Drop-off setups by business type

Pick the setup that matches how your customers actually arrive, then copy the recommended settings. Each one is a starting point you can tune — the reasoning matters more than the exact value, so read why before you change it.

Every setting below lives in Booking Windows & Limits on your booking settings page. Your Service Model must be Drop Off for the Earliest drop-off row to appear.

Open in app: Booking Settings

Set up a solo dog-grooming business

Recommended: Earliest drop-off → Any time after we open.

This is the most common grooming setup, and it fits the way most grooming days really work: everyone wants to drop off on their way to work in the morning, and you groom through the day in whatever order is most efficient.

1. Open Booking Settings, then the Booking Windows & Limits panel.
2. Set Earliest drop-off to Any time after we open.
3. Keep Buffer time between appointments low (or none) so dogs pack tightly through the day.
4. Save.

Customers see one honest Est. ready by time per drop-off slot, so a 9am dropper who's third in line sees a later ready time than one who's first — no phone calls needed. Because the window is wide, expect early droppers to wait for their turn; that's the point, not a problem. See Drop-off scheduling.

Set up an appointment or vet-style business

Recommended: Earliest drop-off → Just before service.

When each pet should be seen close to a specific time — a vet consult, a treatment slot, a service where waiting isn't appropriate — you want drop-off to land right around the start, not hours early.

1. Set Earliest drop-off to Just before service.
2. Set a Buffer if you need cleanup or turnover time between cases.
3. Save.

Customers are offered drop-off times clustered around when their service will actually run, so there's little or no holding. This keeps your lobby clear and behaves closest to a traditional appointment.

Set up a daycare business

Recommended: Earliest drop-off → Any time after we open.

Daycare is drop-off by nature — pets arrive across the morning and stay. The widest window matches that: customers drop off whenever suits them once you're open.

1. Set Earliest drop-off to Any time after we open.
2. Save.

There's no "waiting for a turn" pressure here the way there is with grooming, so the wide window is almost always right.

Set up a multi-staff salon

Recommended: Earliest drop-off → Any time after we open (or a wide window), plus a deliberate buffer.

With several staff, more services run in parallel, so a wide drop-off window rarely creates long waits — there's usually a free groomer sooner. The lever that matters most for you is the buffer.

1. Set Earliest drop-off to Any time after we open (or 4 hours before if you want to keep drop-off closer to the service).
2. Set Buffer time between appointments to the cleanup or reset gap each station needs — this applies after every service, on every staff member.
3. Save.

Because services place in parallel across staff and Seglo packs each staff member fill-first, ready times stay tight even with a wide window. Use the buffer to protect turnover time rather than trying to control timing through the drop-off window. See Drop-off timing controls.

Tips

• Match the window to how customers arrive, not to how busy you are. Grooming and daycare want wide; vet-style wants tight.
• The buffer is your main lever in a multi-staff salon — it guards turnover without narrowing the drop-off window.
• Every change applies to new bookings only and never touches your own scheduling view.

Related

• Earliest drop-off — the setting behind every setup here.
• Drop-off scheduling — the model and the ready-time estimate.
• Drop-off timing controls — how drop-off, interval, and buffer combine.
• Appointment settings — the full booking-settings reference.