Customer Preferences and Communication Consent
Introduction
Managing customer preferences and communication consent is essential for excellent service and legal compliance. This tutorial explains the communication preference system in Luminate, how to record customer preferences, and how to ensure you're communicating appropriately.
Who this is for: Owner, Admin, Manager, Staff, Receptionist What you'll learn:
- Understand the two communication categories (appointment information vs. marketing)
- Configure channel preferences (Email, SMS, WhatsApp)
- Record allergies and sensitivities
- Handle opt-out and data removal requests
- See when Luminate stops email, SMS or WhatsApp because messages do not arrive
- Understand GDPR requirements for consent
- Request customers to update their own profile information
Time to complete: 15 minutes
Prerequisites
- Logged in with at least Staff permissions
- Complete Tutorial 3.1 (Adding and Managing Customer Profiles)
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Understanding Communication Categories
Luminate divides customer communications into two categories:
Appointment Messages (Transactional): These are service-related messages:
- Appointment confirmations
- Appointment reminders
- Cancellation notifications
- Rescheduling confirmations
Promotions & Offers (Marketing): These require explicit consent:
- Special offers and discounts
- New service announcements
- Birthday greetings with offers
- Seasonal promotions
- Newsletter content
Step 2: Access Communication Preferences
Communication preferences are set per customer:
- Navigate to Customers in the sidebar
- Select a customer or click Add Customer
- Scroll to the Communication Preferences section
The section is split into two groups of checkboxes â Appointment Messages and Promotions & Offers â each with an Email, SMS, and WhatsApp checkbox. A line under each heading says what the group covers: "Messages about the customer's appointments." and "Special offers, promotions and birthday greetings." The Details tab uses the same words.
Step 3: Configure Appointment Messages
The Appointment Messages group controls transactional messages:
| Channel | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Your salon's choice (all on unless you change it) | Confirmation emails, reminder emails | |
| SMS | Your salon's choice (all on unless you change it) | Text message reminders |
| Your salon's choice (all on unless you change it) | WhatsApp message reminders |
To change a setting:
- Tick a checkbox to enable that channel, or untick it to disable
- A ticked box means the customer receives messages on that channel
- An unticked box means that channel is off
When to disable:
- Customer requests no reminders
- Customer doesn't have that channel (no phone = disable SMS)
- Customer prefers one channel over others
Note: Even with all reminders disabled, the customer can still be booked for appointments. They simply won't receive automated notifications.
Choose the channels new customers start with
Your salon decides which of these three boxes start ticked for a new customer. This covers customers your team adds and customers who book online. Only an Owner or an Admin can change it.
- Go to Salon Settings
- Open the Data tab, then the Privacy sub-tab
- Find the New customers card
- Switch Email, SMS and WhatsApp on or off
- Click Update Salon
You can also reach this card from the Appointment Reminders card on the Notifications page. Click the salon settings link.
Things to know:
- What your salon starts with. All three start on. When you first set up Luminate, the setup wizard asks you to choose, and saves your choice on each salon you set up there (see Tutorial 1.4). A salon you add later starts with all three on.
- Existing customers keep their own choices. The setting changes nothing for a customer who is already on your books. Change those one at a time on the customer's record.
- SMS off also stops your team texting them. With SMS off, your team cannot send the customer a text from Luminate either, until someone ticks SMS on their record.
- Both on means both messages. If your reminders use SMS and WhatsApp, a customer with both on gets both.
- WhatsApp not on yet. If we have not switched on WhatsApp for your salon, the card says so. Your choice is saved, and it applies once WhatsApp is on.
- All three off is allowed. The card shows a warning, because new customers then get no appointment messages until they or your team switch a channel on.
- Promotions always start off. A customer must agree to promotions first.
- Customers still choose. A customer who books online can change these on the review step, and on their preferences page.
Step 4: Configure Promotions & Offers
The Promotions & Offers group controls marketing messages:
| Channel | Default | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Disabled | Marketing emails | |
| SMS | Disabled | Promotional text messages |
| Disabled | Promotional WhatsApp messages |
Important: All marketing options default to disabled (unticked). Only enable them with explicit customer consent.
