In 2024, growing a business felt more challenging than ever. So, finding a way to attract new clients that's easy to implement and has a huge impact feels like striking gold. Online scheduling offers precisely that—a simple change that can unlock growth and attract more clients with minimal effort.
Scheduling an appointment used to mean a client had to call a business or have a lengthy back-and-forth email conversation to find a time that worked. It wasn't easy or affordable for businesses to display appointment openings to clients. However, the rise of online appointment scheduling solutions has simplified the booking process for companies and clients.
Now, businesses can simply sync their appointment calendars to an online scheduling platform and display available meeting times on their booking pages. No more micromanaging team members' schedules. No more manually coordinating bookings. At the same time, clients can easily view available openings and choose the best time for them. More than 70% of consumers now prefer to book online, so businesses that fail to offer online scheduling risk losing significant revenue.
This guide will explore how client scheduling preferences have transformed over the past two years and how to leverage those insights to drive growth in 2025 and beyond.
versus scheduling by phone, text message, email, or in-person
Online scheduling has transformed how businesses and clients connect, making booking appointments faster and easier for everyone.
What used to take multiple phone calls or emails can now be done with just a few clicks, giving businesses a simple way to keep up with customer expectations and stand out from the competition.
Appointment scheduling software simplifies how businesses book, manage, and communicate with clients about appointments. New and existing customers can view upcoming appointment availability on branded booking pages, select their preferred services, and book an appointment slot, often without speaking to anyone.
Scheduling platforms sync with calendar solutions (such as Google Calendar, Microsoft 365, ICal, etc.) to track when teams have openings or are blocked. Then, they use that data to display real-time appointment availability to clients. Even as appointments shift or are canceled, team members' schedules remain accurate.
Along with offering online booking, appointment scheduling apps often include features like automated reminders, payment processing, messaging campaigns, and analytics. These tools help businesses efficiently manage clientappointments at every stage, from pre-booking to follow-up.
Online appointment scheduling is changing how businesses and customers connect worldwide. Companies are using scheduling tools to improve convenience for their customers and better meet their needs.
60% of Americans now book most of their appointments online, highlighting a demand for simplicity & control. (1)
94% of consumers are more likely to choose a provider that offers online booking over one that does not. (1)
Local businesses that added online booking to their websites saw revenue increases up to 120%. (2)
So, how do you use these trends to your advantage? To make the most of your business scheduling software, dig into what your clients are doing—how they're booking, when they're booking, and what they're looking for.
Behind every booking is a decision influenced by convenience, timing, and technology. Are your clients scheduling appointments during their lunch breaks, late at night, or right after their morning coffee? Do they prefer the speed of their smartphone or the giant screen on their desktop?
With data about your clients' booking habits, you can spot patterns and create more thoughtful strategies, like adjusting staffing to match peak booking times. Let's break down the numbers and see what they mean for your business.
In 2023 and 2024, people booked appointments on mobile devices 49.6% of the time (when the device type could be identified), while desktop bookings accounted for 50.4%.
Though the two years were nearly identical overall, 2024 marked a significant shift, with mobile officially surpassing desktop bookings.
This reflects the growing preference for mobile-friendly scheduling, as clients increasingly prioritize the convenience of booking appointments on their smartphones, whether during commutes, between errands, or while on the go.
Ensure your booking page is fully responsive or leverage scheduling software that offers built-in mobile compatibility. This aligns with modern consumer preferences and reduces booking friction, boosting engagement and conversion rates.
The busiest days for scheduling an appointment are in the middle of the workweek —Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays—which account for 57% of all bookings. Mondays follow closely at 18.2%, indicating that many people dive back into their busy weeks by scheduling meetings first thing. By contrast, Friday bookings drop to 15.8% as the weekend approaches and people begin to wind down.
Unsurprisingly, weekends (Saturday and Sunday) have the lowest booking activity, as many people prioritize relaxing during their downtime.
Analyze which days are the most and least busy for your business. Ensure you have appropriate coverage on days bookings are high. Consider scheduling promotional campaigns to fill open spots on days when bookings are low.
Most appointments (83%) occur during standard business hours (8 AM to 5 PM), while bookings made outside standard business hours (e.g., tattoo studios, emergency home repair services, and personal training) account for 17%.
Additionally, the top five booking times—9 AM, 10 AM, 1 PM, 12 PM, and 11 AM— highlight peak scheduling periods in the morning and early afternoon, likely due to shared client and employee availabilities.
* Midnight is an outlier due to a high number of 'full-day' appointments starting at 12AM
Whether using manual or automated scheduling, ensure your system and staff can handle a high volume of bookings during peak times. Have appropriate staffing levels for your business's busiest booking times, but also have processes in place to keep clients happy if delays or other scheduling issues occur.
