Customers join your queue on WhatsApp: scan the sticker, tap Send. Every walk-in becomes a customer you can bring back.
For barbershops that don't take bookings and don't want to. No app, no form, no appointments, no commission. A flat monthly fee.
How it works on WhatsApp · decided 5 Nov 2026
The whole visit runs in a WhatsApp chat the customer starts himself. Example screens using Brad's Barbers, Shenfield. Names, chair and barber are examples.
Brad's Barbers · Shenfield window
The QR on the A5 sticker in the window: "Walk in? Join the queue". His phone camera offers to open WhatsApp.
This chat is with a business account: joiniq
He taps Send. That one message opens the 24-hour chat window, so every update below goes inside a chat he started.
Join the queue at Brad's Shenfield (BS1)14:02
You're in, Dan. You're 3rd in the queue.14:02
I'm running lateLeave queueWatch my placeA branded card back in seconds. His name and number come from his WhatsApp profile: no form. "Watch my place" opens the live queue page.
You're 2 away. Head back now.14:17
I'm running lateLeave queueAn extra heads-up for customers who went for a coffee. Off by default to keep it to 2 replies a visit.
You're up, Dan. Chair 2, with Jay.14:26
On my wayOn my way14:26
The one moment in red. He taps "On my way" so the barber knows he's coming.
Thanks, Dan. £26 Gentlemen's Haircut.
Leave a reviewWant Brad's offers on WhatsApp? Reminders when you're due, and a heads-up when there's no wait. Stop any time.
Yes pleaseNo thanksYes please14:52
This is the marketing opt-in. It names the shop, he chooses, and his answer is recorded.
Service replies in the 24-hour window. The first 1,000 a month on each WhatsApp number are free from Meta.
Marketing messages, only if he said yes. Paid per message.
At his usual gap · 4 weeks
Hi Dan, it's been 4 weeks. Walk in any time, or join the queue from here.
Join the queueStop offersQuiet hour at the shop
No wait right now at Brad's Shenfield. Walk straight in.
Join the queueStop offersHis birthday week
Happy birthday, Dan. The shop sets the offer here.
Join the queueStop offersOr a pop-up · LJ to look at
14:26
Thursday 5 November
| Browser pop-up from the live queue page | ||
|---|---|---|
| Works on | Every phone with WhatsApp | Android and desktop. iPhone only after adding the page to the home screen (iOS 16.4 or later) |
| Customer list | Name and number captured automatically | None, unless he types his number |
| Keeps working | Yes, it's a chat | Only while he keeps notifications allowed |
| Cost | Per message above the free allowance | Free |
Recommendation: WhatsApp runs the queue. The live queue page and its pop-ups are a free backup for anyone who won't use WhatsApp.
The problem
A man walks in, waits on the bench, pays and leaves. No name, no number, no history. The shop can't bring him back, can't fill a quiet Tuesday afternoon and can't run a loyalty scheme. When the bench is full, he walks past and the cut is lost.
Booking platforms fix the data problem by forcing appointments, and most charge commission on new clients. Walk-in shops don't want appointments.
For the shop
Who's next, which barber, mark done. Runs on the tablet or phone already on the counter.
Every walk-in becomes a profile: visits, last cut, usual barber, birthday.
Sent at each customer's own usual gap, not a blanket blast. Win-back when he's overdue.
"No wait right now, walk straight in" to a small rotating group of regulars when the bench is empty.
A digital stamp card that counts visits on its own. Nothing to lose or forget.
"Wait now: 10 min" for Instagram bio and Google. Auto "quiet now" story posts.
An offer in his birthday week, sent automatically.
Every message is tracked to the visit it caused, so the shop sees the money it brought back.
Queue apps stop when the customer leaves. Booking platforms bolt walk-ins on as an afterthought. Nobody runs the after-visit side (capture, bring back, fill quiet hours) for shops that stay walk-in.
