Guardian Intelligence
Intelligence first.
Everything else follows.
Most platforms manage your schedule. Merba watches your market — competitor moves, demand signals, client patterns — then turns what it learns into campaigns, discovery, and decisions. Flat-fee. No commissions.
01 — Knowledge Continuum
Intelligence that
compounds over time.
Every signal, every campaign, every competitor move — accumulated and indexed. The longer Merba runs, the sharper your advantage.
Signals
Ranked growth actions — pricing pressure, demand gaps, lapsed clients — surfaced before you notice them. Each signal carries a confidence score and a proposed action.
Rivals
Local and broader market competitors mapped and analyzed. Pricing position, strengths, vulnerabilities. On-demand news fetch. Confidence levels on all data.
Stats
Your accumulated business intelligence across 5 categories — market, competitive, seasonal, operational, and client behavior — visualized with charts.
Creative
History of every ad session — angle, hook, story arc, tone, music — with user ratings and revision tracking. Each future campaign builds on what performed.
The intelligence design is proprietary to Merba. The foundational AI models are Claude (Anthropic), ChatGPT and Codex (OpenAI). Runway provides the live video interface for the Advisor — not the intelligence layer.
Merba Advisor
A live AI that has read your signals, studied your rivals, and reviewed your creative history. Ask anything. Every action waits for your approval.
Platform overview
9 capabilities. One flat fee.
9 AM
10
11
12 PM
1 PM
2
Sarah K.
Colour 9-10
Jamie R.
Cut 10:30
Alex M.
Cut 9:30
Blocked
Scheduling
Scheduling that runs itself. Everything in one view.
- Drag to reschedule, resize to extend
- Recurring appointments
- Google Calendar bidirectional sync
- Multiple booking modes (time-slot, date-range, custom-duration)
- Blocked times and business hours
- Multi-provider columns
Core operations
No commission on what you earn. No tab to switch to. One platform.
Provider 1
Sarah K.
Colour
9:00 – 12:00
Jamie R.
Blowout · 12:15–1:00
Provider 2
Alex M. · Cut
Blocked
One calendar. Everything in it.
Every booking, block, and staff shift — one view. Drag to reschedule, colour-code by provider, sync with Google Calendar. Multiple booking modes. Your whole team visible at a glance. No spreadsheet running alongside it.
Get startedLuxe Hair Studio
merba.app/book/luxe-hair
Select a service
Available times
Book without the friction.
Pick a service, choose a time, confirm. No app download. No account required. Your branding, your link — ready to share in three minutes. Clients book. You show up.
See the booking pageSarah K.
12 visits · 340 loyalty pts
Recent visits
Cut & Style
Mar 15Deep Conditioning
Feb 20Colour Touch-Up
Jan 10Chart notes
Prefers warm tones. Sensitive scalp — use gentle products.
Every client has a history.
Full profiles, visit records, clinical chart notes, tags, loyalty stamps. Every appointment builds on the last. Private notes stay private. You never need to ask twice.
Start freeMessages
Hi Sarah! Reminder: Haircut tomorrow at 10:30 AM at Luxe Hair Studio. Reply STOP to opt out.
noreply@merba.app
MERBA
Your appointment is confirmed
Haircut with Luxe Hair Studio
Mar 28 at 10:30 AM
123 Main St, Barrie
They show up. So do your clients.
Confirmations, reminders, cancellation notices, rebook nudges, and daily briefings — automated by SMS and email. Fewer no-shows. Zero extra work. You didn't hire an assistant, but it feels that way.
Get startedCut & Style — Jordan M.
Tue, Mar 25 · 2:30 PM
Colour — Sofia R.
Tue, Mar 25 · 4:00 PM
Cut & Style — Jordan M.
via Merba · 2:30 PM
Dentist appointment
Personal · blocks Merba
Google Calendar sync
Two-way. Your personal Google events block time in Merba. Your Merba appointments appear in Google Calendar. Live.
Get startedluxe.hair.studio
Sponsored
Your market says
you're underpriced.
Generated by Merba
Three salons near you charge 22% more for the same cut. We built this ad in 4 minutes. 🎯 #BookNow
Instagram Reel publishing
Post completed video ads directly to Instagram as Reels. OAuth connected. Caption pre-written. One click.
Get startedIntelligence that acts
Market signals, competitor moves, client patterns — ranked by what to do next.
Quiet Tuesday ahead
→ Run a promo block
Cuts 18% below market
→ Raise price to $68
3 clients lapsed 60+ days
→ Send rebook nudge
Outcomes tracked 14 days after action
Your next move, already ranked.
Quiet Tuesday ahead. Underpriced service. Three clients who haven't been back in 60 days. Merba surfaces these before you notice them — then presents one action card with a single CTA. You execute. We track the outcome 14 days later.
Start freeWhat no one else has
Market intelligence, discovery map, chain booking, and Merba Specials.
Competitors
3
within 10km
Market avg
$118
per service
Your position
Aligned
↑ +4% vs avg
Price position
Nearby competitors
Glow Studio
0.4km away
$80–$160
avg $118
Luxe Aesthetics
1.2km away
$95–$200
avg $142
The Skin Bar
2.1km away
$60–$130
avg $94
Where you sit in your market. Exactly.
Pricing position against the local average. Competitor services, ranked and compared. Market gaps your rivals haven't closed. Updated every scan — not estimated. Mapped.
Start freeLuxe Hair Studio
10:30 AM
Zen Massage
1:00 PM
Promo -15%
Found. Booked. No algorithm between you and the client.