Most appointments are scheduled for either one hour or thirty minutes. Understanding this pattern can help businesses design schedules that minimize gaps and maximize appointment bookings.
Of course, your appointment durations should be tailored to your specific services and industry standards, ensuring you have the time needed to deliver quality results.
Don't feel confined to traditional 30- or 60-minute slots just because they're the norm. Design a schedule that works for you and helps optimize client flow while reducing downtime. Choose a solution that lets you customize appointment types and durations to fit your needs, and remember to include buffer time between clients so you can take a few well-deserved breaks.
Different industries have distinctly different appointment volumes and durations.These nuances highlight the importance of tailoring your scheduling solution to meet industry-specific needs:
Automation is critical for managing demand in high-volume industries. For lowervolume sectors, ensure the scheduling tool can handle longer, more nuanced appointments without overloading staff schedules.
Knowing how clients prefer to book gives you the foundation to improve your scheduling process. But to truly make online scheduling work for your business, you need to put that knowledge into practice with simple, effective strategies.
Following a few key tips can make booking simpler for clients, save time, and get the most out of your tool. Let's look at the best ways to set up and manage online scheduling. Here are seven online scheduling best practices to ensure a successful implementation of online appointment scheduling.
Manually tracking appointments—whether in a paper planner or calendar app—can lead to mistakes like double bookings or forgotten cancellations.
When you sync your calendar or customer relationship management (CRM) platform to an appointment scheduling tool, your booking availability automatically updates. You set your schedule, and the system handles the rest, keeping your booking page accurate and preventing scheduling conflicts.
Why It Matters: Manually managing appointments can become overwhelming, leading to errors that anger clients and disrupt schedules. Automation saves time and ensures clients have a stress-free booking experience.
Pro Tip: Use software with built-in appointment reminders and prompts that allow clients to confirm, reschedule, or cancel appointments. Any changes automatically update your calendar, saving time and keeping everything organized.
Pinpointing your company's peak booking times can greatly impact on your business. By identifying high-demand periods, you can strategically plan promotions, adjust availability, and allocate resources to keep operations running smoothly during your busiest times.
Why It Matters: Failing to accommodate peak booking periods can lead to overwhelmed staff, long wait times, and a negative client experience.
By optimizing scheduling during these high-demand times, businesses can achieve higher booking completion rates, increased revenue, and improved client loyalty. This might involve adding staff resources or launching promotions to fill less busy periods.
Pro Tip: Along with increasing staff during peak hours, ensure your team is trained to handle high-demand times. They should be able to quickly respond to client messages reschedule appointments, and manage walk-ins using your appointment management platform.
Your booking page is often the first touchpoint for potential clients and a key factor in their decision to book an appointment. A professional, branded experience builds trust and encourages clients to complete their bookings without hesitation.
Why It Matters: A poor mobile experience or a generic, unbranded booking page can cause clients to lose confidence in your business, resulting in missed opportunities. On the other hand, a well-designed, responsive booking page reassures clients they are in the right place, increasing the likelihood of completed bookings.
51.7% of Apptoto appointment bookings were made using mobile devices in 2024
Pro Tip: Your appointment scheduling software should have built-in mobile optimization and branding customization. Platforms like Apptoto allow you to create booking pages that are both visually appealing and highly functional on mobile devices. Test your page frequently to ensure it loads quickly and displays correctly.
Keep your booking availability accurate by updating it to reflect your current business hours, holidays, employee schedules, or changes in seasonal demand. Regular reviews help avoid customer frustration and overbooking during peak periods.
Why It Matters: Outdated availability can create confusion and prompt frequent rescheduling requests. This frustrates customers and increases the likelihood of no-shows and negative reviews, ultimately harming your business's reputation.
Pro Tip: Use reporting and analytics tools to identify high demand periods. Then, adjust your availability or staffing to maximize bookings.
If clients can't easily find your booking page, they won't use it. Make the link highly visible across your website, email signatures, social media, and offline materials like business cards or flyers. The more you integrate your booking link into business communications, the more likely clients are to take action.
Why It Matters: Businesses with prominently displayed booking links on their websites and emails see higher engagement. If potential clients can't find your booking link, they may bounce to seek out competitors with more convenient booking experiences.
52% of all bookings on Apptoto online scheduling pages were made by new clients
Pro Tip: Add a “Book Now” button to your homepage and other high-traffic pages, such as your service or product pages. Test the button's placement on your page (i.e., top navigation, above the fold under your heading) to see what performs best.