To enable marketing:
- Obtain verbal or written consent from the customer
- Tick the checkbox for their preferred channel(s)
- Save the customer profile
GDPR Requirement: Never assume consent. The customer must actively agree to receive marketing communications.
How opt-outs are enforced when staff send messages: Opt-outs are honoured at compose time, not just at delivery. When a staff member opens New Message in the inbox (Tutorial 10.4), shares a deposit link, sends a profile-update link, or triggers any other send flow, a channel the customer has disabled here is not shown as a selectable button in the channel picker at all â it simply disappears from the row of channel buttons. In its place, a one-line notice with the channel icon appears beneath the picker reading "Customer has opted out of Email." (or SMS, etc.). There is no greyed-out button, no tooltip, and no "send anyway" override.
If the customer has opted out of every channel that's available, the picker is replaced entirely by "This customer has opted out of all available messaging channels. Update their preferences to send them a message."
The server enforces the same rule independently, so nothing slips through: a queued message aimed at an opted-out channel is marked failed with the reason "Customer opted out" rather than being sent.
Three ways a channel can be restored:
| Route | How it works |
|---|---|
| Email footer link | Every email Luminate sends carries a Manage your communication preferences link in its footer, which opens the customer's own preferences page. Note the catch: once email is off, no further emails go out, so this only works from an email they already have. |
| SMS reply keyword | A customer who replies START, SUBSCRIBE, YES, OPTIN or UNSTOP to a text is opted back in automatically. |
| Staff update | You tick the box again on this page, with the customer's consent on record. |
Step 5: Record Allergies and Sensitivities
Safety information goes in the dedicated Allergies & Notes section:
- Toggle the Allergies & Sensitivities switch on
- Enter details in the text area that appears
Examples:
- "PPD allergy - no permanent colour"
- "Sensitive scalp - patch test required"
- "Latex allergy - use nitrile gloves"
This information displays prominently throughout the system, including during appointment booking. Service-specific preferences (timing preferences, staff requests, conversation cues) and consultation detail are best captured in the unified Notes store on the customer's profile rather than the allergy field â see Tutorial 3.7 (Recording and Managing Notes) for how those work.
Step 6: Handle Opt-Out Requests
When a customer asks to stop receiving marketing:
- Open their profile â Edit
- Untick the relevant marketing checkboxes in Promotions & Offers
- Save immediately
- Add a note: "Opted out of marketing [date] via [method]"
You must:
- Process opt-out requests immediately (same day)
- Stop all marketing to that channel
- Continue transactional messages (unless specifically requested)
- Keep a record of when they opted out
When a customer opts out by replying to a text:
Luminate also processes opt-outs the customer sends themselves. If they reply STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, QUIT, CANCEL, END, OPTOUT or OPT-OUT to any text message, both boxes for that channel are unticked automatically â Appointment Messages and Promotions & Offers. A reply of START, SUBSCRIBE, YES, OPTIN, OPT-IN or UNSTOP turns both back on.
This matters because the customer is usually trying to stop marketing, not appointment reminders. If someone stops receiving reminders unexpectedly, check whether they replied STOP to a promotional text â and ask before you re-enable anything on their behalf.
Step 7: When Luminate Stops a Channel Automatically
The settings above are choices you make. Luminate also watches what happens to each email, text message and WhatsApp message it sends. When messages to a customer do not arrive, Luminate marks the customer. After enough failures, it stops that channel. You do not set this up, but you can see it, and you may need to act on it.
Email:
| Trigger | What happens |
|---|---|
| Permanent bounce | The address rejected the email (for example, the mailbox does not exist). Luminate stops email at the first bounce. |
| Repeated soft bounces | The address failed for a short time, 3 times in 30 days. Luminate stops email. One soft bounce does nothing, because most are temporary. |
| Spam complaint | The customer marked one of your emails as spam. Luminate turns off Promotions & Offers email. Appointment emails continue. |
After a bounce, Luminate unticks both Email boxes.
