Auto-promote when a spot opens early. First-to-claim broadcast when it opens late. Both modes, every plan. 70-80% conversion on broadcast, 90%+ on auto-promote. The same waitlist primitive Mariana Tek and Walla ship, at Junocal's entry-tier price.
A client cancels with plenty of notice (12+ hours UK, 24+ US). The next person on the waitlist auto-promotes with an email confirmation: 'You're in for the 6pm class.' Low-friction conversion, 90%+ acceptance rate.
A client cancels late (inside the cancellation window — 12 hours UK, 24 hours US). Every waitlist member gets an SMS or push notification with a one-tap claim link. First to claim wins; the link expires for everyone else. Two-hour response window. 70-80% conversion.
For a studio with consistent peak-hour waitlist demand, two-mode waitlists typically produce:
70-80% conversion on broadcast-claim openings — 3 of every 4 late cancellations get filled from the waitlist
90%+ conversion on auto-promote openings — most cancellations outside the window fill from the next person
3-7 percentage point increase in overall capacity utilisation on waitlist-active classes
4-10 additional weekly attendances filled from waitlist (for a studio with 50 classes/week)
Roughly £300-£800/month additional revenue from waitlist conversion at typical UK pricing
See how to fill empty class spots in your pilates studio for the operational detail.
The cancellation window defines when waitlist behaviour switches modes. Per-service means a tight window for reformer classes and a loose one for mat flow.
SMS makes broadcast-claim work — email open rates inside a 12-hour window are too low. Junocal's SMS package starts at £15/$20 for 500 messages.
Waitlist conversion respects floor-plan capacity. Auto-promote puts the new client in the open spot; broadcast-claim gives it to the first claimer. No double-booking.
Auto-promote runs outside the cancellation window: when a spot opens, the next person on the waitlist gets it automatically with an email confirmation. Broadcast-claim runs inside the cancellation window: every waitlist member gets an SMS or push notification with a one-tap claim link — first to claim wins. Outside the window the cancellation is low-friction, so auto-promote works. Inside the window members may already have other plans, so broadcast lets them self-select.
A one-mode waitlist either over-promotes or under-promotes. Auto-promote everyone (including inside the window) and members get assigned a class at 6am the next morning after they've moved on. Broadcast everyone and members get notifications at all hours for classes they wouldn't have been promoted into. Two-mode matches operational reality: outside the window, members want the class; inside, they're a coin flip and self-selection is cleaner.
Junocal, Mariana Tek, and Walla ship two-mode waitlists as a core scheduling primitive. Mindbody supports waitlists but the auto-promote-vs-broadcast switching is less granular. Momence has waitlist support but the broadcast pattern is less native. For studios with consistent waitlist demand, two-mode delivers a meaningfully higher capacity fill rate than single-mode.
Well-implemented two-mode waitlists convert 70-80% of broadcast-claim openings and over 90% of auto-promote openings. Studios running the pattern well see capacity utilisation increase 3-7 percentage points on classes with consistent waitlist demand. For a studio with 50 classes/week, that's an additional 4-10 attendances filled from waitlist that would otherwise stay empty.
Yes. Broadcast-claim defaults to SMS — email open rates inside a 12-hour window are too low to drive conversion. Clients consent to SMS at signup or via a one-time consent flow. Without SMS consent, the broadcast falls back to push notification (if the client has installed the booking view to their home screen) or email. Conversion is meaningfully lower without SMS.
Yes. Clients can join a waitlist with a notification preference: 'auto-promote me' (default), 'broadcast only' (notify but don't auto-assign), or 'mute' (waitlist position only). Settings sit in the client's profile. An auto-promote-always option overrides default behaviour for members who want it regardless of timing.
First successful API call wins. The spot reserves the moment the first claim hits the server; subsequent claims see an apology-and-refund flow with a one-tap link to the next available class. Simultaneous claims are rare because broadcasts go out in micro-batches (first batch reaches a few members within 30 seconds; next batch follows 2-3 minutes later). Most claims happen within the first batch.