If your business has organized services into categories, Appointy Premium lets you control whether customers should select a category first before viewing the services inside it.
This is useful when you have a large service catalog and want customers to browse by category instead of seeing all services immediately.
For example, instead of showing every service at once, customers can first choose:
- Hair Services
- Skin Treatments
- Nail Services
- Add-ons
and then view the services available within the selected category.
Why use category-first selection?
Requiring customers to select a category first can help:
- Keep a large booking page easier to navigate
- Reduce the number of services shown at once
- Help customers find relevant services faster
- Create a more structured booking experience
- Make parent and child category hierarchies easier to browse
This is particularly useful when your business has many services across several categories.
How to configure category selection on the booking portal
Quick navigation
Settings → Appointment Settings → Customer Booking Flow → Service Options
You can also navigate directly to:
https://admin.appointy.com/settings/appointment-settings/booking-flow
Steps
- Log in to your Appointy admin account.
- Go to Settings.
- Under Appointment Settings, open Customer Booking Flow.
Under Service Options, locate:
Require customers to select categories first on the booking portal
- Turn the setting ON if you want customers to select a category before viewing the services available within it.
- Keep the setting OFF if you want services to be shown directly without requiring the customer to choose a category first.
What happens when the setting is enabled?
When Require customers to select categories first on the booking portal is enabled, customers begin by choosing the relevant Service Category.
After selecting a category, they can continue to the services available within that category.
For example:
Step 1: Select Hair Services
Step 2: Choose Haircut, Hair Color, or Hair Wash
This keeps the initial booking screen more focused.
What happens when the setting is disabled?
When the setting is disabled, customers do not have to select a category first.
The booking flow can display the available services directly, allowing customers to choose a service without first navigating through a category-selection step.
Example: Salon with a large service catalog
Suppose a salon offers 30 services organized into:
Hair Services
- Haircut
- Hair Color
- Hair Wash
- Hair Treatment
Nail Services
- Manicure
- Pedicure
- Nail Art
Skin Treatments
- Facial
- Cleanup
- Consultation
If all 30 services are shown immediately, the booking page may be harder to browse.
By enabling Require customers to select categories first, the customer first sees the main categories and then views only the services relevant to the category they selected.
When should you enable this setting?
Consider enabling category-first selection when:
- You have a large number of services
- Services are already organized into meaningful categories
- You use parent and child category hierarchies
- Customers usually know the type of service they are looking for
- You want a cleaner first step in the booking flow
You may prefer to keep it disabled when:
- You only offer a few services
- Customers benefit from seeing all services immediately
- Categories would add an unnecessary extra step
Category organization and booking flow work together
Creating Service Categories determines how your services are organized.
The Customer Booking Flow setting determines how customers navigate those categories when booking.
For example:
Service Categories
→ Organize Hair, Skin, and Nail services
Customer Booking Flow
→ Decide whether customers must select Hair, Skin, or Nail first
Using both together gives you more control over how a large service catalog is presented.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make customers select a Service Category before choosing a service?
Go to:
Settings → Appointment Settings → Customer Booking Flow → Service Options
and enable Require customers to select categories first on the booking portal.
What happens if I turn this setting off?
Customers can proceed directly to service selection without being required to choose a category first.
Is this useful for businesses with only a few services?
Usually, category-first selection is most useful when you have a larger service catalog. If you only offer a few services, showing them directly may create a faster booking experience.
Does this setting create Service Categories?
No. Categories must already be created and your services organized into them.
This setting only controls how customers navigate those categories on the booking portal.
Can I use this with parent and child categories?
Yes. Category-first navigation can be useful when you have a structured category hierarchy and want customers to move through the service catalog more deliberately.
Does this change the services themselves?
No. It only changes how customers navigate the service-selection step of the booking flow.