SMS and WhatsApp:
Luminate counts only failures that show the number cannot be reached. For example: the number is not valid, the number is not in service, the phone could not be reached, or the number is not on WhatsApp. It does not count a failure with another cause, such as a busy network, a limit at the provider, or a problem with the salon's own setup.
| Counted failures in 30 days | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | The customer gets an amber warning pill. Messages still go. |
| 3 | Luminate turns that channel off. It unticks the channel in both Appointment Messages and Promotions & Offers. |
SMS and WhatsApp are separate. A WhatsApp failure does not change SMS, and an SMS failure does not change WhatsApp.
Every message to the customer counts: reminders, booking messages, campaigns, and messages you send from the inbox. A campaign test send does not count.
How you see it:
Coloured pills appear in the Email and Phone columns on the Customers list, in the header of the customer's profile, and under the email and the mobile number on the Details tab:
- Email bounced (red) â the address cannot receive email
- Email marked as spam (amber) â the customer complained
- SMS failed or WhatsApp failed (amber) â a message did not arrive
- SMS turned off or WhatsApp turned off (red) â Luminate turned the channel off after 3 failures
Hover over a pill to see the reason and the date. For SMS and WhatsApp, the reason names the cause and the provider's code, for example "Number not in service (Twilio 30005)".
The Communication Preferences card, on the Details tab and on the Edit page, also shows a note for each SMS or WhatsApp warning and each channel that is off. The note says what happened and what to do.
Staff whose salon hides customer contact details see the same pills, dates and reasons. The reason never shows the number.
What it affects:
- Only the affected channel stops. The customer still gets the other channels, subject to their preferences.
- Because Luminate unticks the boxes, the customer shows as opted out of that channel until someone ticks it again.
How a warning or a stopped channel clears:
| What happens | Warning | Stopped channel |
|---|---|---|
| A later SMS or WhatsApp message on that channel arrives | Clears | Stays off |
| You or the customer change the mobile number or the email address | Clears, and the count starts again | Stays off |
| You or the customer tick the channel back on | Clears | Turns back on |
Luminate never turns a channel back on by itself. A person must tick it.
What to do about it:
- Open the customer profile and hover over the pill to read the reason.
- Ask the customer for their correct mobile number or email address.
- Correct it on the Edit page. If the channel is off, the note then ends: "You entered a new number. To send SMS messages to it, tick SMS under Appointment Messages and save."
- Tick the channel back on in Communication Preferences, then click Save Changes.
- If the customer marked email as spam, do not send them promotions by email again. Use SMS, WhatsApp, or the phone.
If Luminate says the preferences changed:
The preferences can change while you have the page open. For example, the customer replies STOP to a text, or Luminate turns a channel off. When you then save, Luminate saves nothing. The page scrolls to this message: "These communication preferences changed since you opened the page. Load the latest, then save again."
- Click Load latest preferences. The boxes show the saved values, and any note about a channel that is off. Your other changes on the page stay.
- Check the boxes.
- Save again.
The Details tab saves each preference when you click it, so it has no Load latest preferences button. If a preference changed behind it, Luminate saves nothing, shows the saved values, and says: "These communication preferences changed since you opened this page. The page now shows the latest. Make your change again." Click the preference again if you still need the change.
Step 8: Handle Data Removal Requests
Under GDPR, customers can request their personal data be removed:
Open the customer profile
Click the Edit button (top-right)
Scroll down to the Data Privacy section at the bottom of the form
Click Remove Data
A confirmation dialog titled Remove Personal Data appears. It names the customer and states that the removal meets GDPR data protection requirements. This is the same dialog you get from the Details tab.
Review What will be removed:
- Name, email, phone number
- Address and date of birth
- Allergies, badges, and referral source
- Communication preferences, reset to off on every channel
- Every skin test for this customer, deleted permanently
- Every note for this customer, deleted permanently, including consultation and appointment notes
- Personal details will be replaced with "Deleted Customer"
Review What will be preserved: transaction history, appointment history, and account balance information. The dialog also tells you where to export the customer first if you need to keep the skin tests and notes.
