SAN FRANCISCO, May 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Facebook Developer Conference (also known as F8) held in San Jose, CA, on April 30, 2019, Facebook announced they would be integrating their Appointments on Facebook scheduling tool for businesses directly into Facebook Messenger. To ensure seamless integration with premium, professional appointment scheduling tools, Facebook partnered with the San Francisco-based startup Booksy. The new feature will be released on May 24, 2019.
Facebook chose to partner with Booksy because of their position as an industry leader in appointment booking services for business. Booksy's Client Scheduling app, called Booksy, is currently the top ranked among booking apps within the Lifestyle category on the Apple App Store. Booksy's Professional Scheduling app, called BooksyBiz, is currently the Top Grossing App in the Beauty category on Google Play.
The new Appointments on Facebook product enables appointment-based businesses to use Facebook Messenger for accepting client bookings. With this tool, merchants can:
- Share their availability for appointments
- Accept appointments from clients
- List available services
- Manage client contacts and send appointment reminders
According to Booksy CEO Stefan Batory, "Our research shows that 75% of businesses in the beauty space are still relying on text messages and phone calls to schedule appointments. Because of Facebook's massive reach and influence, we expect this new product will educate tens of thousands of merchants to the benefits of booking and managing appointments online."
Stefan Batory goes on to explain that, "Once businesses understand the benefits of online booking, they want to upgrade to a premium platform designed with the professional in mind. As the leading scheduling app in the beauty services market, Booksy is positioned to benefit from Facebook's new release more than perhaps any other company."
This isn't the first time Booksy has partnered with a leading social media platform to develop online appointment scheduling tools. In 2018, Booksy was chosen by Instagram to work on their pilot team of developers to enable third party appointment booking. Booksy has also worked to advance the online scheduling industry through partnerships with Google, Yelp!, and even Beyonce's own hair stylist Kim Kimble.
Beyonce's hair stylist for the past 20 years, Kim Kimble, uses Booksy to manage her appointment scheduling for her salon business, Kim Kimble Salon in West Hollywood, CA. She believes that marketing beauty services through social media is now the most powerful tool for reaching new clients. She also understands that for businesses to benefit from this, it's crucial for them to be able to take appointments directly through social media. "Booksy was easy to integrate directly into our social media, which is where so many clients are looking for services these days," says Kim Kimble.
Kim Kimble also recognizes that the vast majority of customers are using mobile devices to access social media. In January 2019, 96% of Facebook users accessed the site on a mobile device. With the growing dominance of mobile devices in the social media space, it only makes sense for Kimble to use a mobile-first platform like Booksy to run her business. Kim Kimble says, "What I really love about Booksy is that because it's mobile, my team can schedule and manage our business from anywhere, at any time."
As a trusted development partner for Facebook, Instagram and other technology giants, Booksy continues to be recognized as an industry-leader in advancing online scheduling tools as the new standard for appointment-based businesses.
About Booksy:
Facilitating more than 3 million customer bookings per month worldwide, Booksy is the leading beauty marketplace for finding, scheduling and managing appointments. Anchored by a SaaS App for business management, Booksy is a 2-App platform that serves businesses through the BooksyBiz app, and consumers with the Booksy client app. The BooksyBiz App gives businesses the ability to share their availability, services, prices, and customer reviews with clients. The Booksy client app allows clients to discover, book, and pay for services from within the Booksy app, or directly through Instagram, Facebook, Google, and Yelp.
The company is headquartered in the United States and has over 200 employees based in offices across 6 countries. Booksy raised over $20m in VC funding to date, the last round was led by Piton Capital and included investors such as OpenOcean and Zach Coelius. Booksy also partnered with major tech brands including Facebook, Instagram, Google and Yelp to ensure seamless booking experience directly on their platform. The company has been successfully delivering on the customer-first promise, with over 75% of merchants very likely to recommend Booksy to a friend or colleague. Booksy's leadership team commands a mix of track-record at highly successful startups (iTaxi, Eo Networks, HoneyBook, Docplanner) as well as experience from leading blue-chip and consulting companies (McKinsey, BCG, PwC, Google, eBay, DaWanda, Wonga, Groupon).
Related Links:
- Booksy Home Page
- Official Facebook Announcement
- Facebook List of Official Development Partners
Anthony Gordon
Director of Content Marketing
Booksy
510 410 3215
anthony.gordon@booksy.com
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SOURCE Booksy