CHALLENGE

Reducing missed salon appointments and increasing adoption of the Zapis.kz app

Zapis.kz is Kazakhstan’s leading online booking platform for beauty and healthcare services, partnering with more than 2,000 salons, clinics, and independent specialists across more than 29 cities.

The company serves both B2B and B2C customer segments through its booking platform. Salons, clinics, and independent specialists use it to manage appointments, strengthen client relationship management, and improve customer engagement and operational efficiency. On the B2C side, consumers use the Zapis mobile app to discover, compare, and conveniently book beauty and healthcare services online.

Although the company facilitated numerous monthly appointments, a growing portion occurred offline directly through salons rather than the Zapis mobile app. These offline customers existed in the partner system but had no digital relationship with Zapis.kz itself. The platform lacked a structured way to reach, re-engage, or convert them into app users, making customer retention the central challenge.

No-shows disrupting salon operations

The company also faced operational challenges related to appointment no-shows, as many customers booked services without prepayment and failed to attend appointments. This created scheduling inefficiencies for salons and clinics and affected their ability to predict daily workloads and revenue accurately.

While the company relied on SMS for basic communication, such as booking confirmations and notifications, it was unable to build personalized interactions with customers. Zapis.kz needed a digital communication channel that could help them automate customer journeys, personalize interactions, and transform offline engagement into seamless digital experiences.

A data-driven WhatsApp automation strategy to enhance CX and boost operational efficiency

With a long-standing partnership already in place, Zapis turned to Infobip to build a scalable WhatsApp Business communication layer. WhatsApp was a natural choice as it is one of the most popular communication apps in Kazakhstan with a large user base. The entire integration process was seamless, and within a short period of time, the onboarding process was completed.

Before automating its customer communication workflows, Zapis adopted a disciplined, test-first approach. The team manually segmented users using its customer data platform and conducted more than 200 WhatsApp A/B tests across multiple use cases, including booking reminders, review requests, re-engagement campaigns, and promotional offers, to understand how different customer segments responded to each message type. After identifying the highest-performing communication flows, Zapis.kz automated the most effective templates with the support of the Infobip team.

The company implemented an automated WhatsApp notification system called Remind365, which enabled their merchants to send automated WhatsApp messages, including reminders, follow-up messages, and other customer notifications. Remind365 is integrated with the Zapis CRM platform and is used by more than 2,000 businesses across Kazakhstan.

Here are some of the key business use cases:

Automated appointment confirmations to reduce no-shows

Appointment no-shows were a recurring challenge for salon partners, especially for bookings made without prepayment. Customers would often fail to attend appointments without cancelling in advance, creating scheduling gaps and revenue uncertainty for salons.

To address this, Zapis implemented an automated WhatsApp appointment confirmation workflow. Twenty-four hours before each appointment, customers received a personalized WhatsApp reminder asking them to confirm their attendance. Unconfirmed bookings could then be released or rescheduled, helping salon partners better manage appointment slots and daily workloads.

Automated review collection to build partner credibility

Authentic customer reviews are a core part of the Zapis value proposition, with all reviews on the platform verified and regularly audited. To help new businesses gain authentic reviews, the company implemented automated post-appointment review requests through WhatsApp.

After each completed booking, customers automatically received a WhatsApp message inviting them to leave a review on the platform. The workflow not only increased review collection rates but also helped new service providers generate authentic feedback from verified customers, strengthening their credibility and improving customer trust, visibility, and booking potential.

Re-engagement messaging to convert offline customers to app users

For customers who continued booking offline, automated WhatsApp messages were triggered after their second and third bookings: “Hey! Zapis misses you! You can easily book your appointment using the app.” These messages encouraged customers to experience the convenience of mobile booking, with direct deep links to the App Store and Google Play embedded in the message.

WhatsApp OTP for seamless registration

Zapis introduced WhatsApp authentication for new user registration instead of relying solely on traditional SMS-based OTP codes. In a WhatsApp-dominant market, this improved deliverability and simplified the sign-up experience for customers. As the company now expands into Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, where SMS infrastructure varies, WhatsApp-based authentication ensures seamless registration.

Tipping feature awareness to motivate specialists

Team Zapis noticed that its in-app tipping feature was underused, largely because many customers were unaware it existed. To increase awareness, the company introduced automated post-appointment WhatsApp messages encouraging satisfied customers to thank their specialist by leaving a tip directly through the mobile app.

The campaign not only drove feature adoption but also increased tipping rates by 2%, creating an additional income stream for specialists and helping boost staff motivation.

17% increase in B2B partner growth on the Zapis.kz platform

Using WhatsApp automation in their communication strategy allowed Zapis.kz to increase their mobile app adoption, enhance customer experience, and drive higher engagement. Each automated use case delivered measurable results:

• Fewer no-shows: 7% increase in appointment confirmations, significantly reducing no-shows and helping salons schedule their time more predictably and forecast revenue accurately.
• B2B partner growth: 17% increase in B2B partners as improved end-user satisfaction drove word-of-mouth referrals and platform credibility, attracting new salon and clinic partners.
• Stronger trust signals: 4% increase in automated review collection, improving trust and visibility for newly onboarded partners and encouraging more first-time bookings from new customers.

Looking ahead, Zapis.KZ shared that this year they are shifting their focus from running lots of customer communication experiments toward growing the B2B side of the business, while continuing to use the WhatsApp and SMS automations that worked well for them last year. Ainash mentioned that they are not planning to launch many new initiatives at the moment, but rather focusing on building further on the solutions that have already shown good results. 

At the same time, the company is getting ready for international expansion, with Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan being their main target markets. In these markets, WhatsApp OTP will be especially important for customer verification and reaching users effectively. 

Overall, Zapis.KZ is positive about continuing the partnership with us and sees our solutions as a strong support as they grow into new markets.