Click Remove Personal Data to confirm
What is replaced with placeholder values or cleared:
- Name â the record reads Deleted Customer afterwards
- Email, phone number, country code
- Address, city, county, postcode, country
- Date of birth
- Allergies (toggle and description)
- Badges, referral source, and preferred staff member
- All six communication preference settings (transactional and marketing, all channels) â reset to off, since consent cannot persist past anonymisation
- Any recorded email bounce or spam-complaint state, and any SMS or WhatsApp warning or turn-off (see Step 7)
- Profile-update tokens, identity-verification PINs, and booking-access tokens (all deleted)
- Personal data redacted from any merge log entries
What is permanently deleted (not just anonymised):
- Skin tests (Tutorial 11.1) â every patch test record for this customer is deleted outright
- Failed SMS and WhatsApp message records â the record of each message that did not arrive
- Notes (Tutorial 3.7) â every consultation and appointment note attached to this customer is deleted outright
Warning: Skin tests and notes cannot be recovered. If you need the allergy or patch-test history for service safety, or the consultation record behind past colour work, export it before you remove the data. Go to Salon Settings > Data > Exports, choose the customer, and start the export (see Tutorial 11.2). Consider whether the erasure request genuinely extends to clinical records, and take your own legal advice where a safety obligation may conflict with an erasure request.
What is preserved (for business records):
- Transaction history
- Appointment history
The customer record is anonymised but not deleted, ensuring your financial and appointment records remain intact. The customer is also automatically deactivated, and switching them back on from the Customer Status card is refused â you'll see the error "Cannot activate an anonymized customer". The Edit page no longer shows the Active customer checkbox for an anonymised customer. The Settings card explains that the record stays inactive permanently.
Luminate writes an internal audit entry each time this runs, recording when it happened, who triggered it, and how many skin tests and notes were deleted â no personal data, just proof of the action. Anonymisation can also happen automatically under a retention policy; see Tutorial 11.3 (Managing Customer and Staff Data Retention).
Warning: This action cannot be undone. Ensure the request is legitimate before proceeding.
Understanding Consent Requirements
Valid Consent Must Be:
| Requirement | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Freely given | Not a condition of service |
| Specific | Clear what they're consenting to |
| Informed | They understand how data will be used |
| Unambiguous | Active opt-in, not silence or pre-checked boxes |
How to Obtain Consent
Verbally at first visit: "May we send you occasional updates about special offers and new services? You can unsubscribe anytime."
On a registration form:
â Yes, I'd like to receive special offers and news from [Salon Name]
Note: This box should NOT be pre-checked.
What Doesn't Count as Consent
- Providing contact details for appointments
- Pre-checked boxes on forms
- Silence or non-response
- Assumed consent from existing relationship
Customer Self-Service
When a customer opens a profile update link (see Requesting Profile Updates below), they land on a self-service preferences page where they can update their information directly.
The page is headed Update Your Profile and greets them by first name: "Hi Ada, review and update your information below". The foot of the page says: "Your choices help us contact you the way you like. You can change them at any time."
What's Available Without Verification
Customers can immediately view and update:
- Personal Information â First Name and Last Name
- Communication Preferences â every channel toggle, grouped under Appointment Messages ("Reminders and updates about your appointments.") and Promotions & Offers ("Special offers, promotions and birthday greetings."). Each toggle is named only by its channel: Email, SMS or WhatsApp, as on the booking review step
These are the same six settings you see on the staff Edit form, so a change the customer makes here is the change you'd have made for them. Both pages head the group Appointment Messages.
Their email and phone number are shown in masked form for reference â the first character of the email plus the domain (a*****@example.com), and the last four digits of the phone (***2180).
Accessing Sensitive Information
Contact details, address, and allergy information sit behind an identity check. Until it's passed, the Contact Details card carries a Protected badge and the notice "Your email, phone, address and allergy information are protected. Verify your identity to view or edit these details."
