With the advancement of technology today, there are truly a lot of innovations that people - especially those in the business sector, are coming up with. And as one of those business owners, part of your job is to make sure that you don’t get left behind by the trends and don’t miss out on any of the useful tools available at certain points in time. In this article, we will be talking about one of the many innovations brought about by our technology - online booking system.
Online Booking System
An online booking system refers to the system or software that most businesses use to accept online bookings. In an online booking, customers can go to your website to schedule an appointment or the period they wish to avail their services. This system enables you and your business to get customers and ensure that they avail of your products and/or services. Conversely, it also helps your customers or site visitors easily check the availability of the schedule they prefer. An online booking system is usually used in hotels, resorts, restaurants, and the like. Nevertheless, suppose you are thinking about using online booking for your business. In that case, we are here to lay down the benefits of online booking and the disadvantages of online booking that you will have to put up with when you decide to add this feature to your business.
Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website
Advantages of Online Booking
Let’s get started by talking about the benefits of online booking. These are only some of the many things you can get when you accept online booking. So read on and learn what you can reap when you plant that seed.
1. Limitless Time and Availability
One of the many advantages of online booking - or taking your business online, in general, is that your business virtually never closes. That is to say, unlike having a physical store, you do not have to put up a “Sorry, we’re closed” sign every day. Having your own business website allows your customers to see your products and services every day. To take that up a notch, an online booking system allows your customers to see your business and set themselves up for what you have to offer no matter what time of the day they are available. With this, you no longer have to constantly be present to accommodate them because you have set up a tool for them to still avail of your services without waiting for you. Hot tip: It will be good to send them a personal message of gratitude when you find the time because it will help establish a good relationship.
2. Management Made Easy
Reservations and payments can get very hectic and stressful, especially when they come in bulk. Thus, one of the advantages of online booking is that it helps you keep all of these at bay without sacrificing missing out on some customers who are willing to avail of your services. With online booking, you arm yourself with a tool that does your job as a business owner and manager more efficient, less time consuming, and less stressful. When you accept online booking, you are basically helping yourself by allowing your customers to see the availability of your services, pick the best time for them, set the appointment, and automatically give you the details you need. With this system, you can more easily handle the flow of the customers that come and go.
Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website
3. It Enables Upselling
Upselling means add-ons. And having an online booking system as part of your online store or business website means that you also have a system that can offer more services or products as additional things your customers can avail of. With a good online booking system in place, you can also set up for your customers to be offered upgrades. These upgrades can come in the forms of booking extensions, upgrades in packages, or additional products in addition to what is already available. With this, you get the convenience of accepting online booking, and you also give your business a chance to sell more and earn more.
4. Important Analytics Comes Out
Online booking is not only a system that makes your life easier and more efficient. It also helps your business by giving you deeper insights about your business that you otherwise would not have gotten or you would have not easily been able to compile. By having an online booking system, you can easily gather the data and information you get from the moment you start to accept online booking. When the inflow of online bookings starts to pile up, you can identify which of your products and services are the best sellers, what time slots or days of the week are most requested, and what add-ons and other freebies customers love the most. With this information at your fingertips, you can adjust your marketing strategies and operational efforts accordingly. Take advantage of this information because it will really help you and your business if you know the true pulse of your customers.
Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website.
Disadvantages of Online Booking
And while there are many benefits of online booking, we cannot ignore the fact that it will not be a totally smooth ride when you start to accept online booking. A gentle reminder that these disadvantages of online booking might seem big and worrisome rest assured that there are things that you can do to counteract their effects. You just have to find ways to prevent these disadvantages from taking over your business.
1. Internet Access and Technology Can Prove To Be An Obstacle
While the internet is almost available to anyone, it is not always as reliable as we want it to be - as it is meant to be. Because online booking relies solely on you and your customers having internet access, you have to count on the fact that sometimes, it will let you down. There are many factors about the internet that people, who are not in that business or field, will never completely understand. And with that fact comes the fact that when you have a business website and accept online booking, there are certain errors and discrepancies that you cannot avoid, no matter how careful and efficient you are. You might encounter getting messages from customers who are disappointed and distraught because of their troubles while booking for your services. These can range from people who have trouble clicking or typing while booking to those who cannot even open the page. These are things that you have to deal with and troubleshoot so that it does not happen to more people. You also have to be vigilant and proactive in checking the availability and the most recent bookings. Some business owners have talked about overlapping online booking acceptances due to technical problems not registering certain online bookings.
2. Online Booking System is Impersonal
Another one of the disadvantages of online booking is that you don’t directly interact with your customers. While this might work for some customers, statistically speaking, it is still far more effective for your customers to see and feel that humanity and community when they are interacting with your business team. And because online booking is a fully automated system that virtually eliminates the need for someone to accommodate and talk to your customers, it also tends to appear impersonal and distant. This is not a good image for you and your business in the long run.
Because as much as possible, to establish a good and long-lasting relationship with your customers, you would want to ensure that they know that they are not forming a connection with technology or the internet but with a human being like them.
Online Booking With Strikingly
Image taken from Strikingly
Strikingly is one of the best website builders today. And one of its latest feature updates involves giving your customers the chance to schedule an appointment with you. Given the benefits of online booking that we have just talked about, Strikingly understands the importance for a business such as yours to accept online booking. And so, by going to Strikingly, contacting Strikingly support, and activating your website builder and editor, you can easily incorporate an online booking system - just lay down the details of your events and appointments, and wait for your customers to respond.
Online booking is one of the most innovative tools technology has provided business owners like you. While there are still disadvantages of online booking, you cannot ignore that, in the long run, it is still outweighed by the benefits that it has to offer. So why waste any more time? Sign up with Strikingly, and get yourself a partner that not only allows you to create the most amazing websites and offers you fabulous and useful tools like an online booking system you can use.
