Booking online versus calling: what customers prefer

Neither channel wins outright. When Zion & Zion surveyed 1,049 U.S. adults in 2019 about healthcare appointments, 45 percent said they would prefer to book online and 55 percent preferred a phone call. The split by age was sharp: 55 percent of adults aged 18 to 29 preferred online booking, compared with 32 percent of adults 60 and older.

Preference for online booking has grown in some categories since then. Kyruus's 2023 Care Access Benchmark Report, based on a July 2023 survey of 1,000 healthcare consumers conducted with Wakefield Research, found 61 percent rated online scheduling as extremely or very important when choosing a new provider, and 75 percent of millennials scheduled their last appointment online.

The phone has not gone away. BrightLocal's 2019 survey of 500 U.S. consumers found 60 percent preferred to contact a local business by phone, ahead of email at 16 percent and visiting in person at 15 percent.

Calling gives a customer a person, an immediate answer and a chance to ask questions that a booking form does not cover. Invoca's 2021 Buyer Experience Benchmark Report, based on 500 U.S. consumers who had made a high-stakes purchase in the prior year, found 68 percent found the human connection of calling a business attractive, and 30 percent said they felt most comfortable completing a high-stakes purchase on the phone.

Calls are also how many customers prefer to change plans. In a September 2025 survey of 1,011 Americans published by Zenoti, 77 percent of salon and spa regulars said calling is always or mostly the easiest way to update an existing appointment.

Confidence matters too, and it does not always favor the phone. In the Kyruus 2023 survey, only 36 percent of respondents were confident that booking by phone would match them with a provider who could meet their needs. A clear online booking page that shows services, durations and staff can answer some of those questions before the customer commits.

Online booking works when the office is closed, does not require waiting on hold and lets the customer see available times at a glance. Timing is a large part of the appeal. Zenoti's 2025 survey found 81 percent of salon and spa regulars need to manage appointments outside normal business hours at least sometimes, and 73 percent said they would be more likely to rebook with a business that offered 24/7 booking.

Hold times push customers online as well. Invoca's 2021 report found three out of four consumers will hang up after being placed on hold.

Device use supports it. StatCounter's data for the United States shows mobile devices accounted for 49.1 percent of web traffic in September 2026. A customer browsing on a phone can book in a few taps if the page is built for it.

Yes, and consistently. In the Zion & Zion 2019 study, adults 18 to 29 were 23 percentage points more likely than adults 60 and older to prefer online booking (55 percent versus 32 percent). The Kyruus 2023 report also highlighted millennials as the group most likely to have booked their last appointment online.

Pew Research Center adds a related finding. In a July 2020 survey of 10,211 U.S. adults, 80 percent said they generally do not answer cellphone calls from unknown numbers. For customers who avoid phone calls in daily life, online booking and text are the more natural choices.

A business with a mixed customer base, which describes most service businesses, should expect both groups.

Customers leave. In Zenoti's 2025 survey, 71 percent of salon and spa regulars said they had skipped booking entirely because it was too difficult to get through to someone or book online. Seventy-three percent said they would be more loyal to businesses with easier booking and communication options.

The lesson is not that one channel is better. It is that friction in either channel costs bookings: an unanswered phone, a long hold, a booking page that does not work on a phone or shows no open times.

For most service businesses, yes. The research above shows a large group that prefers each channel, a strong age effect, and a clear demand for booking outside business hours. Offering both covers more customers than either one alone.

The two channels should also share one calendar. When phone bookings and online bookings live in separate systems, double bookings and gaps follow. A single calendar that staff and customers both use keeps availability accurate.

• Offer online booking that works on a phone and shows real availability
• Answer calls live during business hours, with a plan for overflow
• Provide a way to book or request a time after hours
• Send confirmations and reminders by text and email
• Make rescheduling easy by phone, text or link
• Keep one shared calendar for every booking channel

Measure it. Track how many bookings arrive by phone, online, text and in person each month, and when they arrive. Look at the share of online bookings made outside business hours and the share of calls that ask about something a booking page could answer, such as prices, availability or directions.

Over a few months, those numbers show where to put effort: better phone coverage, a clearer booking page, or both. Asking new customers how they would prefer to book next time, at check-in or in a follow-up message, adds a direct answer to the data.