Get started

CoatCheck is a digital cloakroom system. Your staff create tickets for customer belongings, assign a physical tag (usually a hanger number), and customers keep a digital ticket on their phone via SMS or the CoatCheck app—no paper stubs to lose.

This guide walks owners through setup. Staff should start with the staff cheatsheet or Staff App guide.

1. 1

   Subscribe and open the dashboard

   After you subscribe to a paid plan, sign in at coatcheck.app/business.

2. 2

   Customize your business profile

   Set your business name, accent color, and banner so tickets and pre-register pages match your brand.

   Path: Administration → Customize

   Full guide: Customize your business

3. 3

   Invite your team

   Add staff by email so they can create and redeem tickets. Each person must sign up with email first, then you invite them.

   Path: Administration → Team

   Full guide: Invite your team

4. 4

   (Recommended) Enable pre-register

   Customers scan a QR poster, enter their phone number, and show a QR code at the counter—so staff do not type numbers by hand.

   Path: Pre-register in the dashboard sidebar

   Full guide: Pre-register

5. 5

   Choose how staff will work

   Pick the surface that fits your counter:

   • CoatCheck mobile app — full features, camera and NFC
   • Staff App (web) — optimized for tablets and touchscreens; needs a camera (and optional NFC reader)
   • Web dashboard — supported, but workflows are spread across screens; not recommended for peak service

   Staff App guide: Staff App

6. 6

   Understand tags

   A tag is the label on the hanger (usually a number). You assign it when creating a ticket. CoatCheck checks for duplicates and tags already in use. NFC stickers can speed this up.

   Full guide: Tags & NFC

7. 7

   Run a test ticket

   Do a full check-in and check-out with a colleague before opening night. Use SMS tickets if guests will not have the app.

• Mobile app (staff) — Camera and NFC for the fastest flow
• Staff App (web) — Camera required; NFC reader optional for faster tag assignment
• Customer phone — SMS link or CoatCheck consumer app for the digital ticket

Two main paths depending on the customer:

• SMS tickets — phone number; works for almost everyone
• App tickets — scan the customer's CoatCheck QR when they already have the app

• Online payments — charge during pre-register via Stripe
• Billing & pricing — subscription and usage fees
• Staff cheatsheet — print for the counter
• Troubleshooting — common night-of issues