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Quickstart

This guide gets you from "installed" to "first booking" with the fewest steps.

What you'll set up

  • Services - Shopify products representing bookable services

  • Resources - Team members, rooms, equipment, or other assets needed to deliver services

  • Availability - Working hours and scheduling rules for resources

  • Storefront integration - Booking buttons and calendar on your online store

Time estimate: 15-30 minutes for a basic setup with one service and one team member.

Before you start

Make sure you have:

  • Admin access in your Shopify store

  • A list of services you want to offer:

    • Service name (e.g., "60-Minute Massage", "Dog Grooming")

    • Duration (e.g., 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours)

    • Price

  • Resource information:

    • Team member names and their working hours

    • Room or equipment requirements (if applicable)

1

Add service to Sesami

You can create a service directly in Sesami or add an existing product from Shopify.

- in Sesami

  1. Enter a clear title (e.g., "Haircut", "Massage", "Consultation")

    Keep the title simple - this appears in booking confirmations and calendars

  2. Add the description

  3. Add variant "duration", unit, and price Create variants like "30 Minutes", "1 Hour", "90 Minutes"

  4. Click to create the service

-in Shopify

  1. In your Shopify Admin, go to Products > Add product

  2. Enter a clear product title that describes the service, such as Haircut, Massage, or Consultation

  3. Click Add variant and create the "Duration" variant and its options, such as 30 Minutes, 1 Hour, or 90 Minutes

  4. Set a price for each duration option

  5. Click Save to create the product

Repeat for each service type you want to offer.

Best practice: Use variants for different durations of the same service. For example, one product "Massage" with variants "30 Minutes", "1 Hour", and "90 Minutes" instead of three separate products.

2

Create resources and set availability

Resources are what your service needs to happen - team members, rooms, equipment, etc. You'll create them and set their availability.

Note: In the current Shopify Admin interface, resources are labeled as "Team Members". This will be updated to "Resources" in an upcoming release.

  1. Add the Resource name and the Resource type

    • For staff: Add each team member by name (e.g., "Sarah", "Alex", "Jamie")

    • For rooms/equipment: Add them as team members for now (e.g., "Room 1", "Camera Kit A")

  2. Set its Working hours and add the availability rules (e.g., Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM)

  3. Click to create the resource

Example setup:

  • Team member "Sarah" → Available Monday-Friday, 9 AM - 5 PM

  • Room "Treatment Room 1" → Available Monday-Saturday, 8 AM - 8 PM

Good to know: Don't worry if you haven't configured all your resources yet. You can set availability for a single resource now, then create additional resources or update existing resource availability later in Admin Portal: Resources.

3

Add a booking to your storefront

Make the booking calendar accessible to customers on your online store

Theme App Embed (Recommended - Modern Themes) - Most Shopify 2.0 themes support app embeds

Optional: If you're using an older Shopify theme, a headless storefront (such as Hydrogen), or a custom website, you can skip this step and refer to our Dev Docs for integration instructions.

Step 1: Enable app embed

  1. From the Sesami dashboard, click Customize Theme in the Embed booking experience section.

  2. It will open the Theme Editor with the App embeds panel (usually in the left sidebar or theme settings)

  3. Locate the Sesami Booking App and turn the toggle on to enable the app to be embedded in your theme.

  4. Save

Step 2: Add to Product

  1. Next, add the Sesami booking block to your product template by opening a product template

  2. In the Product information section, click Add block and select the Sesami booking button

  3. Place the block above the Buy buttons

  4. Save your theme changes.

The booking widget will now appear on your storefront product pages, allowing customers to select available booking times.

Manual Integration (Older Themes)

For older themes without app embed support:

  1. In your theme editor, add a button or link to product pages

  2. Link to the product page with the Sesami calendar active

  3. Or contact support for theme-specific integration help

See: Shopify Online Store Setup

Pro tip: Add a "Book Now" navigation link in your main menu pointing to a collection of all bookable services.

4

Test end-to-end

Before going live, test a complete booking flow:

  1. Open your store in an incognito/private browser window (to see the customer view)

  2. Navigate to a service product page

  3. Check that the booking calendar appears with available time slots

  4. Select a date and time

  5. Add to cart and proceed through checkout

  6. Complete the purchase (use Shopify's test mode or make a real booking)

  7. Verify the booking appears in Sesami Admin under Bookings

  8. Check on mobile - Test the same flow on a mobile device

What to verify:

  • Available time slots match your resource availability

  • The correct timezone is displayed

  • Booking appears assigned to the correct resource

  • Times don't overlap if you book multiple appointments

If no time slots appear, see the troubleshooting section below.

Troubleshooting

Calendar doesn't appear on the product page

Check:

  1. Sesami app embed is enabled in Theme Settings

  2. Product has a sesami-service tag in Shopify

  3. Sesami is enabled in Sesami Settings

  4. You're viewing the published theme (not a draft/unpublished version)

  5. Service is configured in Sesami with the product linked

Service is not working or shows errors

Check:

  1. The product is added as a service in Sesami

  2. Resources are assigned to the service

  3. Required resources are enabled (not disabled)

  4. Duration variant format is correct (e.g., "30 Minutes", "1 Hour" - no extra spaces, in English)

  5. "Product does not have a Duration option" - The duration variant must be written in English, with no typos.

No available time slots showing

The most common issue! Check:

  1. Resources are assigned to the service (Step 2)

  2. Availability is set for assigned resources (Step 2)

  3. The booking window allows future bookings (check advanced settings)

  4. No block-offs are covering all available dates

  5. Buy buttons are hidden or removed on the product page

See: No Availability

Timezone looks wrong

  1. Go to Sesami > Settings > Timezone

  2. Verify your store's timezone matches your physical location

  3. Check resource availability is set in the correct timezone

  4. Clear browser cache and test in incognito mode

See: Timezone Mismatch

Checkout behavior is unexpected

If checkout is skipped when you expected it (or vice versa):

  1. Check if Instant Booking is enabled (skips checkout)

  2. Verify deposit settings (may change checkout flow)

  3. Review product pricing (free products may skip checkout)

See: Instant Booking | Deposits

Booking shows "Assigned to: No one"

This happens when time slots become unavailable during checkout:

  1. Enable Reservation Period in Sesami Settings

  2. Enable Cart Validation to check availability before checkout

See: Troubleshooting Assigned to No One

Customers see "Session expired" or "Invalid link" errors

Common causes:

  1. Links expired - Customer tried to reschedule/cancel after the deadline

  2. Browser cookies blocked - Check browser settings, especially Safari

  3. Cache issues - Clear browser cache and try again

See: Session Expired | Safari Cookies | Invalid Link Error

Next Steps

Once you have basic bookings working, consider:

Need Help?

Related

PreviousIntro to Help Docs
NextActivate the New Sesami app and Admin Portal

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