What are appointment booking apps? A complete guide.

Whenever you want to use a facility, you need to wait until your turn. When you go to a grocery shop, you shop for things and then wait in a queue to make payments. 

This phenomenon is not just limited to grocery shopping! Even at the dentist's, the dentist doesn't start treating you immediately when you step in; you need to wait until those who were there before you receive treatment. 

It is a universal concept; wait until it is your turn, known as appointments. But with the advent of the global pandemic, it once didn't seem easy to maintain this order while obtaining facilities. Appointment booking apps solved this problem. 

It made grocery shopping, doctor consultations, and beauty treatments easier during the lockdowns, when there were restrictions on the number of people allowed at public facilities. Such facilities were delivered to people's doorsteps, with appointments scheduled. 

Let us now examine appointment booking apps in detail.

What are appointment booking apps?

Appointment booking apps, or appointment schedulers, are business tools that enable clients to book, reschedule, and cancel appointments via a web interface. It means that when someone wants to use your services, they go to your website to schedule an appointment, choosing from available dates and times.

Appointment booking apps are beneficial when you have a staff shortage. You can update your available dates and times in the app and let clients choose from them. Suppose you own a hair salon and two of your hairdressers are on leave for a week. 

These two hairdressers were in the rebonding department. You need to change your availability and let clients know that you are not taking such appointments for a week, by not showing this week's availability on your calendar.

What is the importance of appointment booking apps?

If you run group or 1-1 bookings, you need to ensure you give your clients quality time, delivering remarkable service. Appointments provide you know when and up to when you need to entertain a specific client. 

During the appointment and the session, you can create the ideal atmosphere for your clients. It leads to building vital customer relationships, which increase repeat business, the ultimate goal of any business. 

Allied Market Research reports on the increasing use of appointment booking apps (2019), estimating that the appointment scheduling market's growth rate in 2026 would be 13.1%.

The Seven types of appointment scheduling

The primary aim of appointment booking apps is to ensure a free flow of activities within the organization. It ensures the organization has time to expand and deliver an enhanced client experience.

There are seven types of appointment scheduling that various organizations usually use.

Time Slot Scheduling

Time slot scheduling is the most widely used scheduling technique because it is direct. Despite its simplicity, it is somewhat rigid and strict, which can scare customers at times. 

Time slot scheduling offers customers a range of available time slots to pick from; besides, they are required to reply with some basic information on their demanded services and usually get a reply via SMS. 

The time customers choose, based on their preferences, falls within standard business hours and the organization's available time range.

The only issue is that if time slots fill quickly, there may not be enough slots available for all customers. Though, this method exhibits greater visibility of available time slots.

Wave Scheduling

Wave scheduling is suitable for organizations that handle a steady flow of customers, as it avoids queues. It offers customers a time range to choose from, within standard business hours. 

This scheduling method is straightforward to implement in an online scheduling system only if the software supports multi-booking for a single time slot. Wave scheduling requires users to limit the number of slots based on the business's capacity to avoid customers arriving and waiting on-site.

Open Booking 

Open-book scheduling means that a business does not set firm appointments, but instead accepts walk-ins on a first-come, first-served basis. This type of scheduling is also known as open-access or same-day scheduling. 

There are numerous ways in which open-book scheduling can work. Some businesses accept walk-ins, while others require you to call to book the same day. Open-book scheduling aims to reduce no-shows, which often happen when clients are required to book months in advance. Besides dealing with no-shows, it ensures every patient or client who needs an appointment can receive service the same day. 

Wave Plus Walk-in

This booking style combines the walk-in and wave methods and is a perfect option for businesses that offer remote services and limited office space. Wave Plus Walk-in scheduling requires an online booking system that supports multi-customer bookings. Here, customers book slots while in the wave window. The walk-in aspect is then made unavailable to make customers turn up on their terms.

Priority Scheduling

Priority scheduling allows customers with urgent needs to reserve appointments. There are two ways of implementing priority scheduling. The first type allows customers to queue for appointments online, and then everyone has to wait for their turn. Meanwhile, the second type emphasizes 

PRIORITY: The online booking system offers priority time slots to predesignated groups. This type of priority scheduling requires human judgment to determine which customers require immediate attention and should be prioritized over others. This method can be helpful in hospitals.

Round-Robin Scheduling

This method allows every client to attend on time without requiring human intervention. Round-robin scheduling provides a fixed set of time slots to clients, assigning staff to each. If one staff member is absent, the next gets booked. It is an excellent way of ensuring that no staff is overstressed. 

The only requirement here is that every staff member can perform the same task. The user sets the number of slots to offer and other key details, and the automated online booking provider will select the next client for an appointment.

Double Scheduling

Double scheduling involves scheduling two appointments and is used in service-based businesses, where multitasking can be applied to both appointments. 

It is done by offering a one-time slot to two clients who can attend at the same time. The only thing to take care of is that services should require equipment in the same facility to avoid wasting time traveling between the two locations.

Which Features Do the Best Appointment Booking Apps Have?

Appointment booking apps that stand out require specific features to succeed. Numerous such features of appointment booking apps are listed below.

Scheduling

It is an obvious but the most crucial feature that appointment booking apps should have. Your scheduling software should allow customers to have multiple options for booking appointments, workshops, or classes.

Automation

Business owners need to use scheduling software because it automates time-consuming tasks that would otherwise be performed manually. Doing so relieves staff members of these tasks, allowing them to focus on other important work. Therefore, appointment booking apps should include automated features such as booking reminders and billing.