If your salon lets customers set some badges (see Appointment Preferences below), an Appointment Preferences card shows under Contact Details. It is locked in the same way: a Protected badge, the notice "Your appointment preferences are protected. Verify your identity to view or edit them." and a Reveal My Preferences button. That button opens the same identity check as Reveal My Details, and one check unlocks both cards.
- The customer clicks Reveal My Details (or Reveal My Preferences)
- The Verify Your Identity dialog opens; they choose Email or SMS (each option names the masked destination) and click Send Code
- A 6-digit code is sent to their contact details on file
- They enter it and click Verify
The code is valid for 10 minutes and allows 5 attempts. If the code is wrong, has expired or has run out of attempts, the dialog says so. The customer clicks Send a new code under the code boxes to get a fresh code by the same route, then enters it. The dialog does not show how many attempts are left. Once verified, the Contact Details, Address, and Allergies & Sensitivities cards all switch to a Verified badge and become editable:
- Email address â via Change Email, which sends a separate verification code to the new address
- Phone number â via Change Phone, which sends a separate verification code to the new number
- Address â Street Address, City, County/State, Postcode, Country
- Allergies & Sensitivities â the I have allergies or sensitivities toggle and description
- Appointment Preferences â when your salon offers them (see below)
Verification lasts 30 minutes, after which the customer must verify again. If it has run out, or has less than a minute left, when they click Save Changes, nothing is saved. The minute gives the whole save time to finish while verification is still valid. The page shows "Your verification timed out. Verify again to save your changes." and the Reveal My Details button comes back. The page keeps everything the customer typed. They verify again, then click Save Changes once to save it all. Verification is also tied to the browser session that passed the check, not to the link â so if the customer forwards their link to someone else, that person sees only the name and preference toggles and has to pass their own PIN check to get any further.
If verification runs out during Change Email or Change Phone, the dialog asks the customer to verify again. It keeps the new address or number they typed. The code goes to contact details already on file: a customer adding their first phone number gets it by email, and a customer adding their first email address gets it by text message. Once they verify, the whole page unlocks again.
When Luminate Turned a Channel Off
If Luminate turned SMS or WhatsApp off because messages did not arrive, the customer sees a notice under their preferences. For example, SMS is turned off: "Our text messages to your number did not arrive. Check your mobile number, then switch SMS back on." The notice has no date and no technical code. The customer can switch the channel back on and save. The notice goes when the save succeeds.
If the preferences changed while the page was open, the page shows Load latest preferences. The customer clicks it, checks the switches, and saves again.
Appointment Preferences
If your salon lets customers set some of their own badges, the profile page has an Appointment Preferences card ("How you like your visit"). Before the identity check it shows locked, under Contact Details. After the check it sits after the Allergies & Sensitivities card, with one checkbox for each badge the customer may set:
- I'd prefer a quiet appointment ("Your stylist will keep conversation to a minimum."), when Prefers Silence is switched on
- each custom badge marked Customers can set this, under its own name
The customer ticks or clears the boxes and clicks Save Changes. The choices save with their name and communication preferences. Staff then see the badges on the customer's profile, with the line Set by the customer under them. The card never shows staff-only badges such as VIP or Often Late. To choose which badges customers can set, see Tutorial 3.5, Step 6.
A customer can hold up to 10 badges. If the limit stops a choice, the confirmation screen says "We could not save every appointment preference. Please ask the salon to update them." If another part of the save fails, the same warning shows at the top of the page. It stays there when the customer saves again, until they see the confirmation screen.
If the preferences changed while the page was open (for example, a member of staff changed a badge), nothing is saved and the card shows Load latest preferences. The customer clicks it, checks the boxes, and saves again. Their other edits on the page stay.
How Changes Are Saved
The customer clicks Save Changes and sees a Changes Saved Successfully confirmation ("Your preferences have been updated."). The greeting there says only "Hi" and their first name, because the form is no longer below. Edit Again takes them back to the form. Updates are saved immediately to the customer record in Luminate, so staff see the new information next time they view the profile.
Requesting Profile Updates
Staff can request customers to update their profile information directly. This is useful for verifying contact details, collecting address information, or updating allergy records.
