Easy Appointment Booking gives you two ways to handle multiple guests: group bookings, where several customers can book the same timeslot independently, and private bookings, where one party occupies a slot regardless of how many people are in their group. This guide explains how each works and how to configure them.
Private bookings vs. group bookings
Private booking | Group booking | |
Who can book a slot | One customer (one party) | Multiple customers at once |
Best for | 1:1 appointments, restaurant tables, photography sessions | Classes, tours, workshops, museum visits |
Capacity | Slot closes after one booking | Slot stays open until the attendee max is reached |
Guest count | Controlled via product variants | Controlled by the in-app guest counter |
Enabling group bookings
Group bookings are enabled automatically when you set the max attendees per timeslot to more than 1.
Go to Dashboard > Show all events and click Edit on your event.
On the event settings page, find the Max attendees per timeslot field.
Set it to the maximum number of people you want to allow in a single slot.
Click Save.
Once the max is greater than 1, a guest counter appears in the booking flow. Customers can increase the number of guests, and the price adjusts automatically (for example, at $10 per person, a party of 4 pays $40). No product variant setup is required.
💡 Tip: The attendee maximum syncs directly with the product quantity in Shopify — you don't need to manage inventory separately.
How capacity affects timeslot availability
Each time a customer books, the number of attendees they select is subtracted from the remaining capacity for that slot. When the cumulative attendees reach the maximum, that timeslot is no longer shown to new customers.
Example: Your pottery class has a max of 8 attendees. Three customers have already booked (1 + 2 + 3 = 6 attendees). The slot still appears for groups of 1 or 2, but a group of 3 or more won't see it as available.
Setting a minimum number of attendees
You can require a minimum group size before a booking is accepted — useful for events that don't make sense with fewer than a certain number of people.
Go to Dashboard > Show all events and click Edit on the event.
Click the Advanced tab.
Scroll to the Booking Management section.
Set Minimum number of attendees per time slot per booking.
Click Update Advanced Settings.
Setting a maximum number of bookings per day
In addition to per-slot capacity, you can cap the total bookings accepted in a single day.
Go to Dashboard > Show all events and click Edit on the event.
Click the Advanced tab.
Check the Maximum bookings per day box and enter your limit.
Click Update Advanced Settings.
Private bookings with a guest count
For private bookings (one party per slot), use product variants to let customers indicate how many people are in their group and price accordingly.
To set up pricing by group size:
In Shopify Admin, go to Products and open the product linked to your event.
Add a new Option (for example, "Guests") with values like 1, 2, 3, 4.
Set a different price for each variant.
Save the product.
Customers will see the variant selector on the booking page and can choose their group size. One booking is registered in the app, but the order reflects the correct price for the selected variant.
💡 Tip: If you want to collect guest information without charging extra per person, use Intake Questions instead of variants. Add a question like "How many guests are you bringing?" — the answer is recorded on the booking and you're only charged for one attendee.
Charging per person vs. a flat rate
Scenario | Setup |
Charge per person, multiple independent bookings | Set max attendees > 1; the guest counter multiplies price automatically |
Charge per person, one party per slot | Use product variants with per-person pricing |
Flat rate regardless of group size, one party per slot | Set max attendees to 1; use Intake Questions to capture guest count |
Flat rate regardless of group size, multiple bookings per slot | Set max attendees > 1; set price once on the product |