# Locations

Sesami's multi-location feature allows businesses with multiple physical locations to manage bookings across all their stores, studios, branches, or mobile units from a single admin interface.

## What are Locations?

Locations represent your physical business locations where services are offered. Each location can have:

* **Its own resources** (team members, rooms, equipment)
* **Its own timezone** (automatically applied for that location's bookings)
* **Location-specific services** (assign services to one or multiple locations)
* **Separate availability** (different hours for different locations)

{% hint style="info" %}
**Available on Premium plan**: The Premium plan includes 2 locations. Need more locations? Contact <help@sesami.co>
{% endhint %}

## Common use cases

* **Multi-store retail**: Manage bookings across multiple store locations
* **Regional offices**: Different offices in different cities or timezones
* **Studios or salons**: Multiple branches with separate staff and schedules
* **Mobile services**: Different service areas or territories

## How Locations work

### For Admins

* **Location selector in admin**: Switch between locations in the top menu to view bookings and manage schedules
* **Automatic timezone conversion**: Each location's calendar automatically displays in that location's timezone
* **Location-based access control**: Grant staff access to specific locations only
* **POS integration**: Sesami locations can be mapped to Shopify locations for seamless POS operation

### For Customers

When booking a service available at multiple locations, customers:

1. **Choose the location first** - Select which location they want to book at
2. **See location-specific availability** - Only resources assigned to that location appear
3. **Book with confidence** - Availability automatically accounts for the location's timezone

## Setting up Locations

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

#### Create your locations

1. Navigate to **Locations** in the sidebar
2. Click **Add Location**
3. Enter the location name and details (address, timezone, etc.)
4. The first location you create becomes the **Default Location**
5. For additional locations, you can choose which one should be the default

{% hint style="success" %}
**Tip**: Use clear, customer-friendly names like "Downtown Studio" or "West End Salon" rather than internal codes.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Assign locations to services

1. Go to **Services** and select a service
2. Under **Locations & Resources**, click **Add Location**
3. Choose the location(s) where this service is offered
4. Assign resources (team members, rooms, equipment) for that location
5. Save your changes

Each service can be:

* Available at **one location** only
* Available at **multiple locations** (customers choose during booking)
  {% endstep %}

{% step %}

#### Configure location-specific details

For each location, you can set:

* **Timezone** - Bookings and availability automatically use this timezone
* **Resources** - Assign team members, rooms, or equipment to this location
* **Availability** - Different working hours for different locations
* **Access permissions** - Control which staff can access this location
  {% endstep %}
  {% endstepper %}

## Managing bookings by location

### Calendar view

Use the **location selector** in the top menu to:

* View appointments for a specific location
* See location-specific availability
* Create bookings at the selected location

The calendar automatically displays times in the selected location's timezone.

### Upcoming appointments

The upcoming appointments list can be filtered by location, making it easy to see what's happening at each location.

### Rescheduling across locations

You can move appointments from one location to another:

1. Select the appointment (from calendar or upcoming list)
2. Click **Reschedule**
3. In the top menu, select the **new location**
4. Choose the appropriate resource, date, and time
5. Confirm the changes

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Important**: Be aware of timezone conversions when rescheduling across locations with different timezones!
{% endhint %}

## Location-based access control

Control which staff members can access each location:

* **Store Managers** can grant location-specific permissions
* **Staff** see only bookings and resources for their assigned locations
* **Owners** have access to all locations

This is especially useful for:

* Regional managers overseeing specific locations
* Team members who work at one location only
* Maintaining separate operations for different branches

See: [Users](/admin/users.md)

## Timezones and locations

Each location has its own timezone, which is automatically applied to:

* **Availability display** - Working hours show in the location's local time
* **Booking times** - Customer bookings show in the location's timezone
* **Admin calendar** - When viewing a location, times display in that location's timezone
* **Notifications** - Appointment reminders use the location's timezone

{% hint style="info" %}
**Example**: If your NYC location is set to EST and your LA location is set to PST, the admin calendar will automatically convert times based on which location you're viewing.
{% endhint %}

See: [Timezone Configuration](/booking/availability/timezone.md)

## Using Locations with Shopify POS

If you use Shopify POS, Sesami locations can be mapped to your Shopify locations. This enables automatic location detection, so staff don't need to manually switch locations when using POS.

For detailed setup instructions and how POS works with multi-location, see: [POS & Multi-Location](/apps-integrations/shopify/pos/pos-and-multi-location.md)

## Best practices

* **Use descriptive names** - "Downtown Studio" is clearer than "Location 1"
* **Set correct timezones** - Double-check timezone settings for each location
* **Assign resources clearly** - Make sure team members are assigned to the right location(s)
* **Test the customer flow** - Book a test appointment to see how location selection works
* **Train your team** - Ensure staff understand how locations work in both admin and POS

## Troubleshooting

<details>

<summary>Location selector not appearing for customers</summary>

Check:

* Service is assigned to **multiple locations** (location selector only appears if the service is offered at 2+ locations)
* Each location has **resources assigned** to the service
* Resources have **availability set** for that location

</details>

<details>

<summary>Times showing incorrectly in admin</summary>

* Verify the **location's timezone** is set correctly in location settings
* Check which **location is selected** in the location selector (top menu)
* Remember: times automatically convert to the selected location's timezone

</details>

<details>

<summary>Staff can't see bookings at a location</summary>

Check:

* Staff user has **permission** to access that location
* Location is **enabled** (not disabled)
* Staff is logged into the correct account

</details>

## Related

* [Resources](/admin/resources.md) - Assign resources to locations
* [Services](/admin/services.md) - Assign services to locations
* [Users](/admin/users.md) - Location-based access control
* [POS & Multi-Location](/apps-integrations/shopify/pos/pos-and-multi-location.md) - Using POS with multiple locations
* [Timezone Configuration](/booking/availability/timezone.md) - Understanding timezones


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