How to Request a Profile Update
- Navigate to the customer's profile page
- Click the Request Update button in the header
- The Request Profile Update modal opens with the QR code and countdown on the left ("23h 59m remaining") and the send options on the right
QR Code (In-Salon)
The quickest method when the customer is physically present:
- The modal displays a QR code that the customer can scan
- Customer scans with their phone camera
- The profile update page opens directly on their device
- They can update their information and submit
Tip: This is ideal during checkout or while waiting for their appointment.
Copy Link
Share the link via your preferred method:
- Click the Copy Link button
- The link is copied to your clipboard (the button briefly reads Copied!)
- Paste it in any messaging app, email, or text
You can also click Open to preview the profile update page yourself, or Refresh to generate a new link. Each customer has one live link at a time, so generating a new one stops the previous link working.
Send via Email or SMS
If the customer has contact details on file, the right-hand column is headed Or send via:
- Select Email or SMS
- Click Send Link
- A Message Sent confirmation appears; click Done to close
- The customer can open the link on any device to update their details
Note: The send options only appear if the customer has the corresponding contact details on file and has not opted out of that channel. If they have opted out, the modal shows a "Customer has opted out of Email." message instead (naming both channels if both are off) â fall back to the QR code or copy-link options, or update their preferences (with their consent) on the Edit page first. With no usable channel at all, the whole send column is replaced by a warning telling you to use the QR code or copy the link.
What Customers Can Update
The profile update page allows customers to modify:
| Section | Fields | Verification Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Information | First Name, Last Name | No |
| Communication Preferences | All transactional and marketing channel settings | No |
| Contact Details | Email address, phone number | Yes â PIN verification + new contact verification |
| Address | Street Address, City, County/State, Postcode, Country | Yes â PIN verification |
| Allergies & Sensitivities | Toggle on/off, allergy description | Yes â PIN verification |
| Appointment Preferences | The badges your salon lets customers set (only when it offers at least one) | Yes â PIN verification |
See Customer Self-Service above for details on the verification process.
Link Expiry
Profile update links are valid for 24 hours by default. After expiry:
- The customer sees an "expired link" message
- They need to contact the salon for a new link
- This protects customer data from old links being accessed
Tip: Send the link when the customer is ready to update promptly, as the 24-hour window is intentionally short for security.
When to Use This Feature
| Scenario | Recommended Approach |
|---|---|
| Customer at the till | Show QR code for immediate scan |
| Follow-up after visit | Send via email or SMS |
| Address collection | Send link with request note |
| Annual data refresh | Send to update/verify details |
| Allergy confirmation | Send before patch test appointments |
Common Pitfalls
"Can I pre-enable marketing to save time?"
No. Pre-checked marketing options violate GDPR. Customers must actively opt in.
"A customer gave me their email, so can I add them to marketing?"
Not unless they explicitly consented to marketing. An email for appointments is not marketing consent.
"A customer opted out but this offer is really good"
Respect opt-out requests always. Sending marketing after opt-out is a GDPR violation.
"I accidentally enabled marketing for everyone"
Disable marketing immediately for those who haven't consented. Document the error and take corrective action.
"A customer is opted in to email but isn't receiving anything"
Check their profile for an Email bounced or Email marked as spam pill. If their address has bounced, Luminate has stopped emailing them automatically. Correct the address on the Edit page, then tick Email back on. See Step 7.
"A customer stopped getting text or WhatsApp reminders"
Check their profile for an SMS turned off or WhatsApp turned off pill. Luminate turns a channel off after 3 failed messages in 30 days. Ask the customer for their correct number, correct it on the Edit page, then tick the channel back on. If there is no pill, check whether they replied STOP (see Step 6).
