Online bookings: when are they worth it?

Online booking lets customers pick a time and book without calling. For some businesses it is a big improvement; for others it creates more problems than it solves. Here is how to tell which one you are.

When online booking is worth it

• Many bookings every week, where answering the phone takes real time.
• Standard services with fixed durations, like a haircut, a massage, a dental check-up or a table for four.
• Customers who book outside working hours, in the evening or at the weekend.
• No-shows, which reminders and deposits can reduce.

Salons, clinics, restaurants, fitness studios, guest houses and many service businesses often benefit: see the salon guide, the restaurant guide, the hotel guide and the gym and yoga studio guide.

When it is not

Short forms are easier to complete: Nielsen Norman Group's research says every field you remove helps [1].

• Every job is different and needs a conversation first (renovations, legal work, custom projects).
• You get only a few bookings a week.
• Your availability changes constantly and nobody will keep the calendar current.

In these cases, a short booking request form is often better: the customer suggests a time, you confirm it. It feels just as easy for the customer, without the risk of double bookings.

What to decide before you start

1. Which services can be booked online, with what duration and price.
2. Your calendar: one accurate place for all bookings, including phone bookings.
3. Cancellation rules: how late a customer can cancel and what happens if they do not come.
4. Reminders: by email or SMS, to reduce no-shows.
5. Who looks after it every day.

On your own site or a platform?

Booking platforms and marketplaces bring visibility but often take a fee and keep the customer relationship. A booking system on your own website keeps the customer yours. Many businesses use both, with the website as the main place to book. Even general office software now includes booking tools, such as Microsoft Bookings in Microsoft 365 [2].

Make the button obvious

Whatever you choose, the booking button should be visible on every page, especially on phones, and the process should take a minute or less. The W3C's accessibility guidelines even set a minimum size for buttons and other touch targets [3].

Online booking is worth it when it saves more time than it takes to manage.

Start simple

Many businesses start with a booking request form and add a full booking system later. With a website that keeps evolving, this is easy: in the demo on our homepage, adding online booking simply ships as the next version, v1.1. See how a website can grow your sales and our monthly plan.

References

1. Nielsen Norman Group. "Website Forms Usability: Top 10 Recommendations." nngroup.com
2. Microsoft Learn. "Microsoft Bookings." learn.microsoft.com
3. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. "Understanding Success Criterion 2.5.8: Target Size (Minimum)" w3.org