Selling bookings & appointments (overview)
An overview of how to sell bookable appointments, classes, and rentals using WooCommerce Bookings.
If your business offers services by appointment — consultations, classes, rentals, tours, or any time-based service — WooCommerce Bookings lets customers book and pay directly through your website.
Quick summary
WooCommerce does not include bookings by default. You need the WooCommerce Bookings extension (paid). It lets you create bookable products with available time slots, block out dates, set prices per session or duration, and let customers book and pay online. You confirm (or auto-approve) bookings from your dashboard.
What WooCommerce Bookings can do
WooCommerce Bookings is a powerful extension that supports:
- Fixed time slots (e.g., "Book a 30-minute call at 2 PM")
- Flexible durations (e.g., "Rent for 1–5 hours, customer chooses")
- Daily bookings (e.g., cabin rental — "Check in March 3, check out March 6")
- Group bookings (e.g., "Book a table for 2–8 people")
- Multiple staff or resources (e.g., assign to a specific instructor or room)
- Buffer times between bookings
- Custom availability rules and blackout dates
How the booking process works
You set up a bookable product. Choose a product type of "Bookable product." Configure available days, time slots, duration, prices, and any extra options (like number of people).
A customer books online. They visit the product page, select a date and time slot, choose any options, and add to cart.
They pay at checkout. Standard WooCommerce checkout. They can pay in full or you can set a deposit amount.
You receive a notification. A new booking appears under WooCommerce → Bookings. Depending on your settings, it's either confirmed automatically or waits for your approval.
The customer gets a confirmation email with the booking details.
Booking confirmation: auto or manual
You can choose whether bookings are automatically confirmed or require your approval:
| Mode | Description |
|---|---|
| Automatic confirmation | Booking is confirmed immediately when payment is made. No action needed from you. |
| Manual confirmation | Booking is marked "Pending" until you approve it. Useful when you need to check availability before confirming. |
Managing your bookings
Go to WooCommerce → Bookings. You'll see all upcoming bookings.
Click a booking to view the details — customer name, date, time, product, and payment.
Use the calendar view for a visual overview of what's booked when.
Confirm or cancel pending bookings from the booking detail page.
Blocking time off / availability settings
You can control your availability at the product level (for individual services) or globally:
- Set regular weekly hours (e.g., available Mon–Fri, 9 AM–5 PM).
- Add one-off unavailable dates (holidays, vacations).
- Set minimum and maximum lead time (e.g., must book at least 24 hours in advance, or no more than 60 days out).
Integration with Google Calendar
WooCommerce Bookings can sync with Google Calendar so confirmed bookings automatically appear in your calendar. This requires a small setup — ask us to configure it.
Common questions
Related guides
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