We may be entering a post-pandemic world but things won’t return to business as usual for retailers. Demand for appointment scheduling in retail stores is just as high post-pandemic as it ever was during the pandemic. Customer expectations have irreversibly shifted and enterprise retailers need to invest in the best Appointment Scheduling App if they’re to win the retail revolution.
But is that easier said than done? If you don’t have the time to search for virtual service solutions, finding the best of the bunch may seem unrealistic. Fortunately, we’ve rounded up the top 15 Appointment Scheduling Softwares to save you the hassle.
How to find the best Scheduling Software
Booking. Scheduling. Click and meet. When it comes to Appointment Booking Systems, there really are a million and one different words to describe the same type of software.
As such, we’ve picked some of the most popular terms you should Google to get the best results:
- Scheduling Software
- Appointment Booking System
- Appointment Scheduling System
- Online Booking Software
- Video Appointment Software
- Click and Meet Software
- Store Finder Software
- Appointment Calendar
- Salon Booking System
- Repair Scheduler
What are the benefits of using an Appointment Scheduling Platform?
The main benefits of upgrading to an Appointment Booking System across your online and physical stores include:
- Increased sales: Appointment customers are significantly more likely to convert than walk-ins because they’ve dedicated time to explore your products and services. As your associates can also find out why they’ve booked an appointment, they’re better able to tailor service and increase conversion.
- Stronger competitive edge: Customers increasingly want to see digital innovation in stores and are disappointed when leading retailers don’t offer any exciting initiatives. By quickly rolling out an Appointment Booking System, you can get the edge on slow-to-evolve brands.
- Better brand awareness and perception: When customers are seamlessly able to book appointments and receive personalized service, they have a happier retail experience. This reflects onto their perception of your brand and ensures they share their positive experience with others.
What are the benefits of using an enterprise-retail focused Booking Software?
Enterprise retailers have substantially different software needs than small business owners.
Consequently, enterprise retailers enjoy particular benefits when using enterprise systems, such as:
- Several different interfaces for customers, store teams, head office and call center teams
- Comprehensive Retail Choreography solution suite to manage appointment, walk-in, event, and click and collect customers while simultaneously managing store teams and shop floor operations
- Powerful data analytics across stores to give a full picture of customer behavior in-store
- Full booking widget customization to match their brands needs
- Enterprise-grade system security, GDPR compliance and ISO 27001 certifications
Which features do the best Appointment Scheduling App providers offer?
Trying to choose the best Scheduling Software is a tricky business, particularly if you don’t know which providers have the features you need. We wanted to make your decision as easy as possible so we’ve compiled a list of essential features every Online Booking System provider should offer. See how the top 15 solution providers compare.
What is the best Scheduling App?
Enterprise retailers need to go above and beyond what’s expected to win customers. A superior Online Booking System can help them to get there.
Find out below which 15 providers have the best Scheduling Apps (starting with the most relevant systems for enterprise retail).
Due to the fact enterprise software providers only share their rates upon request, we’re unable to disclose costs attached to each system.
Qudini | JRNI | Salesforce | Clientela | Qmatic | Zebra | Engageware | Coconut Software | Appointedd | Timify | Calendly | Setmore | Squarespace | Brickwork | Booxi | |
Retail & Banking Sector Specific | |||||||||||||||
360 Retail Choreography Suite (e.g., Click and Collect, Queuing, Events and other solutions) | |||||||||||||||
In-Store and Virtual Appointments | |||||||||||||||
ISO 27001 Accredited | |||||||||||||||
Offers VPC Hosting Options for Enterprise | |||||||||||||||
WCAG 2 Accessibility Compliant Customer Interfaces | |||||||||||||||
Single-Sign-On Integration | |||||||||||||||
Flexible settings that HQ can Fully Control | |||||||||||||||
Rich Data Capabilities with Option to Create Custom Dashboards | |||||||||||||||
Staff Interface on Any Desktop Browser and IOS or Android Device | |||||||||||||||
Customer Check-in Kiosk on IOS & Android | |||||||||||||||
TV Display App that Works on Any Screen | |||||||||||||||
Online booking Interface with UTM tracking, demand, source APIs and Google Analytics Style tracking |
1. Qudini
Scale-up retail tech company, Qudini helps enterprise retailers with Appointment Booking, Virtual Interactions by Appointment and Live Shop, Virtual Queue Management, Click and Collect, Task Management, Event Booking, Clienteling, Shop Floor Management and Employee Communication Software solutions. The company has a reputation for being a collaborative partner with a full data analytics offering.
Overview
- Training: It’s essential that store associates can easily navigate their way around any appointment scheduling interface. On average, store teams only require 30 minutes of training to be able to fully navigate Qudini’s system.
- Hardware agnostic: Qudini is fully hardware compatible which means you can use their software with any in-store kiosks, TV displays and other devices. They also offer several different booking methods to increase the accessibility of your services.