Tips and Best Practices
- Ask at the right time - After a great service experience, customers are more likely to opt in
- Explain benefits - "Birthday treats, early access to offers, seasonal tips"
- Keep consent separate - Don't bundle marketing with service terms
- Make opting out easy - Honour requests immediately
- Review preferences regularly - Update after each visit with new information
- Train all staff - Everyone needs to understand consent requirements
Related Tutorials
- Tutorial 3.1: Adding and Managing Customer Profiles - Creating customer records
- Tutorial 3.2: Understanding Customer History and Analytics - Viewing customer data
- Tutorial 3.7: Recording and Managing Notes - Capturing service preferences and consultation detail in the unified Notes store
- Tutorial 10.4: Managing the Messaging Inbox - How channel opt-outs are enforced when staff send messages
- Tutorial 11.1: Skin Test Management - The patch-test records that removing personal data deletes
- Tutorial 11.2: GDPR Compliance - Wider data-protection responsibilities
- Tutorial 11.3: Managing Customer and Staff Data Retention - Automatic anonymisation under a retention policy
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the penalty for sending marketing without consent?
Under UK GDPR, fines can reach millions of pounds. More commonly, you risk customer complaints and reputation damage.
Can I email a customer who opted out about their appointment?
Yes - appointment reminders are transactional, not marketing. Respect channel preferences though.
What does the "Email bounced" pill on a customer mean?
Their email address cannot receive email. Either it rejected an email outright, or it failed 3 times in 30 days. Luminate stopped emailing them and unticked both Email boxes. Correct the address on the Edit page, then tick Email back on. Or reach them by SMS, WhatsApp, or phone. See Step 7.
A customer marked an email as spam â what happens?
Luminate turns off their Promotions & Offers email and shows an Email marked as spam pill. Appointment emails continue. Do not send them promotions by email again; it harms your sending reputation. Use another channel instead.
What do the "SMS failed" and "SMS turned off" pills mean?
SMS failed (amber) means one text message did not arrive because the number could not be reached. Messages still go. SMS turned off (red) means 3 messages failed in 30 days, so Luminate unticked SMS. The WhatsApp failed and WhatsApp turned off pills work the same way for WhatsApp. Hover over a pill to see the reason. See Step 7.
A customer replied STOP to a promotional text and now gets no reminders either â why?
Reply keywords act on the whole channel, not just marketing. STOP (and UNSUBSCRIBE, QUIT, CANCEL, END, OPTOUT, OPT-OUT) unticks both the Appointment Messages and Promotions & Offers boxes for that channel. Ask them whether they want reminders back, then either have them reply START or tick the box for them on the Edit page. See Step 6.
Does removing personal data delete consultation notes and skin tests?
Yes. Both are deleted permanently, not anonymised â every note (consultation and appointment) and every skin test for that customer goes. Only appointment and transaction history survives. Capture anything you need for service safety before you run it. See Step 8.
How long do I keep consent records?
Keep consent records while active, plus 2 years after they stop being a customer.
Do I need separate consent for email and SMS marketing?
Luminate treats each channel separately. A customer might consent to email marketing but not SMS.
What if a customer says "I never opted in"?
Apologise, remove them from marketing immediately, and review your records. When in doubt, err on the customer's side.
Can I transfer consent from my old system?
Only if the original consent met GDPR standards. If uncertain, re-request consent.
What about customers under 16?
For marketing to under-16s in the UK, obtain parental consent. Transactional messages don't require this.
How long are profile update links valid?
Profile update links expire after 24 hours by default. After expiry, the customer will see an "expired link" page and will need to request a new link from the salon. The short expiry window is a security measure to protect customer data.
Can I send a profile update link to a customer without contact details?
You can still use the QR code or copy the link directly. The email/SMS send options only appear if the customer has those contact details on file.
What happens when a customer updates their profile?
Their changes are saved immediately to their customer record in Luminate. You'll see the updated information next time you view their profile.
Why does the customer need to verify their identity?
Sensitive information like contact details, address, and allergy records sits behind a PIN check, reached via the Reveal My Details button. Because the check is tied to the browser session rather than the link, a forwarded link doesn't carry someone else's verification with it â whoever opens it sees only the name and preference toggles until they pass their own PIN check.
Can I see when a customer last updated their profile?
The profile update link tracks when it was last accessed. This helps you know if a customer has opened the link but not completed the update.
Last Updated: August 2026