With your SuperSaaS schedule you likely intend to improve your appointment booking process for yourself and your clients. Adding an integrated payment option is one of the ways to do this. Additionally, using the credit system further enhances integrated payment, allowing clients to pre-purchase credits for a smoother, more efficient booking experience.
This blog will explore some of the benefits of using a credit system, how to set up your own credit system, options to consider during the setup process and some surprising ways in which the credit system can be used.
Determine if the credit system is right for you
A credit system is a good option for many businesses, but it is always a good idea to consider its use before you start setting it up.
Five benefits for your business
- Decrease total booking time: Clients can pre-purchase credits, eliminating the need for payment processing during booking. This reduces the administrative burden and creates a more seamless experience for both you and your clients
- Incentivize multiple bookings: Tying into the previous point, the credit system lets clients pay for multiple appointments at once with credits, eliminating the need for repeated transactions. This is particularly beneficial for frequent clients
- Encourage repurchase after refund: A refund in credit instead of cash encourages the client to return to your business to use up the credit
- Increase booking frequency: Expiring credit motivates clients to use the credit before it expires, which can lead to a higher booking frequency
- Increase sales total: Credit purchases, and strategic discounts on those purchases, can incentivize bulk buying. This, in turn, can lead to a higher sales volume. Read more in our blog on discounts
Decide how you want to use the credit system
When you set up a credit system in SuperSaaS, you will have to consider a few choices:
- What purpose will your credit system serve? Will it primarily serve as a refund system or will you handle all payments in your schedule with credit?
- How will your clients get credits? Will they have to purchase the credits through your shop, will they receive them upon registering or do you manually add credit to their account?
- When can your clients use their credit? Choose whether credits have can be used for appointments that take place within a certain period, whether your credits have their own usability period, or whether they are valid forever
How to set up the credit system
It only takes a few steps to enable the credit system. Once you have completed the steps below, your credit system is in place and you can move on to configure credit packages, prices, discounts, and more.
- Turn on credit: Go to the “Process” tab, select “Complete payment before continuing” under “Require payment or approval?” and save your changes
- Go to Payment Setup: Click “Payment Setup” in the menu column on the right side of your dashboard to view your current payment configuration
- Choose credit option:
- Use credit level, primarily for discounts/refunds: Select option 2
- Clients can only book with credit: Select option 3
- (Optional) Display all prices in credit: If you select option 3 and want to display all prices in credits, also select the option where “amounts are shown as credits”
- Save: Click “Save changes” to complete the setup process
Manually adding credit
When using the credit system primarily to offer discounts or refunds, credit can be assigned on an individual basis. This can be done directly in the “User Management” section of your SuperSaaS account. Click the edit icon next to the client receiving credit, and add the credit in the “Credit” field.
Automatically add a starting credit
It is possible to give new clients a starting credit when they register that can be used to book their first appointment with you, or provide a discount towards it. It is also possible to reset credit levels to a certain amount each month, which could be useful if, for example, you offer your clients a subscription plan that they pay directly with you.
Adding credit packages to your shop
If your clients can only book appointments with credit, you might require that they first purchase it in your shop. You can offer one or more credit packages so clients can choose how many appointments they want to purchase upfront.
- Navigate to “Shop Management” to add credit packages to your shop
- Click “New product” to open a popup where you can configure a new credit package
- We recommend that you add a descriptive name, for example “single appointment” or “Buy 4 get 5 appointments” if you’d like to offer a discount
- Add the price your client should pay for the credit package, and the credit your client will receive in return
- Determine if there is a limited number of packages available, whether the credit has an expiry date, and how many packages a client can buy at once
- Save the product to add it to your shop
Limit booking period based on credit validity
By default, users can book anytime with valid credit. It is also possible to limit booking dates based on credit validity. This ensures clients can only schedule appointments that fall within the valid period of their credits. With this configuration, a client that has credit valid between January 1 and January 31, for example, can only book appointments that fall within those dates.
To restrict booking dates based on credit validity, go to “Payment Setup” and enable “Limit dates where users can book to the period where their credit is valid” (only available after adding a product in “Shop Management”).
Note: This setting prevents credit refund on cancellations after the credit expired.
Unlimited credit
This is mainly used for registered (super)users with a special status, who do not need to pay. Additional booking constraints may still apply, but due to the unlimited number of credits these clients will not be required to purchase (or repurchase) any credits in the shop.
It is also possible to offer unlimited credit with an expiry date, convenient for subscription packages that let clients book an unlimited number of times within a certain time frame. In that case it’s important to specify credit validity: you will need to enable the feature where appointments can only be booked in the period that the credit is valid that we mentioned above.
Assign credit packages to specific user groups only
Typically, any credit package that you add to your shop is visible for all clients. To restrict which clients can see certain packages,you need to assign these clients to a user group. You can then add the group to a specific credit package on the “New product” or “Edit product” popup.
Please note there is still only a single type of credit, but this can be used to specify that certain groups can/should buy certain packages.
This feature can also be used to give a group called “New user” a cheaper package to entice a first purchase, or set a “Hidden” group without any users that only you (as the administrator) can use to pre-select manual purchases on the Shop Supervise screen. This is especially useful to quickly book credit “on behalf” of your client.
Our credit system optimizes how your clients book
Our integrated credit system is very likely to improve your schedule’s booking process. By offering credit packages tailored to your clients’ booking habits, offering the right types of packages to the right type of client, and limiting booking dates to the period when users’ credits are valid, you can streamline operations, optimize resource utilization, and enhance customer satisfaction.
Please note: Regulations around credit differ from one country to the next, but if you ensure credit is valid for no more than a year there are typically no tax implications. You can set limits further into the future in SuperSaaS, but you may want to check with your accountant if there are implications for your bookkeeping.
If you have any specific questions about configuring the credit system in your SuperSaaS account, feel free to get in touch.