AI & Booking
Group-Class Scheduling for a Pilates Studio: Managing Shared Classes and Limited Places
A Pilates studio runs Barre and Reformer group classes, where many customers book places in the same class. This case study sets out what makes group-class scheduling complex, what Niro AI handles for the studio today, and what group-class booking still needs.
- 88
- Group classes on the weekly timetable
- 2
- Class types running in parallel (Barre and Reformer)
- 12h
- Cancellation cut-off for members
- Platform
- WhatsApp & Web
Tech stack
- Niro AI Knowledge Assistant
- WhatsApp Business
- Niro AI Website Widget
- Niro AI Human Assistance
Outcome
A Pilates studio offers two kinds of group class: Barre and Reformer. Classes run on a fixed weekly timetable, with levels from beginner to advanced. Customers pay through trial classes, class packs, weekly memberships or combined Barre and Reformer plans. In a Pilates class, many customers book places in the same session, so a booking system has to track how many places are left. When someone cancels, the freed place has to be handled too. Niro's Knowledge Assistant can answer the studio's customer questions about classes, levels, timetable, pricing, registration and cancellation policy on WhatsApp and the website. It can hand conversations to the studio team when needed. However, Niro's current booking engine allows only one booking per staff member at any given time. It does not yet support class capacity or multiple participants per class. This case study sets out that gap plainly.
The challenge
The studio's timetable runs Barre and Reformer classes side by side. On weekdays each class type runs eight hourly sessions: four between 7:00 and 11:00, one at 13:00 and three between 18:00 and 21:00. On Saturdays each type runs four sessions between 9:00 and 13:00. That adds up to 88 scheduled group classes a week across the two class types. Booking a group class involves several moving parts: - Many customers share one session. Each booking takes one place in a class, not a whole time slot. - Every class has a limited number of places. The system has to know how many are left before accepting a booking. The studio's documents stress that places matter most for Reformer: "A Reformer spot left empty is not simply 'a class the client did not take'; it is inventory you cannot recover." - Cancellations change availability. When a member cancels, their place can go to someone else. Members must cancel at least 12 hours in advance, and a later cancellation means the class is forfeited. - What a customer can book depends on their plan. Class packs have fixed validity periods and do not renew automatically, while memberships do. Registration (€39, free with a membership of three months or longer) adds benefits such as more flexible cancellation and the option to make up missed classes.
- A group class has to track many individual bookings against a limited number of places
- A cancelled place needs to become available again, and the 12-hour rule decides whether a cancellation is on time or forfeited
- Two class types run at the same times, each with its own timetable and levels
- Pricing spans trial classes, packs, weekly memberships, unlimited plans, private sessions and combined plans, which customers often ask about before booking
- The timetable includes some Saturday classes that have no written description, so questions about them cannot be answered from the documents
Goals
- Give customers instant, accurate answers about classes, levels, timetable, pricing and policies
- Set out clearly what group-class booking requires
- Check Niro's booking engine against the studio's needs: class capacity, one place per customer, cancellations and freed places
- Keep booking decisions with the studio team wherever Niro AI does not yet support the workflow
The solution
- 01
Class and Policy Knowledge Base
The studio's class descriptions, weekly timetable, pricing tables, registration terms and cancellation policy form a single source document. Niro's Knowledge Assistant answers customer questions from the tenant's own uploaded documents rather than from general knowledge. A customer can therefore ask which class suits a beginner, what time a class runs on a given day, what a pack costs and how long it is valid, or how late they can cancel. The answer comes from the studio's own material.
- Key decision
- Answer only from the studio's documents, so class details, prices and policies are not made up
- Result
- Common pre-booking questions can be answered on the spot, in chat.
- 02
WhatsApp and Website Channels
Niro AI runs the same knowledge base across WhatsApp and the website chat widget. Customers get the same answers whichever channel they use, and conversations are saved to Niro's built-in customer records.
- Key decision
- One knowledge base behind every channel
- Result
- Class and pricing information is consistent across channels.
- 03
Handing Class Bookings to the Studio Team
Niro's Human Assistance capability recognises when a customer needs a person and passes the chat to the studio team. Class bookings and cancellations currently need this route, because Niro's booking engine does not yet track class capacity.
- Key decision
- Do not force group classes into a booking model that allows only one booking per time slot
- Result
- Customers get their questions answered automatically, and the studio keeps control of class places.
- 04
Group-Class Booking Requirements
Checking Niro's booking engine showed that once a staff member has a booking at a given time, any other booking with them at an overlapping time is rejected. This rules out several customers sharing one class. From the studio's documents, group-class booking needs four things: 1. A maximum number of places for each class session 2. Booking one place per customer, with the places remaining shown accurately 3. Cancellation that frees the place for another customer 4. The 12-hour member cancellation rule applied, with late cancellations forfeited
- Key decision
- Record capacity-based class booking as a clearly defined gap rather than claim support that does not exist
- Result
- A clear list of what the booking engine needs before class places can be booked automatically.
Results
- 88
- Weekly group classes captured from the timetable (44 Barre and 44 Reformer)
- 6
- Class formats with full descriptions, focus areas and levels
- 31
- Pricing options captured across Barre, Reformer and combined plans
- 4
- Requirements defined for group-class booking (capacity, per-place booking, freed places, 12-hour rule)
Key takeaways
- In group-class booking, the unit is one place in a session, so the number of places left has to be tracked for every class
- Class capacity has to be explicit data from the business; it cannot be inferred from a timetable
- Cancellations only have value if the freed place can go to someone else, which is why the studio's 12-hour rule exists
- Saying clearly what a product does not yet support builds more trust than stretching a feature to fit
Conclusion
Group classes turn scheduling from "is this time free?" into "how many places are left in this session?" For a Pilates studio running 88 Barre and Reformer classes a week, with plan-based rules and a 12-hour cancellation cut-off, that difference matters. Niro AI can already take the repeat questions off the studio's plate. Booking places in a class, however, needs capacity tracking that Niro's booking engine does not have yet. No post-launch performance figures (for example, time saved or bookings handled) are documented for this project, and capacity-based class booking is not yet supported. The metrics shown describe the studio's scheduling picture captured in the knowledge base. Expected benefits (current capabilities): - Customers can get answers about classes, levels, timetable, prices and policies at any time, on WhatsApp or the website - The studio team spends less time answering repeat questions and keeps control of class places - The requirements for group-class booking are defined, based on how the studio actually runs its classes