Competitors · checked on each vendor's own site, 5 Nov 2026
| Product | Type | Walk-in queue | Brings customers back | UK price (ex VAT) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresha | Booking marketplace | Waitlist only | Paid texts 8p, WhatsApp 5–10p | £14.95/mo + 20% on new marketplace clients |
| Booksy | Booking platform | Waitlist only | Email + SMS marketing, 500 free SMS/mo | £40/mo + £5/extra barber; Boost 30% |
| Treatwell | Booking marketplace | Not shown | Not shown | £9.99–£59/mo + 35% on new clients |
| Squire (Brad's Chelmsford) | Barber booking | Waitlist (Pro) | SMS marketing on top tiers | £20–£90/shop/mo |
| QueueAway | Walk-in queue | Yes, QR + SMS | Not shown | £14.99/mo |
| CutQueue | Shop management | Kiosk check-in | Email recall, no SMS | £10–£49/mo |
| BarberQueue | Walk-in queue | Yes + SMS alerts | Not shown | $29–$149/mo (USD only) |
| Salown | Walk-ins + booking sync | Yes | Email/push only, loyalty listed | Free tier; paid not published |
| joiniq | Walk-in first | Yes | Due-a-cut, win-back, birthdays, quiet-hour fills, loyalty | Flat monthly, no commission |
Queue-only tools charge £10–15 a month, so joiniq's price has to be earned by the money it brings back. Market: ONS counts 50,400 UK businesses in hairdressing and beauty (March 2025). There is no official barber-only figure yet.
Pricing schedule · proposed, for LJ to agree
In the 24-hour window, after the first 1,000 free per WhatsApp number a month.
Per message.
Per message. $0.0685 with Twilio.
Added to every message, in or out.
Every number shows as "joiniq", and each one gets its own 1,000 free replies a month. Our own October: 986 free, then 594 billed.
1 message in, 2 replies (you're in, you're up). Up to 500 visits a month per shop, Meta is free: only Twilio's 3 × $0.005.
Twilio $0.015 + 2 × $0.022 Meta. A marketing message is $0.0685 all-in.
£29 /shop /month
Up to 500 visits of WhatsApp included
£59 /shop /month
300 marketing messages a month included
£49 /shop /month
Extra visits and marketing messages beyond the included amounts are billed at cost, no markup. A WhatsApp number per shop has its own small monthly cost (to confirm). At Brad's prices Grow covers itself with about 3 extra Gentlemen's Haircuts a month (3 × £26 = £78, more than £59).
Our message cost, worked out (USD)
Prices: Meta and Twilio UK, from the Twilio price list, Sept 2026. Meta changed some prices on 1 Oct 2026: to re-check before quoting shops.
Pilot · from bradsbarbers.co.uk, read 5 Nov 2026
101 Hutton Road, CM15 8JD
Mon–Fri 9:00–18:30 · Sat 8:00–17:00
42 Station Road, RM14 2TR
Mon–Fri 9:00–18:30 · Sat 8:00–17:00
4 Duke Street, CM1 1HL
Tue–Fri 9:00–18:30 · Sat 8:00–17:00
Two walk-in-only shops and one booking shop under one owner give a built-in comparison. Est. 2006, all three near stations: commuters can join from the train. No loyalty scheme today.
Share of walk-ins joining through joiniq · customers captured with consent · walk-outs avoided · cuts and £ brought back by messages · barber feedback on the counter screen.
Name and brand · decided 5 Nov 2026
We trade as joiniq, always lower case, one word. The domain joiniq.app was bought on 5 Nov 2026. Inside the name sits iQ, said "I queue": it works alone as the app icon, the window sticker and the frame around the QR code. "Join iQ" is the call to action.
Blue and red come from the barber's pole, used sparingly: blue for the brand and the customer's place, red only for the dot on the i and the "you" in the queue. Type: Archivo Expanded for numbers and headlines, Public Sans for everything a customer reads while waiting.
The most-seen surface. Readable from the pavement: one question, one action, the QR with the iQ mark in its centre, and the web address.
Lives in the bio link and on Google. Example figures.
You're 3rd. About 25 min.
You're 2 away at Brad's. Start heading back.
No wait right now at Brad's Shenfield. Walk straight in.
Short, plain, true. Real waits and real prices only. Example messages.
Trademark check to do. A UK app called iQueueBarbers (Ipswich, 2014) already exists, though its sites didn't load on 5 Nov. "IQUEUE" is a live US trademark in healthcare scheduling. Search the UK IPO register for joiniq and iQ before we print stickers.
Built in from day one
Queue updates go inside the WhatsApp chat the customer started. Offers and reminders go only to people who said yes after their cut, with an opt-out on every message (UK GDPR and PECR). Legal check before launch.
Each shop sees only its own customers. Exportable any time.
A monthly cap on marketing messages per customer, across all automations.
Real wait times and the shop's own prices in every message.
For LJ to decide