The new web widget makes it easy for customers to add themselves to your waitlist from your website and have their waitlist requests appear in the Waitlist Me app.  The widget has two main views and is simple to customize and add to your site in a few quick steps.

Customers can view estimated wait times or people waiting:

Customers can then submit their info for adding themselves to the list:

Creating the widget is as easy as switching the toggle to “ON” from your widget settings page on the Waitlist Me website. A unique widget will be created and all you need to do is copy the line of code onto your website where you’d like the widget to display.

The widget can be customized at any time, and you will see how it looks in the preview section at the top of the page. Press “Save” to keep changes and automatically update the widget on your site. Here are some of the options:

Titles – Change the text that appears on the two different screens of the widget. The first screen shows the estimated wait and the second screen appears after customers click to add themselves and enter their information

Colors – Match the widget to your website the way you like with the flexibility to change the colors of the text, background, borders, and links.

Display types – There are a couple options on what you may want to display to give people a feel of how long the wait might be, or if you choose “None” it will not show the view of the wait estimate at all and just have the fields for people to add their information.

Also, if you want to go back to the default settings after you can always click the Reset link at the bottom.

The web widget is a Waitlist Me Premium feature and adds another option beyond using the public waitlist page for customers to add themselves to the waitlist.

For businesses that manage a lot of reservations, it is important to have the right tools to view availability and prevent double bookings. Waitlist Me recently added some advanced scheduling features for managing tables and tracking customer visit times, and here is a quick video on how it works.

Waitlist Me makes reservations and appointments simple with intuitive calendar and list views. It’s easy to schedule and manage your customers in our iOS and Android apps or from a browser on our website.   

The Pro & Platinum levels of our service offer greater flexibility and control over scheduling rules, including setting business hours, adding party limits, and blocking off whole days, among other features. We recently added a few more customization options to these calendar views to increase the efficiency of some activities.

Now it is even easier to find openings by room and by group size. You can choose to view this information next to the table names for quick reference by pressing the people and the room icons in the header bar. The group size and room name will then be visible in the column headers under each table name.

You can also sort the order of the table columns by these new dimensions using the ‘Sort by’ option on the top left. Choose to sort by rooms if you know you want to fill one room before moving to another. Sort by size to quickly find all the tables large enough for each party as you’re entering reservations. Use the ‘More’ option on the upper right of the sorting menu to add a secondary sort criteria and whether to display in ascending or descending order.

One additional improvement is being able to see the names of scheduled customers in the daily calendar view time blocks. If more than one customer is scheduled for a given time and table, just tap the box to see the details.

If you haven’t updated your reservation settings recently, we would also recommend going through this page to see some of the other features and personalization options.

The Waitlist Me widget allows customers to add themselves to the waitlist and reservations. It is convenient for customers and saves you the time of having to take down information over the phone.

Whether you choose to have customer requests automatically approved or pending an approval step in the Waitlist Me app, we have a new feature that you can use to limit when these requests can be made.  This helps avoid confusion where a customer might try to add themselves to the waitlist when you are closed or not taking waitlist requests.

Now you can decide if you’d like the widget to take requests all the time with the “24/7” option or you can set the days and times that it would do so.  During the times that you choose to take requests the widget would display as it normally does.  During other times it would show a message you can customize on not being available at that time.

The new widget time display settings are part of the Waitlist Me Pro service.

Don’t let Amazon’s billion-dollar bank account make you close up shop. Sure, ecommerce is gaining traction, but that doesn’t mean retail is dead. Far from it!

It’s time for a retail revolution. It’s time for boutiques, mom-and-pop shops, and big-box stores alike to delve deep into the one frontier ecommerce institutions can’t touch: one-one-one customer service. Make it your No.-1 selling point, and you’ll turn walk-ins into loyal customers, and loyal customers into raving fans.

Keep reading for our best tips on how to improve your retail store’s customer service today with a little help from Waitlist Me, a waitlist and appointment app.

Ax the long check-out line (and turn returns into exchanges)

As the holiday season comes into view, we can look forward to swelling lines and swelling tempers. Instead of forcing customers into wait in endless serpentines or a series of parallel lines, try using a waitlist. When customers leave fitting rooms or start heading toward the register, add them to the list. While they wait, let them wander…and maybe add another item or two to their basket.

Set customers free from dressing room lines

What’s worse than a long line? Easy: waiting in one with hangers digging into your forearm. For those shoppers who know they’re going to try on a closet’s worth of clothes, Waitlist Me’s kiosk mode makes it a cinch for them to hop on line for a dressing room as they rifle through your clothing racks. A fitting room attendant can call them over (or text them!) when they make it to the front of the line.

Offer appointments for special shopping trips

Whether they’re hunting for 52-inch HDTVs or formal dresses, there are all sorts of different occasions where shoppers walk into stores looking for assistance. Using a simple appointment system, like the one built in to Waitlist Me, allows these customers to arrive knowing that they’re going to get VIP treatment from a sales associate who can help them find whatever it is they want to open their wallets for.

Transform complaints into kudos

When there’s only one manager on the floor to handle everything from returns to complaints about that one employee who’s having a bad day, everyone feels frustrated. A waitlist is a simple solution to keep guests happy and staffers on their A-game, and thanks to Waitlist Me’s multi-device sync feature, every employee has access to it. It makes for a smooth customer service experience (and far fewer ruffled feathers).

Create a complementary personal shopper service

Personal shopping isn’t just for jet-setters! Any retailer, from luxe boutiques to thrift stores, can bring superior service to every single customer who wants it, simply by giving them the option. Waitlist Me offers a same-day reservations feature. Shoppers can book a time that works for them and leave a note with what they’re looking for, and you can staff up (and set aside a dressing room) accordingly.