Requiring payment at the time of booking reduces no-shows and helps maintain consistent cash flow. Whether it's a deposit, full payment, or simply keeping a card on file, financial commitments increase client accountability, signaling their commitment to the appointment and safeguarding your revenue.
Why It Matters: Securing financial commitments in advance reduces the time your staff spends chasing payments and collecting no-show fees. Clients are less likely to no-show when they've already paid upfront or if they have a card on file. This approach lets you forecast revenue more easily and allocate staffing resources more effectively.
Pro Tip: Choose a payment processor that integrates seamlessly with your scheduling software.
Sending timely appointment reminders and personalized follow-ups is a powerful way to reduce no-shows and nurture client relationships. Reminders ensure clients are prepared and show up on time. Follow-ups—like thank-you messages, satisfaction surveys, or review requests—help strengthen connections and encourage repeat business.
Why It Matters: Appointment reminders minimize missed appointments, saving your business time and revenue, while follow-ups show professionalism, collect helpful feedback, and show clients they're valued. Automating these processes reduces manual workload and ensures consistent communication with every client, helping you maintain excellent service standards.
Pro Tip: Use your appointment scheduling software to automate reminders and follow-ups. Platforms like Apptoto allow you to send timely, personalized messages that keep clients informed and engaged. Whether it's a pre-appointment reminder or a follow-up note after, these messages help maintain strong client relationships.
As the online appointment scheduling landscape evolves, new advancements and trends shape how businesses and clients interact.
Staying ahead of these trends can give your business a competitive edge by improving client satisfaction, operational efficiency, and revenue growth. Here are the key trends to watch for in 2025:
AI is transforming appointment scheduling by automating routine tasks and helping businesses connect with their clients more efficiently. For example, Apptoto's AI-driven automatic reminder message translation ensures clients receive reminders in their preferred languages, making it easier for businesses to engage diverse, multilingual audiences.
Strict regulatory requirements, such as GDP and CCPA, mean businesses must prioritize data security in scheduling systems. Clients are also more concerned with the privacy of their personal information.
Choose scheduling software that prioritizes encryption, secure payment processing, and compliance with global privacy regulations. Communicate your commitment to data security in client communications and on your booking page.
Now that you know the best practices for online scheduling, the next step is finding the right software for your business. But the best scheduling platform for your company shouldn't just help you book appointments. It should simplify your daily job, enhance customer satisfaction, and keep your schedule running smoothly.
So how do you choose? Look for an appointment scheduling tool with these essential features to make scheduling effortless for you and your clients:
Offer different appointment types, such as individual meetings or group sessions.
Create professional-looking pages with your business's logo, brand colors, and other key elements.
Easily view and manage schedules for multiple team members and appointment types. Display real-time availability to eliminate double bookings and avoid scheduling conflicts.
Reduce no-shows with customizable reminders that clients can use to easily confirm, reschedule, or cancel appointments.
Connect your scheduling solution to popular tools like calendar apps, CRMs, EMRs/ EHRs, and virtual meeting apps to keep your appointments synced. All your systems stay updated and aligned.
Secure payments during booking or collect them later to reduce no-shows and boost cash flow
Send targeted messages to clients and prospects to promote specials and drive more bookings.
Give clients the option to respond to appointment reminders directly to confirm their attendance, update you on their ETA, or ask questions. Respond instantaneously.
Automatically direct clients to the right team member, service, or location based on their needs. Match clients with the most relevant appointment and provider while saving time.
Effortlessly assign and track resources like rooms, equipment, or additional personnel for each appointment. Prevent resource conflicts and ensure you have what you need at your fingertips.
Spanish55 helps busy professionals learn Spanish through personalized video-call lessons. With Apptoto's automated appointment reminders, they have reduced no-shows by 30%.
By delivering timely, customized email and text reminders, Spanish55 ensures clients stay on track, improving retention and helping students reach their goals.
"This made online scheduling of free consultations totally painless... There's nothing I can't do with Apptoto."
Abraham Arechiga,
Co-founder of Spanish55
Online appointment scheduling will continue to be a transformative tool for business growth in 2025 and beyond.
Simplifying the booking process, reducing no-shows, and delivering exceptional client experiences can help your business thrive in an increasingly competitive market.
With advanced scheduling tools and a tailored approach based on your clients' unique needs, you can:
Whether you're implementing a booking system for the first time or optimizing an existing tool, set your business up for continued success with online appointment scheduling.
Apptoto's “Unlocking 2025's Online Appointment Scheduling Trends for Your Business” analyzes the evolving online appointment scheduling landscape utilizing first-party data points and industry analyses.
This report is based on:
The analysis encompasses:
Written by Nicole Mears
Research & Data Compilation by Brian Barton