Payment processing

Many of the best appointment booking apps also offer bill payment. It enables businesses to easily collect payments and deposits from clients. Additionally, the security of customers’ credit cards and other information is ensured. It builds a vital relationship with clients and leads to repeat business. The payment process should be user-friendly to encourage more appointment scheduling and visits.

Calendar syncing capabilities

It is important to sync your scheduling software with your calendar to inform customers of your availability. The best appointment booking apps can calendar sync, allowing you and your clients to have greater visibility over your business’s availability.

Feedback and Rating Section 

Appointment booking apps also include on-demand booking apps; therefore, any app that requires scheduling appointments should include a ‘feedback and rating’ section. 98% of users read reviews and ratings before using any app/service, according to eMarketer and Bizrate. It also provides the business with clear insights into areas that need improvements.

Advance Dashboard

Managers and business owners should know every activity in their organization or business. This is because they need to make decisions to grow their business, and dashboards enable them to do so by providing reports. Dashboards also allow them to view and manage all features and offers in the app. 

Map API integration

Google Maps integration is a must, as it enables app users to reach their destination with ease. It encourages customers to use your services and book appointments.

Quick Signup/Guest Login

This feature is essential because it ensures timely service. Customers prefer quick and easy login where they don’t have to spend much time filling in their details. One way to speed up the login process is to integrate sign-up via social media profiles.

Core benefits of appointment booking apps for businesses

Custom calendar

It benefits all types of businesses by enabling employees to easily track their shifts, vacation days, and sick leave. If any employee wants to go on holiday, they can indicate the days when they will be absent.

24/7 customer access

Appointment booking apps can free managers from customer calls regarding queries and bookings. Instead, clients reserve what they need independently at any time.

Timely notifications

Timely notification of appointments saves staff time and energy. When notified in advance of a canceled appointment, staff can focus on other tasks. Also, this builds clients' trust in you, as you took the time to remind them of their appointments.

Convenient payment options

Appointment booking apps streamline payment processing by accepting payments via PayPal, Stripe, Square, Braintree, and other gateways. It encourages users to choose your services, as cashless payment methods are preferred today.

Business analytics

It helps businesses by monitoring booking and website-visit volumes, the most popular services, and other key metrics.

Data encryption 

Modern technology enables businesses to securely store and back up employee and client data, enhancing online payment security. It also leads to secure communication among employees and between customers and companies. Customers are very conscious of where they share their personal information, and giving them a sense of security does boost your business.

Core benefits of appointment booking apps for customers

Online booking 

It allows clients to book goods or services anytime, anywhere, without making phone calls.

Notifications and reminders

These are useful for reminding clients about upcoming appointments, thus preventing any changes to your schedule for the day.

Cancellations and rescheduling

In cases where clients face some other commitments and can’t show up, they can notify you of the same and easily cancel or reschedule their bookings.

Payment

Customers find it easy to pay for goods or services with an in-app payment system; also, this offers them an opportunity to receive bonuses and special offers.

Steps to creating appointment booking apps

Feed in your business details.

Your app should contain all the details regarding your business. These details include the business name, description, contact information, and social media handles. Doing so creates a sense of trust among your customers.

Set up availability and services.

Defining your working hours and adding blocked-out slots for scheduled breaks are must-haves in every appointment booking app. 

List the services your business offers, and include their descriptions, durations, and prices. Additionally, you need to specify which staff members can provide those services and whether they are publicly available or only available upon request.

Create reminders

Do you know that automated reminders can reduce no-shows by up to 90%? 

It prevents chaos from last-minute changes. To remind your clients of their appointments, use SMS reminders as they have higher open rates than emails. 

Customize your booking page.

Your online booking page is a brand differentiator, in addition to your virtual shop front or digital front door. This means you need to ensure your logo is displayed correctly on your appointment booking page. Use only high-resolution images; low-quality images can make your booking page appear untrustworthy.

Set up calendar sync.

It lets you view all your appointments in one place and prevents double bookings. It also shows your clients your availability. It also lets you manage your appointments by assigning small tasks to your team members.

Test

Before launching your appointment booking app, ensure it is bug-free by testing every feature. Make sure you can place a booking. Please check whether the appointment has been added to your calendar system. In addition to these features, ensure reminders and virtual appointments are working properly.

Share your online booking system.

It is the last step to creating your appointment booking apps. Here, it would help increase visibility online by sharing the online booking option with your existing and potential customers. To do this, you can use your website, email campaigns, social media, and other channels. 

Conclusion

Appointment booking apps make our business work smoothly and efficiently. It has become an integral part of every operating business. If you are interested in getting an appointment booking app for your business, contact AppsRhino today! AppsRhino caters to its clients’ needs by providing apps tailored to their requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

What is the best appointment booking app?

The best appointment booking app depends on business needs. Popular options include Calendly, Setmore, SimplyBook.me, and Square Appointments, which offer scheduling, reminders, and payment integration to streamline bookings.

What is an appointment booking system?

An appointment booking system is a digital tool that allows customers to schedule appointments online. It automates availability, confirmations, reminders, and calendar management, reducing manual effort and scheduling errors.

How does an Appointment Booking App reduce administrative workload?

An Appointment Booking App automates scheduling, confirmations, cancellations, and reminders, minimizing manual follow-ups and freeing staff from repetitive coordination tasks.