Sites that use WooCommerce can provide a better shopping experience for online customers, but it doesn’t do everything perfectly. For example, WooCommerce doesn’t include any default settings for booking appointments.
Today in the modern world, people are preoccupied and busy, so they’re always looking for ways to save time. When you make scheduling appointments online available to your customers, it saves time and brings in sales. This means that sometimes you will need extensions to get the job done. One system that many people use is called the WooCommerce Appointments plugin. This plugin is made by BizzThemes, and it is geared mainly towards helping you schedule appointments.
But this plugin for WooCommerce is not without its flaws. Several people have complained about its flaws and would like an alternative. Some of the main complaints that customers have with WooCommerce Appointments are
- Since the plugin for WooCommerce is mainly focused on appointment bookings, there are not many features for other kinds of bookings, such as rentals or recurring bookings.
- There is no free version.
- The pricing plan is not very generous.
WooCommerce Appointments Price (As Stated on the Product Page)
WooCommerce Appointments has three separate annual plans. First, the single-site license costs $89 yearly. Next, for a license that covers up to five separate sites, it costs $129 every year. Lastly, if you need a plugin for WooCommerce that supports up to 25 separate sites, you will need to spend $299 yearly.
Considering the above information, you might be wondering if there is a better plugin for WooCommerce.
Do You Need an Alternative?
Are you looking for an alternative to the official WooCommerce plugin? Maybe you want a plugin for WooCommerce that is easier to use, has better support, and is competitively priced.
If so, then this article is for you. This article will look at the industry recommended replacement plugin for WooCommerce Appointments.
The Best WooCommerce Appointments Plugin Alternative
If you are looking for an alternative plugin for WooCommerce Appointments, look no further than Amelia. It is a great alternative made by CodeCanyon. It specifically caters to businesses that rely completely on appointments from customers. Anywhere from busy gyms to clinics, Amelia can work for you, and, needless to say, Amelia is a great plugin for WooCommerce integration.
Other than that, it is very easy to use, as well as affordable enough for most people. Once it’s installed, the rest of the download and setup process is nearly automated. This means that if you are a solo show, Amelia is perfect for you.
Amelia works 24/7 to make sure that your customers can book appointments (and even pay) while you are away, asleep, or wherever. Amelia completely automates all the bookings and appointments that you would usually do in person or on the phone. Customers can pick the service and employee that fits their availability and schedule. They also have the option to allow notifications for their appointment and reschedule.
Its usability is unparalleled, as is evidenced by the accessible and effortless dashboard. Amelia is a great choice for novices, as even someone completely new to appointment plugin software can get a pretty good grasp on how to use it.
Amelia is very easy to set up and doesn’t require any training to use. Therefore, it can be a great idea to try it out and see how it works for your team.
This plugin ideally displays your services and products during booking for customers to see. You can also use the Edit Product Page feature to make your business stand out. This can be a great tool for smaller businesses, as Amelia can help individuals to do the work of a full team. What are some of Amelia’s features that make it distinct and notable? Keep reading to find out.
Custom Services Schedule
Amelia offers full flexibility of scheduling management with its custom services schedule feature. This allows you to set working hours and service combinations individually per employee, all of which is visible on your booking form. You can also manage bookings, edit the booking duration, the booking cost, and customize bookings entirely in the editing box.
SMS Notifications
Amelia helps lower no-shows by sending SMS notifications to your customers. As a customers’ appointment nears, they will get a message reminding them of it. You can even use this feature to stay in contact with your customers, therefore fostering a closer relationship between customer and owner.
Custom Fields for Booking Forms
You can customize your booking form to best fit your business. You can configure custom fields with checkboxes or text to add any necessary information for your customers.
You can also set booking rules for manual booking within your booking page. You can customize bookings to fit your business’ needs and character.
Schedule Recurring Appointments
You will encourage your customers to return by using recurring bookings. This feature can help many businesses that rely on repeat customers and want to find a way to keep consistent customers.
You can allow people to select booking dates daily, weekly, or yearly. This can keep your customers satisfied and lower double bookings. Customers can also edit booking durations or change recurring bookings to a single booking. The bookings are always adjustable to clients’ ever changing schedules.
Native Zoom Integration
Amelia enables you to easily connect Zoom to your site. With Zoom connected, your customers can book appointments online and receive the meeting link all within a fixed booking window using a notification. This can save you loads of time and reduce no-shows to your event bookings.
Events
Amelia allows you to make a one-time booking or repeat events such as classes, conferences, concerts, or meetups. It provides an easy-to-use booking calendar that allows you to manage events and even manage attendance. You can even edit the booking cost for an event to encourage attendance.
Event Calendar View
You can display events by using a very attractive and responsive booking calendar on the front page of your website. All that clients have to do is click on an event and a pop-up information box will appear with the schedule and availability rules; then, they can select an opening within their timeframe.
Miscellaneous
- Add employees with specific hours or with special prices.
- Add multiple booking services or different categories of booking services.
- Add multiple locations.
- Multiple non-adjacent bookings and appointments can be booked.
- It includes a beautiful booking calendar and an intuitive booking system.
- There is an easy-to-use booking page.
- Accommodation bookings for hotel booking industries are available.
- Amelia allows special prices to add a robust booking strategy and encourage appointment requests.
- Group bookings that don’t take up multiple booking slots are available.
- All of your employees can set booking availability and booking duration.
- Amelia supplies owners with a dashboard that summarizes all the bookings within an easy-to-understand table.
- It also provides charts for critical KPIs with widgets and charts.
- There are no add-ons and or surprise fees.
- Pay a one-time fee for a lifetime license.
Pricing
Amelia starts at a price of $79 and includes one whole year of premium support and monthly updates.
For those that need more, Amelia can accommodate your ever growing business. Two more options are provided. The first option includes three domains per year, and the next allows unlimited domains per year. They are priced respectively at $119 and $249. You can also choose to purchase Amelia for a lifetime.
Amelia also gives a 15-day money-back guarantee for any new subscription.
There also is a free version on WordPress.org if you want to give it a try.
Is There an Alternative to WooCommerce Appointments?
There is, in fact, an alternative to WooCommerce Appointments. Some would say that the alternative supersedes WooCommerce Appointments After reviewing some of the criteria you should consider when choosing a WordPress appointment booking plugin, what would you say?
Amelia provides well-built features to manage bookings, booking cancellations, double bookings, booking approvals, and more all with a 15-day money-back guarantee. If you take bookings and appointments seriously, then you need a good appointment plugin, no matter what business you run.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you should read these as well:
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- Top WordPress Coaching Plugin Options for Your Business