---
title: "Consultations"
canonical: "https://red-ant-documentation.refined.site/space/RET/34668545/Consultations"
format: markdown
---
> Macro (toc)

## Overview

The consultations tool allows retailers to create appointments and host consultations in-store and virtually to enhance the customer’s overall shopping experience.

The consultation has a variety of key features which can be used independently or collectively:

- Appointment booking
- Appointment booking system integration (i.e. Appointedd)
- Store consultation
- Virtual consultation
- Checkout (remote or in-store)

## Consultations dashboard

The consultations dashboard allows users to:

- View all of today’s and upcoming appointments
- Filter the list of appointments by calendar (user), consultation type (virtual or in-store) and date
- View a snapshot of any booking info that was provided by the customer at the time of booking (requires integration with a booking system)
- View a snapshot of any appointment notes which are carried through into the consultation
- Add products to the consultation ahead of the scheduled booking time - these will then be displayed upon starting the consultation
- Create appointments and start an ad-hoc in-store consultation

![image](media://c4c0578d-f3fe-490e-a86f-d58bc33b6952)

### Consultation types

There are two types of consultation that can take place in RetailOS:

1. [In-Store consultation](https://redantdigital.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/RET/pages/243564556) (with or without booking), indicated by the person icon
2. [Virtual consultation](#) (with booking), indicated by the computer icon

## Creating new appointments

### With a booking system integration

If an integration with a booking system is present, such as with [Appointedd](https://redantdigital.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/RET/pages/24543234/Appointedd+Consultations), these appointments will be automatically synced with the booking system and appear on the consultations dashboard, or they can be booked using the booking system iFrame.

> ℹ️ Note that an integration with Appointedd is required to support virtual consultations using Zoom.

### Without a booking system integration (RetailOS)

If using RetailOS to schedule appointments (in-store only), this can be done via the following steps:

1. Select the ‘create appointment’ CTA at the bottom of the screen
2. Select the calendar you’d like to book the consultation against
  Enter the required details within the modal, ensuring that the date and time is either set to now (select ‘today’ within the calendar dropdown) or in the future, then select ‘save appointment’
4. The appointment will then appear in the list within the consultations dashboard, against the selected calendar
5. If needed selecting the appointment again will open the appointment details, where any changes can be made as well such as editing the users or cancelling the appointment
6. Additional any appointment notes added here will be carried through into the consultation and will be made visible on the consultations dashboard

### **Starting an ad-hoc consultation**

In the event a customer enters in-store without a consultation booking, it is possible to start an in-store consultation by simply selecting the ‘start consultation’ CTA.

## Preparing for the appointment

There are a few ways users can prepare for consultations in advance to help them better service the client during the appointment itself.

Users can select the appointment row from the consultations dashboard to display the details modal, from here users can:

![image](media://89500f53-7486-42c9-876f-e3b01dbcf330)

- View the profile of the customer or send them a message
- View details of the appointment
- View any booking info provided by the customer at the time of booking (read-only)
- Change the user the appointment is booked against (relevant for non-booking system, RetailOS in-store appointments only)
- Add, edit and view any appointment notes that may be relevant for this particular booking - this is then carried through into the consultation
- Add products to the consultation before it has started, to allow users to better prepare for the consultation by reviewing the customer’s information and selecting certain products for discussion in advance
- Cancel the appointment

### Adding products in advance

This can be done via the following steps:

1. From the appointment details, select the ‘add products’ CTA
2. This will take the user to the PLP to select the products they would like to discuss with the customer during the consultation
3. After selecting ‘done’ the products will be added to the consultation, as indicated by the number against the ‘add products’ CTA - the products are also now displayed within the appointment details modal (towards the bottom)
4. If needed further products can be added or products can be removed prior to the consultation starting

Below is a screen recording showing the process.

![image](media://4c32d56e-fe51-4168-bfb4-4d5dccf1e0c2)

---

## Functionality & configuration options

The consultations tool is configurable and clients can decide which functionality to take and how to apply it - below is a detailed list of all of the functions available and how these can be configured. 

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Functionality** | **Configurable** | **Details** |
| **Appointments Dashboard** |
| Booking calendars | Y | Determine how many ‘bookable’ calendars are available and if these are assigned to users, stores or both |
| User permissions | Y | Define which roles can view appointments and calendars |
| Create appointment | Y | Enable or disable functionality, specify mandatory fields |
| View appointment | Y | Hide fields you don’t want to show |
| Edit appointment | Y | Enable or disable functionality, specify which fields are editable |
| Filter appointments | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Assign appointment | Y | Define which roles/users can be assigned appointments |
| View customer booking info | Y | Hide booking information captured from the customer when booking via the appointment booking system |
| Add & view appointment notes | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Add products ahead of consultation start | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Specify appointment duration | Y | Configure appointment lengths |
| **Appointment Booking System Integration** |
| Integrate with appointment booking system | Y | OOTB integration available – recommend Appointedd but can integrate with any appointment booking system |
| **Store Consultation** |
| Add products | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Add inspirations | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Add service products | Y | Services can appear visually different in UI or as standard products |
| Add to bag | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Add to wishlist | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| View and update customer details | Y | Specify which customer fields you would like to show within the consultation |
| Review screen | Y | Switch off or on, depending on requirements |
| Start consultation without booking | Y | Enable or disable functionality, allow users to register a customer at this stage or choose a pre-registered customer only |
| **Virtual Consultation – User View** |
| Add products | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Add inspirations | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Add service products | Y | Services can appear visually different in UI or as standard products |
| Add to bag | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Add to wishlist | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| View and update customer details | Y | Specify which customer fields you would like to show within the consultation |
| Review screen | Y | Switch off or on, depending on requirements |
| Highlight products/inspirations to customer | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Video/audio connection with customer | N | Required functionality |
| **Virtual Consultation – Customer View** |
| View highlighted products/inspirations | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| View product information | Y | Specify what product information should show |
| CTA to view product information on retailer site | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Add to bag | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Add to wishlist | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Video/audio connection with user | N | Required functionality |
| End consultation | N | Required functionality – security requirement |
| **Checkout – User View** |
| Complete consultation without purchase | Y | Enable or disable functionality, enable or disable coupon code entry, update email template |
| Complete consultation with purchase | Y | Enable or disable functionality |
| Checkout flow | Y | Confirm what details are required at checkout, update flow |
| Payment options | Y | Enable or disable the following options:<br>- Mobile POS via PayPal Here (or alternative payment integration if required)
- Payment integration via Stripe, Klarna, Adyen (or similar)
- Submit without payment |
| Mobile POS | Y | Update payment provider integration, update e-receipt |
| Pay by link | Y | Update payment provider integration, update e-receipt |
| Summary screen | Y | Confirm what information is shown on this screen (ie purchase details) |
| **Pay by Link – Customer View** |
| Payment portal | Y | Update payment provider integration |
| Payment screen | N | Required functionality |