Glossary /
Deposit on booking
Written by Peko Research Team.Last updated: 05/18/2026.
Small non-refundable charge taken at booking time, applied as credit toward the service. Reduces no-shows by 50–70% on high-demand slots without hurting conversion when capped at 10–20% of ticket.
Published: 05/18/2026
Updated May 2026 — Small non-refundable charge taken at booking time, applied as credit toward the service. Reduces no-shows by 50–70% on high-demand slots without hurting conversion when capped at 10–20% of ticket. Small non-refundable charge taken at booking time, applied as credit toward the service.
Quick facts
- Definition
- Small non-refundable charge taken at booking time, applied as credit toward the service. Reduces no-shows by 50–70% on high-demand slots without hurting conversion when capped at 10–20% of ticket.
- Why it matters
- Small non-refundable charge taken at booking time, applied as credit toward the service. Reduces no-shows by 50–70% on high-demand slots without hurting conversion when capped at 10–20% of ticket.
- Related terms
- No-show rate
Small non-refundable charge taken at booking time, applied as credit toward the service. Reduces no-shows by 50–70% on high-demand slots without hurting conversion when capped at 10–20% of ticket.
In the Vietnamese market, this concept interacts tightly with Zalo OA reach, VND cash/QR payment mix, and the district-cluster dynamics of competing venues. Applied properly it can move 5–15 points of 90-day cohort retention.
PEKO operationalises this concept as part of the loyalty layer that runs alongside the venue's existing booking system (Booksy, Fresha, Mindbody, KiotViet, or paper) rather than replacing it.
Numbers on this page: named sources are listed below; figures without a named source are PEKO merchant data, Vietnam, Jan 2024 – Jun 2026, or PEKO estimates where modelled. See the datasets behind these numbers.
FAQ
Which Vietnamese verticals does deposit on booking apply to?
Best fit for barbershops, nail bars, hair salons, spas and beauty salons — verticals where rebook discipline and the guest-stylist relationship drive most of the revenue.
How long does implementation take?
With PEKO, a small venue typically goes live in 3–5 days: contact import, Zalo OA connect, basic reminder cascade switched on, then tuning over the first 2–3 weeks.
Do I need to replace my current booking system?
No. PEKO is positioned as a loyalty layer on top of existing booking systems — Booksy, Fresha, Mindbody, KiotViet or paper diaries all stay; PEKO adds retention on top.
Related terms
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Barbershop rebook window
The interval (typically 3–6 weeks) inside which a barbershop guest is statistically likely to return for a maintenance cut. Guests crossing the window without a touch-point have ~3× higher churn risk than those nudged at week 4.
Term
Chair utilisation
Booked-hours ÷ available-chair-hours. The dominant ops metric in barbershops and nail bars. Below 60% signals a marketing problem; above 85% signals scheduling friction and lost upsell time.
Term
Reminder cascade
A sequenced set of pre-appointment messages (booking confirm → 24h reminder → 2h Zalo/SMS), each with a one-tap reschedule link. Cuts no-shows materially even before deposits are introduced.