- Extensive data offering: Clients can feed Qudini’s real-time data into their in-store digital display Content Management System (CMS) to tailor their promotions as much as possible.
- Multiple languages: Qudini has one of the largest translation offerings in the market, with 12 languages out-of-the-box. These include American English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and Arabic. You can also request any translation from Qudini.
- Integrations: The cloud-based SaaS provider offers multiple integrations with CRMs, calendars, video conferencing tools and much more.
- Extra features: Qudini also has features for virtual appointments, after-service surveys, email and SMS confirmation and reminder messages, full brand customization for your website’s booking widget and data analytics with multiple different dashboards. They also have a Scheduling App that is compatible with all kiosks and WCAG 2 accessibility compliance.
- Clients: Burberry, Nike, Pandora, Samsung, Meijer Pharmacy, Tesco, IQOS, NatWest, Benefit Cosmetics, Currys.
- Available since: 2012.
2. JRNI
JRNI started off as a small business Booking System, although they’re now expanding their focus to support enterprise companies in the public sector. They don’t have android or IOS apps yet but they’re still one of the best appointment scheduling providers.
Overview
- Reliability: JRNI’s Appointment System has a high uptime, meaning that the software should work without any errors.
- Restricted access to settings: Many of JRNI’s settings are preset so you don’t have to worry about your head office users accidentally enabling the wrong features.
- Clients: Co-op, Levi’s, Kingfisher, Jojo Maman Bébé, KBC and Bed Bath & Beyond.
- Available since: 2012.
3. Salesforce
Salesforce is a US-based software company focussing primarily on CRM services for marketing, sales and customer service.
Overview
- CRM capabilities: You may benefit by leveraging your existing Salesforce customer database to create more engaging customer experiences through Salesforce Scheduler.
- Chronos bot: If you’re looking to automate the appointment booking process, try Salesforce’s “Einstein Bot”. Customers can carry out a few actions using Einstein such as scheduling, viewing, rescheduling or canceling appointments.
- Requires Salesforce CRM: To be eligible for Salesforce Scheduler, you must also use their CRM.
- Clients: Unilever, Jobsite, Kuoni, The Chapar and Just Eat.
- Available since: 2016.
4. Clientela
While they don’t have native apps for Android or IOS, we’re sure they’re on the way. With a number of midsized businesses on their books, Clientela is still one of our top appointment scheduling companies.
Overview
- Multiple features: Clientala has some of the typical features enterprise retailers want from an Appointment Booking App including CRM integrations and video conferencing capabilities.
- Clients: Gucci, Cartier, Topshop, Bally and MaxMara.
- Available since: 2020.
5. Qmatic
With their headquarters in Sweden, Qmatic is a hardware provider with a modestly sized solution suite. Most of their clients are within the public sector, although they are slowly taking on more retail clients.
Overview
- Software release expected: Hardware providers often get a bad rep because it can be harder to centrally manage your kiosks. However, with a new cloud-based alternative coming later this year, you shouldn’t have to worry about this issue with Qmatic.
- Repairs: If any of your kiosks need repairing, you can ship them to Qmatic’s Swedish repair center. You usually won’t have to wait for too long to get a replacement.
- Clients: Manchester Metropolitan University, SNCF, Capitec and Telia Company.
- Available since: 2018.
6. Zebra
Zebra Technologies acquired Reflexis Systems in 2020, adding their Task Management Software to their solutions targeted at retailers.
Overview
- Multiple solutions: Zebra doesn’t have video chat or virtual appointment capabilities. However, they do offer in-store appointment scheduling and event booking.
- WCAG 2 Accessibility compliant: To ensure your appointment booking page is accessible to people with disabilities, it’s crucial that your software provider is compliant with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), as Reflexis is.
- Clients: Multimoto, Vera Badley, Forza, Havan and Carol Pharmacies.
- Available since: 2020.
7. EngageWare
Established in 1999, Engageware (originally “TimeTrade”) is a single-solution appointment scheduling SaaS provider. They offer their general Scheduling App to clients across different sectors including financial and other organizations.
Overview
- Kiosk app: With EngageWare’s Self-Service Kiosk app, IOS customers can check-in for appointments on their mobile device. Perhaps in the future they’ll offer the same functionality to Android users.
- Post-visit follow-up: EngageWare lets you send an SMS, as opposed to an email, to your customers after service to capture some feedback about their experience.
- Virtual appointments: Single solution appointment providers don’t have the queue management capabilities to offer live video chat. However, Engageware offers virtual appointments so you can still connect your store associates and customers remotely.
- Clients: Clarks, BestBuy, Cambridge Trust, Logix and Del-One.
- Available since: 1999.
8. Coconut
Coconut Software doesn’t make complementary piña coladas, but they do have a useful solution if you’re solely looking to manage appointment customers. Trading in the finance sector since 2011, Coconut is one of the best Appointment Scheduling Softwares.
Overview
- Virtual and in-store appointments: Coconut lets your customers choose whether they want to speak to an associate in-person or prefer the convenience of a virtual appointment.
