time will not affect the default cleanup time for your other services or those in your other customers' purchased bundles.
Note
Gap time cannot be edited on the Calendar unless it was set up in the service's service's duration in the Service/Class Menu screen.
To edit an appointment's gap time from the Calendar:
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On the Calendar, select the appointment with gap time, then select Edit.
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If the appointment repeats, choose to Edit this Occurrence or Edit the Series.
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Scroll down to Duration, then select the time.
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Select Gap (Processing), then use the spinners to update the amount of time, then select Done. Optionally, you can also update the Initial Duration and Finish Duration if needed.
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Select Apply.
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Update any other details, then select Save.
To edit an appointment's gap time from the Calendar:
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On the Calendar, select the appointment with gap time, then select Edit.
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If the appointment repeats , choose to Edit this Occurrence or Edit the Series, then select Edit Booking.
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Select the box under Duration to update the appointment's allotted time on the calendar.
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In the Service Duration popup, adjust the Gap (processing) time in five-minute increments using the ̶ and + buttons, then select Apply. Optionally, you can also update the Initial Duration and Finish Duration if needed.
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Update any other details, then select Save.
Booking an appointment during another service's gap time is performed the same way as booking any other service by selecting an available timeslot on an employee's calendar.
To book an appointment during another service's gap time:
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On the Calendar, select an available timeslot next to the timeslots for the other service's gap time.
Tip
Turn your phone sideways to landscape orientation for more space to select an available timeslot during a service's gap time.
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If the appointment is longer than the allotted gap time, a popup alerts you that another booking is already scheduled for that timeslot.
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Select whether to Continue to Book or select Cancel to adjust the length of the service.
To book an appointment during another service's gap time:
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On the Calendar, select an available timeslot next to the timeslots for the other service's gap time.
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If the appointment is longer than the allotted gap time, a popup alerts you that another booking is already scheduled for that timeslot.
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Select whether to Continue to Book or select Cancel to adjust the length of the service.
Comments
2 comments
Would love to see this feature become available for individual clients, as opposed to the service in general!!
Would really love this to be available for single occurring appointments so the stylist can choose which clients they allow this feature on
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