Web.com announced today that it has launched a new SMB appointment scheduling tool. Known as MySchedulr, it streamlines the process of booking and managing appointments. It’s built for broad applicability but is most fitting to appointment-based SMBs like home services and salons.
And for a tool meant to reduce friction, it doubles down with easy integration into Web.com core products like websites. But for maximum flexibility and applicability, it can also be used as a standalone tool for SMBs that don’t have websites, or those that use social media as a primary online presence.
For SMBs that do have a website through Web.com, MySchedulr boosts its overall suite with more integrated functionality. This in turn makes it more sticky to existing users – and enticing to new customers. For that reason, this type of bundling has become the name of the game in web services.
“MySchedulr adds to our already robust web presence products,” Newfold Digital (Web.com parent company) president Ed Jay told Localogy Insider, “while giving entrepreneurs the time they need to offer high-quality service and optimize the growth of their business”
Set It and Forget It
So what does MySchedulr offer? The core value proposition is built around Calendly-like functionality to share links with customers (or via website widget) to self-book pre-approved slots. Customers also get automated email confirmations and reminders; and can pay for appointments all within the same flow.
For more color, here’s the bulleted list of features.
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- Flexible Scheduling Options: Appointments can be booked with or without a website, and availability can be set by team members, including blocking time for breaks.
- Customizable Services: SMBs are offered the ability to showcase one-on-one services and group events for customers to book, including recurring virtual events.
- Collect Payments Online: Customers can pay for service at the time of booking, integrated with the same workflow.
- Automated Email Communication: Appointment confirmations, reminders, cancellation options, and other useful comms are sent automatically.
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“Whether you’re a makeup artist, handyman, interior decorator, or hair salon, running any service-based business is no easy feat,” said Jay. “MySchedulr is ideal for SMBs looking to empower their customers to easily schedule and pay for appointments online, cutting out time-consuming manual tasks.”
Stickiness & Synergies
Back to the strategic drivers around bundling various functions with websites as the foundational layer, this has proven to create stickiness and synergies. For one, there’s product adjacency and complimentary functionality with websites and other functions like scheduling, payments, and CRM.
That breeds the stickiness factor, as it plants a given website provider deeper into the daily operations of a given business. The one-stop-shop approach is also attractive for existing and new website customers – especially time-starved and tech-illiterate SMBs – who can simplify things on tech and billing levels.
Lastly, it’s about boosting margins and revenue per user (ARPU). Web hosting – once the core product for website providers – has undergone “race to the bottom” downward pricing pressure. This has compelled other adjacent and high-margin products to counterbalance any negative economic impact.
We’ll continue to see this play out within the highly-competitive website builder space. And that competition has heated up in the past few years with the mighty Newfold Digital (Web.com’s owner) as a reformulated entity. We’ll have the company on stage at L23 in just a few weeks to find out more.