- Pre-made dashboards: Coconut comes with a number of fixed data analytics dashboard to capture a couple of customer data points.
- Clients: Arvest, Vancity, Mainstreet, Jackson Hewitt and Connect First.
- Available since: 2011.
9. Appointedd
Founded in 2011, with a presence in 23 countries, Edinburgh scale-up Appointedd works with small, midsized and even enterprise businesses to curate a superior customer journey.
Overview
- Capabilities: Appointedd’s feature set includes multiple language options, a variety of booking methods, email reminders and virtual appointments.
- Collaborative: With small, medium and enterprise-sized retail clients, Appointedd collaborates with lots of different stakeholders. Effectively, this means Appointedd can help with some of your many use cases.
- Data analytics: Appointedd has a simple reporting suite you can use to close the data gap on what’s happening between customers entering your stores and the point of sale.
- Clients: The Swedish Teacher, AppInstitute, Fuze Ceremonies and Mamas & Papas.
- Available since: 2011.
10. Timify
One of the lesser known appointment scheduling providers on our list, Timify offers a flexible solution for primarily midsized businesses.
Overview
- Several booking methods: To captivate as many consumers as possible, retailers need to enable customers to schedule appointments via a multitude of different methods. With Timify, it’s possible to make an appointment via Reserve with Google, QR code or booking widget.
- Free trial: Timify’s system comes with a free trial of a limited version of their Scheduling Software.
- Clients: Marc O’Polo, Fieldmann, Sonova, Intersport and s.Oliver.
- Available since: 2012.
11. Calendly
Founded in 2013, Atlanta-based start-up Calendly has one of the best Appointment Scheduling Softwares for small businesses and individuals. Calendly is primarily used as a Personal Scheduling Tool.
Overview
- CRM integration: Calendly integrates with a number of different CRM tools, including Hubspot and Salesforce.
- Multiple languages: Translate the content on your appointment scheduling pages into up to six different languages.
- Third-party calendars: Calendly’s appointment scheduler integrates with third-party calendars from Google and Microsoft, though they’re yet to integrate with Apple’s calendar.
- Clients: Twillo, Dropbox, Lyft, Compass, eBay and Vonage.
- Available since: 2013.
12. Setmore
Despite being a relative newcomer to the appointment booking world, Setmore has one of the best Scheduling Softwares. If you’re a small business, consider deploying Setmore’s solution in your stores.
Overview
- Features: Setmore’s features include calendar syncing with customer and store team Google and Office 365 calendars, the ability to add your booking page to your website and the option for customers to book appointments via Facebook.
- Responsive: Setmore has a responsive Customer Success team and resolves bug issues promptly.
- Clients: Happy Dental, The Johnson High and TDC Digital Agency.
- Available since: 2011.
13. Squarespace
Squarespace Scheduling offers appointment scheduling to small and mid-sized businesses that are looking to improve the retail experience.
Overview
- Email reminders: With Squarespace’s standard email reminders, customers receive reminders leading up to their appointment to ensure they don’t forget it.
- Customization: Squarespace offers full appointment booking widget customization.
- Clients: Wattpad, Avocode, Yummly and Focus21.
- Available since: 2006.
14. Brickwork
Brickwork is a DevHub company with one solution: appointment booking. They’re growing in popularity, partnering with small, middle and enterprise businesses.
Overview
- Embeddable booking page: Adding a booking page onto your website is one of the key ways to drive customers to scheduling appointments. Fortunately, Brickwork offers this important feature.
- Multiple language options: Brickwork, like Calendly, offers six language options out-of-the-box.
- Calendar integrations: Brickwork offers an iCalendar integration–one the five key calendar integrations a top appointment solution needs.
- Clients: Urban Outfitters, J.Crew, Bonobos and Kate Spade.
- Available since: 2013.
15. Booxi
Booxi provides businesses of all sizes with virtual and in-store Appointment Scheduling Services. They also have a unique Rental Scheduling Software enabling users to rent out their items by appointment.
Overview
- Features: Booxi’s Appointment Scheduling Software comes integrated with a staff calendar management functionality, automated reminders and video conferencing.
- Booking widget customization: It’s possible to customize your Booxi booking widget and embed it onto your website.
- Clients: Decathlon, Leroy Merlin, Optic 2000, Aldo and Clarins.
- Available since: 2013.
Should Retailers Build or Buy Appointment Scheduling Software?
If you’re undecided on whether you want to build or buy in-store software, ask yourself this: would you carry out your own open-heart surgery? Probably not.
On the surface, it may seem like building your own Appointment Scheduling System is a great way to save time, cut costs, and get all the features and functionalities you want into your stores.
However, there’s an enormous amount of work that goes into creating an Appointment Scheduling App. You’re almost certain to spend more time building even the most rudimentary Appointment Scheduling System (not to mention how time-consuming maintenance and security testing are).
In the end, you risk spending twice as much money for a product that’s a far cry from the best scheduling software on the market.