Beauty and wellness looks like one industry from outside, but online it splits cleanly in two: businesses that sell time and businesses that sell things. A salon sells a slot in a chair. A perfume shop sells a bottle. Both can run free on Storzu, but almost every setup decision follows from which one you are.
Which kind of business are you?
Selling time (appointments):
- Salons and beauty parlours — many short services, several staff, heavy walk-in mix. Your problem is the phone ringing during a service.
- Barbers and men's grooming — short, high-frequency, price-led. Repeat rhythm matters more than presentation; most customers return on a cycle.
- Nail studios — visual, and duration varies a lot between a basic manicure and extensions. Getting durations right is what stops your day collapsing.
- Tattoo studios — long sessions, consultation first, deposit essential. A no-show costs you an entire day, not a slot.
- Mehendi artists — seasonal spikes around weddings and festivals, and travel to the client. Publish your travel radius and per-hand or per-side pricing.
- Bridal makeup artists — the highest-value bookings here, made months ahead, usually with a trial. Deposits and a clear cancellation policy are not optional.
- Spas and massage — room and therapist availability both constrain you, and packages sell better than single sessions.
- Nutritionists and dieticians — consultations, often recurring follow-ups. Describe qualifications and process; avoid medical claims.
- Gyms and personal trainers — memberships and packs rather than single bookings, plus class timetables.
Selling things (products):
- Cosmetics and perfume — shade, size and pack count are the whole catalogue problem. A lipstick is not twelve products; it is one product with twelve shades.
- Herbal, ayurvedic and wellness products — trust-led, so ingredients and sourcing do the selling. This is also where claim rules bite hardest.
If you sell time: get durations right first
The most common setup mistake is giving every service the same length. A thirty-minute haircut, a ninety-minute colour, and a four-hour bridal trial cannot share a slot size. Set a real duration per service and the calendar does the rest — it stops offering times that would overrun into your next client.
Set your working hours and weekly off once, and mark leave when it comes up. Storzu enforces the no-overlap rule in the database rather than only in the interface, so two customers tapping Book at the same moment cannot both land in the same slot. If you have multiple staff, give each their own calendar rather than treating the shop as one resource.
For the mechanics of booking pages in general, see the appointment booking guide.
Deposits, and the no-show problem
A missed thirty-minute haircut is an annoyance. A missed bridal trial or a full-day tattoo session is a lost day you cannot resell at short notice. For any booking that holds more than about an hour of your calendar, take an advance by direct UPI when the slot is confirmed and the balance on the day. The money reaches your bank in seconds and there is no per-booking commission.
Publish the cancellation terms next to the price rather than mentioning them in chat. A deposit that the customer agreed to in writing is respected far more often than one explained after the fact.
Your gallery is the actual product page
In this industry nobody reads the description. Nails, mehendi, tattoos, bridal looks and before-and-after transformations are what convert, and a weak photo undersells good work. Shoot in consistent light against a plain background, keep the framing tight on the work itself, and put your best six at the top rather than uploading everything you have ever done. Ask the client before posting anything showing their face — in bridal and tattoo work especially, assume you need permission.
If you sell products: use variants, not duplicates
Shades, sizes and pack counts belong as variants on one product. Twelve separate lipstick listings make your catalogue unbrowsable and your billing wrong, because the order comes through priced at whichever one you listed cheapest. One product with twelve shades prices correctly and photographs once.
For herbal and ayurvedic sellers, put ingredients and sourcing high on the page. That is what your buyer is actually evaluating, and it is the part a marketplace listing flattens away.
A word on claims
Cosmetic and grooming language is fine. Saying a treatment cures a condition is not: India's Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act and general consumer-protection rules on misleading advertising both apply to your website exactly as they apply to a hoarding. Describe what you do, your training and your process. Leave diagnosis and cure out of it.
What it costs
Start on the Free forever plan at ₹0 with direct UPI and no per-booking commission. Upgrade for your own domain, an online payment gateway, staff accounts, or a larger catalogue — see the pricing page for current limits.
Start with your five most-booked services
Do not build the whole menu before launching. Put up the five services you actually get booked for, with correct durations and honest prices, add six photographs of your best work, and share the link on WhatsApp status and your Instagram bio today. Everything else can follow once bookings are coming in.