How online booking is spreading in countries where salons still take bookings by phone — and what it gives owners and clients
In London or Dublin an online booking link is so normal that a salon without one looks closed. Across much of Central and Eastern Europe it is the other way round: most hairdressers, nail techs and beauty therapists in Hungary, Romania and Poland still run their week from the phone, Messenger and a paper diary. That is changing quickly, and the way it is changing says something useful to any owner, anywhere, who still answers the phone mid-appointment.
Lots of salons, almost all of them one person
Eurostat counted 103,068 hairdressing and beauty businesses in Poland in 2024, 48,141 in Hungary and 41,073 in Romania. Poland's number grew by about 21% between 2021 and 2024, Romania's by about 24%. In all three the average business is one person: in Hungary only 9.79% of the people working in the sector are employees, so nine in ten run their own business. Germany is the opposite, with 71.72% employees and three people per business on average.
That shape matters more than any app. A one-person salon has no front desk, so every call during a colour or a full set is a choice between keeping the client in the chair waiting and losing the caller. Booksy's own Polish data says 64% of bookings arrive exactly while the professional is busy with a client.
The clients are already on their phones
In 2025, 88.71% of Hungarians, 92.07% of Romanians and 87.3% of Poles used the internet on a mobile phone, against an EU average of 89.85%. Online shopping is everyday too, and Romania shows the steepest climb: 38.5% of Romanians bought something online in 2021, 60.3% in 2025. Hungary dipped in 2025 (67.68%, from 74.18% the year before), so we do not describe it as growing on that measure.
What we could not find is a survey of how Hungarian or Romanian clients actually book. The closest figure comes from Poland, and it is a useful reality check: in Booksy's own 2025 survey, 64% of Poles still booked mostly by phone or text, almost half already used an app, and nearly three quarters of 18 to 29-year-olds wanted to book and pay on their phone. The switch is happening generation by generation, not overnight.
The platforms are growing fast
- Poland: Booksy's 2026 trends report analysed 64 million visits booked in 2025. Fresha opened a Warsaw office in July 2026 and said its active Polish partner businesses had grown 296% in a year.
- Romania: according to Forbes Romania, 24% of all Salons by Notino bookings in 2025 came from Romania, where it has more than 2,000 partner salons.
- Hungary: Salons by Notino runs there too; Revista Biz reported a record October 2025 of 130,000 bookings across its five countries, Hungary included. Salonic says more than 7,000 Hungarian beauty professionals use it.
These are the companies' own figures, not independent measurements. But they point the same way: in a region where the diary was paper five years ago, owners and clients are meeting online.
What clients get
- They book when they think of it. Booksy's 2026 report says nearly one Polish visit in five was booked while the salon was already closed; Treatwell says 47% of bookings on its platform happen outside opening hours.
- They see real free slots instead of waiting for a call back or a long message thread.
- They get a reminder, and can cancel or move with one tap when something comes up.
What salons get
Fewer calls and messages mid-appointment is the first thing almost everyone notices. The second is fewer no-shows. We found no peer-reviewed study of salons, but the evidence from healthcare is strong: a 2013 Cochrane review found attendance rose from 67.8% with no reminder to 78.6% with a text reminder, and that texts worked as well as phone calls at a fraction of the cost. A 2016 BMJ Open meta-analysis of 21 trials found people who received notifications were 25% less likely to miss an appointment (15% against 21%), and that several reminders beat one.
Deposits need a more careful claim: research on fines in healthcare is mixed. For a long, expensive treatment, though, a deposit at least makes sure the salon is not the one paying for the empty chair. The third gain is being found: an online booking page can appear in Google, and someone who searches for you can book in one tap instead of having to call.
What holds owners back, and what helps
- „My clients are older, they phone.” They can keep phoning. Online booking does not replace the phone: you type the call into the same diary, and younger clients book themselves.
- „It costs money and the marketplace takes a cut.” Some do: Fresha charges 20% on a new marketplace client's first booking in the UK, Treatwell 35% + VAT. Read the pricing page before you choose.
- „I have no time to set it up.” A service list, your working hours and a link in your Instagram bio fit into one quiet afternoon.
- „I will lose my regulars.” Run the old and new diary side by side for a few weeks, and import your client list from a file.
Where Slotora comes in
We build Slotora so that a salon with no front desk can run on it. It costs £0 a month and takes 0% commission, including on a client who finds you through the Slotora directory. The booking page works in English and five more languages, email reminders are unlimited and free, and texts come from prepaid credit if you want them. Clients cancel with one tap, the waitlist hears about the freed slot straight away, and deposits go through your own Stripe account. Bookings that arrive by phone or message go into the same diary, and your old client list comes in from a file. If you are thinking about taking bookings online, Slotora is the lowest-risk way to start: no monthly fee, no commission, and the clients who still phone go into the same diary as everyone else. Automatic reminders · Salon booking systems compared, country by country