Your business appears on the discovery map the moment you list — no waiting, no approval process. Provider listing and chain booking are live: customers find you by category, book a full day across providers, one checkout, one deposit. No commission. No ranking algorithm. Consumer marketplace expanding.
Explore the mapSlow slots become sought-after slots.
Mark a time block as discounted. Fixed price or ramping — the offer sharpens as the slot approaches. Visible on the discovery map and your booking page. Slow hours move.
List your businessBusiness controls
Payments, invoicing, approvals, and team management — without the paperwork.
Invoice #1042
Luxe Hair Studio
Paid directly. No middleman.
Stripe Connect for direct payouts. Deposits at booking. No-show fees. Branded invoices with line items, tax calculation, and PDF export. Auto-invoiced on late cancellation. No commission on what you earn.
Get startedNew client request
PendingJordan M. — Haircut
Tomorrow at 2:30 PM
You decide who books.
New client requests wait for your approval before they lock your calendar. Confirm with one tap. Decline with a reason. Nothing lands in your schedule without your say.
Start freeAnna K.
Owner
Jamie R.
Stylist
Mike P.
Stylist
Multiple providers. One calendar.
Individual schedules, per-provider availability, roles, permissions, and commission tracking. Everyone sees what they need. Nothing more.
Start freeMarketing
Research. Brief. Production. No agency required.
Growth engine
Professional video campaigns, built from your market.
Merba analyzes your competitive landscape, builds a strategic brief, and renders broadcast-quality video with motion graphics, VFX, and licensed music. Not templates. Real creative direction informed by what the intelligence found about your market.
Step 1
Add your site
Step 2
Guide the strategy
Step 3
Get your ads
Hair Salon
Ad #1
Nail Bar
Ad #2
Barber
Ad #3
3 custom-rendered ads
What's included in every ad
- Every ad is custom-designed — no templates, ever
- Competitive market analysis and positioning strategy
- 79 scene types with full VFX pipeline
- 212-track licensed music library
- Professional copy compressed from your real content
- 3-stage review: brief, storyboard, then video
- Delivered by email, ready for social
- —Commission-free online booking
- —Branded booking page
- —Client profiles + visit history
- —Clinical chart notes
- —SMS + email reminders
- —Stripe Connect direct payouts
- —Deposit-backed bookings
- —No-show fees
- —Branded PDF invoices
- —Provider listing on discovery map
- —Chain booking across providers
- —AI video ad creation
- —Instagram Reel publishing
- —Team scheduling + permissions
- —Approval workflow for new clients
- —Loyalty stamps
- —Google Calendar two-way sync
- —Merba Specials (discounted slots)
- —Market intelligence + competitor pricing
- —Consumer discovery marketplace
- —Voiceover in video ads
- —Push notifications
- —Mobile app (iOS + Android)
- —Autopilot ad campaigns
- —Recurring appointments
- —Resource / room management
- —Waitlist management
The details
Answers to the questions you actually have.
Payments
What payment methods does Merba accept?
Card payments via Stripe. Clients pay at booking or at checkout — your choice per service. Apple Pay and Google Pay supported on supported devices.
Can I take deposits?
Yes. Set a deposit amount (fixed or percentage) per service. The client pays at booking. The remainder is collected at checkout or invoiced after.
What about no-show fees?
Enable no-show fees per salon. If a client doesn't show, Merba auto-charges the saved card and creates an audit record.
Do I pay a commission on bookings?
No. Merba charges a flat monthly fee. You keep 100% of what clients pay you. No per-booking cut, ever.
Invoices
Can clients pay invoices online?
Yes. Invoices include a Stripe payment link. Clients receive branded PDFs by email and pay with card — no login required.
Are invoices sent automatically?
Merba auto-generates an invoice on late cancellation or no-show. You can also create invoices manually with line items, tax, and due dates.
Can I invoice for services not booked in Merba?
Yes. Create a manual invoice from the Invoices panel with any line items — products, consultations, packages, anything.
Hours and scheduling
How do I set my business hours?
Set hours per day in Settings → Hours. Add date-specific overrides for holidays or special events. Staff can have individual availability that differs from business hours.
Can providers have different schedules?
Yes. Each team member has their own availability rules. Merba surfaces only the slots where the right provider and room are both free.
What booking modes are available?
Three modes: time-slot (clients pick a specific time), date-range (you confirm the exact time), and custom-duration (client specifies how long they need). Choose per service.
Staff and permissions
Can staff see their own schedule but not clients' details?
Yes. Roles and permissions are per-staff. A provider can see their own appointments without seeing client contact info or revenue data.
What roles are available?
Owner, Stylist, and Receptionist. Fine-grained permissions control: viewing clients, editing bookings, creating appointments, and accessing reports.
Does Merba track commissions?
Yes. Set per-provider commission rates. The commissions panel shows earnings, splits, and payout summaries by provider.
The honest comparison
Your competitors use these.
Commission platforms take a cut of every booking they send you. Enterprise tools charge for features you'll never touch. Basic schedulers can't see your market. Merba charges a flat fee and watches your business instead.
| Capability | Merba | Commission | Enterprise | Basic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flat-fee pricing (no per-booking cuts) | ||||
| Online booking with branded page | ||||
| Client profiles and visit history | ||||
| Clinical chart notes | ||||
| SMS + email reminders | ||||
| Stripe Connect direct payouts | ||||
| Discovery map for new clients | ||||
| Chain booking across providers | ||||
| Intelligence campaigns with market strategy | ||||
| Approval workflow | ||||
| Loyalty program | ||||
| No booking commissions |