FAQ
Common questions about Hollow Reserve — Experience Blueprints, plans, ecosystem pairing, and how Reserve differs from calendar apps.
Hollow Reserve helps appointment-led Shopify brands sell complete client journeys — not just calendar slots. This page answers the questions merchants ask most often.
What is Hollow Reserve?
Reserve is an embedded Shopify app for Experience Blueprints — multi-stage journeys covering intake, appointment, commerce, follow-up, review, and waitlist. You publish blueprints, place the theme booking widget, and track clients in a ledger tied to each experience instance.
How is Reserve different from a booking calendar?
Calendar apps optimize for open slots. Reserve optimizes for named experiences with stage-aware communication, Shopify checkout for deposits, and a client ledger that follows the journey. See the full comparison guide for calendar-only apps and scheduling plugins.
Hollow Reserve vs alternatives
Do I need Arcanum Engine or Hollow Sentinel?
No. Reserve is fully useful standalone for booking, calendar, and client ledger. Engine adds playbook automation; Sentinel adds store intelligence and daily briefings. Command Center shows ecosystem cards when sibling apps are missing or installed.
Which plan do I need?
Starter ($29/month) suits brands launching one signature experience — one blueprint, three staff, booking widget, and email confirmations. Professional ($59/month) adds intake, deposits, SMS, waitlist, and experience analytics for growing salons and studios. Studio ($99/month) adds unlimited blueprints and staff, memberships, packages, rebooking automation, Customer Accounts, POS check-in, and Shopify Flow.
Can Reserve send Klaviyo flows to clients?
Yes on Professional and Studio. Connect Klaviyo in Settings, enable journey sync, and build flows in Klaviyo triggered by Hollow Reserve metrics (for example Appointment Booked or Journey Completed). Reserve also sends plain Resend confirmations on Starter+ when email is connected. Reserve does not email clients from Klaviyo automatically — you create the flows.
Can Reserve send SMS reminders?
Yes on Professional and Studio. Connect your Twilio account in Settings → SMS reminders. Reserve sends transactional appointment reminders — not marketing blasts — when clients provide a phone number and opt in at booking.
Can clients reschedule or cancel online?
Yes on Professional and Studio. Confirmation and reminder emails include a manage-booking link. Clients reschedule or cancel within the cancellation window you set in Settings. Outside the window, they are asked to contact your team.
What happens when Engine and Reserve are both installed?
Reserve handles appointment lifecycle — no-show, post-visit review stages, and Studio rebook automation. Engine defers overlapping lifecycle playbooks (No-Show Recovery, Review Accelerator, Rebook Nudge) so you do not get duplicate team alerts. Engine still runs store-wide commerce playbooks such as abandoned checkout winback and inventory alerts.
Is there a free trial?
Starter includes a 7-day trial when you subscribe through the Shopify App Store. Professional and Studio bill at their listed monthly rates — confirm trial eligibility in Shopify billing at install time.
What data does Reserve use?
Reserve uses Shopify Admin API data, app proxy requests from your theme widget, and webhooks for orders and customers when deposits or packages involve checkout. Client and appointment data lives in the shared Arcanum database scoped to your shop.
What next?
- New install — follow the quick start checklist
- Widget empty on storefront — booking widget and troubleshooting guides
- Deposits or analytics locked — confirm Professional or Studio plan
- Bundles with Engine and Sentinel — ecosystem bundles
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