Setting Up SMS and Email Reminders
Setting Up SMS and Email Reminders
Category: Shops Reading time: 5 min
Appointment reminders are the single most effective way to reduce no-shows. Groomera sends both SMS and email reminders automatically — no manual work required once you've set them up. This guide covers how each reminder type works, how to enable them, and what your clients actually receive.
How Reminders Work in Groomera
Groomera uses a background job (a scheduled process that runs automatically) to send reminders at set intervals before each confirmed appointment.
The trigger: Reminders only fire for bookings with CONFIRMED status. A booking that stays in PENDING will not receive reminders. This is why confirming bookings promptly matters.
The timing:
Reminder Type | When It Sends |
Email — Appointment Reminder | 2 days before the appointment |
Email — Day-Before Reminder | 1 day before the appointment |
SMS — Day-Prior | The day before the appointment |
SMS — Day-Of | The morning of the appointment |
Clients receive both email and SMS if both channels are enabled. If only email is active, they receive two emails. If only SMS is active, they receive two texts.
Email Reminders
What's Included
Email reminders are included for all specialists at no extra cost on every Groomera plan.
They activate automatically for every CONFIRMED booking — no setup required beyond confirming appointments promptly.
What the Client Receives
The reminder email includes:
- Client's name and pet's name (if provided during booking)
- Service name
- Specialist name
- Appointment date and time
- Your shop's address
- A reminder of your cancellation policy (pulled from your business profile)
- Your shop's contact information
The emails are sent from Groomera via Resend and appear with your business name in the sender field.
Customizing Your Reminder Emails
Currently, the body content of reminder emails is standardized. Your business name, address, cancellation policy text, and Google Review link are pulled from your business profile — so keeping your profile accurate ensures your emails stay accurate.
💡 Tip: Make sure your cancellation policy is filled in on your business profile. It appears in reminder emails and sets client expectations before they show up — or don't.
SMS Reminders
What's Included
SMS reminders are a paid add-on at $5.99 per specialist per month, billed through Stripe.
This is a per-specialist charge — you only pay for the specialists where you want SMS active. If you have three specialists but only want SMS for two of them, you pay for two.
SMS is powered by Bandwidth and sent from a Groomera-managed number.
How to Enable SMS for a Specialist
- Go to Specialists in your sidebar
- Click the specialist's name
- Find the SMS Reminders toggle in their profile
- Toggle it On
- You'll be redirected to a Stripe checkout to authorize the $5.99/month charge
- Once payment confirms, SMS reminders are active for all that specialist's future confirmed bookings
How to Disable SMS for a Specialist
- Go to Specialists → [Specialist Name]
- Toggle SMS Reminders off
- The add-on charge will stop at the next billing cycle
⚠️ Disabling SMS mid-month: If you disable SMS partway through a billing period, you won't receive a prorated refund for the remainder of that month. The charge stops from the next cycle forward.
What the Client Receives
Day-Prior SMS:
"Hi Client Name! Reminder: Pet Name's appointment is tomorrow at Time with Specialist Name at Shop Name. Reply STOP to opt out."
Day-Of SMS:
"Hey Client Name — Pet Name's appointment is today at Time. We're looking forward to seeing them! — Shop Name"
Messages include the client's name, pet name, appointment time, and specialist — making them feel personal, not automated.
Client Opt-Out
SMS messages include a standard STOP opt-out. If a client replies STOP, they're removed from SMS reminders immediately and won't receive further texts. This is a legal requirement and handled automatically by Groomera.
Clients who opt out of SMS will still receive email reminders as long as they have an email on file.
Checking Reminder Status on a Booking
You can verify whether reminders have been sent for any specific booking:
- Open the booking from your calendar or list view
- Look for the Reminder Status section in the booking detail panel
- You'll see which reminders have been sent, which are scheduled, and which were skipped
If a reminder shows as "skipped," it's usually because the booking was still in PENDING status when the reminder window passed.
What Happens When a Booking Is Modified
Change Made | Effect on Reminders |
Date/time changes on a CONFIRMED booking | Reminder schedule updates to the new date |
Booking moved from PENDING to CONFIRMED | Reminder schedule starts from that point |
Booking cancelled | All scheduled reminders are cancelled |
Booking marked COMPLETED early | No further reminders sent |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: A client says they didn't receive a reminder. What should I check?
First, confirm the booking is in CONFIRMED status — reminders only go to confirmed bookings. For email, ask the client to check their spam folder (Groomera sends via Resend and is generally well-deliverable, but spam filters vary). For SMS, check that their phone number is entered correctly in the booking and that the specialist has SMS enabled.
Q: Can I send a reminder manually if one was missed?
Currently, reminders are automated and can't be sent manually through the platform. If a reminder was missed, the fastest option is a direct message or call to the client yourself.
Q: Can I change the timing of when reminders go out?
Reminder timing is fixed at the platform level (2 days and 1 day for email; day-prior and day-of for SMS). Custom timing windows are not available in the current version.
Q: Do reminders go out for manually-added bookings too?
Yes. Any booking with CONFIRMED status — whether booked online or added manually by you — will receive reminders if the client has a valid email and/or SMS is enabled for their specialist.
Q: My client received a reminder for a cancelled appointment. Is that possible?
If the booking was cancelled after a reminder had already been queued, the reminder may still go out. To prevent this: cancel bookings as early as possible and, if a reminder might go out before you can cancel, notify the client directly.
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