Growth
Memberships and prepaid packages for a walk-in shop: what to sell and how it works
A regular who comes every three weeks is worth more than a stranger who comes once. A monthly plan or a prepaid pack turns the regular into a habit and gives you money before the visit. Memberships and packages are part of the Pro plan. Charging for them comes with card payments, which are coming soon (Early Access). Here is how to design one so it is ready, and how members are recognised at check-in.
Membership or package: which one?
A membership renews every month: a set number of visits included, a member discount on everything else, or both. It suits visits that repeat on a rhythm, such as a monthly cut, a threading club, a wash club or an adjustment plan. A package is paid once for a set number of visits, such as “10 adjustments” or “5 hand washes”, and the uses are tracked down to zero.
If the client would come anyway, a membership locks the habit in. If the visit is a bigger one-off decision, a package lowers the price per visit and takes the decision out of the next ones.
What to put in a plan
Keep the first plan simple. One service, a number of visits a month, and a member discount on add-ons and products. Count the visits a member would really use: a monthly plan with two cuts included for a client who comes every three weeks is more than they need, and a plan they feel they are not using gets cancelled.
Price it so the plan is clearly a better deal than paying visit by visit, without giving away your busiest chair-hours. If the plan covers only certain team members, say so on the sign-up page; renters in a booth-rental shop can run their own plans that cover their own visits.
How a member checks in
Members join the line like anyone else, from the QR code or the door tablet. Your team finds the member by phone number at check-in, and at checkout the plan covers the visit it includes or takes the member discount off the bill. A package shows its remaining uses and counts one down when it is used.
There is nothing to carry. No card to forget, no code to read out loud.
Selling it: the sign-up page
When card payments are live, each business gets a sign-up page for its plans, linked from the check-in page, with a QR code for the front desk. Members will pay by card through your own Stripe account and can stop renewal themselves. Until then, you can set plans up and plan the pricing.
When card payments are live, NextUp Walk-in’s card fee is 0.5% of card payments, never on tips, at most $1 a payment, on top of Stripe’s processing fee.
Watching how it performs
After a month or two, look at plan counts and sales, and at the members who have not been back. A lapsed member is the easiest rebooking message you will write; the client retention guide shows how to follow up, and stamp cards are the lighter-weight reward for clients who do not want a plan.
Plan and trial
Memberships, packages, gift cards and loyalty stamp cards are in the Pro plan, and the 14-day free trial includes every Pro feature. See pricing for the plans.
Questions
Are memberships on every plan?
No. Memberships and packages are part of the Pro plan. The 14-day free trial has every Pro feature.
Can members cancel on their own?
Yes, once online membership billing is live (coming soon with card payments), a member can stop renewal themselves.
What does a package track?
The number of visits bought and the number used, so the balance is clear at checkout.