System and method for online marketing, scheduling and booking of services

Abstract

Disclosed are systems, methods and computer program products for online marketing, scheduling and booking of services. In one example embodiment, the system for scheduling and booking of service appointments includes an inventory database containing schedule of booked and available service appointments associated with a plurality of service providers. The system further includes a calendar-based service provider interface for creating a schedule of services provided by the service provider and storing the schedule in the inventory database. The system further includes a calendar-based service user interface for displaying schedules of available service appointments and booking one or more service appointments.

1 . A method for scheduling services, the method comprising:
 providing to a service provider a calendar-based service provider interface for creating a schedule of services provided by the service provider;   receiving from the service provider through the interface a schedule of available services, which includes name of service, date and time when the service is provided, name of practitioner, price of the service and a discount offer; and   storing the received schedule of services in an inventory database.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 retrieving from the inventory database information about appointments booked by a service user with the service provider; and 
 displaying the appointments information in the corresponding time slots in the calendar-based service provider interface. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 retrieving from a third-party appointment booking system of the service provider information about appointments booked by a service user; and 
 displaying the retrieved appointments information in the corresponding time slots in the calendar-based service provider interface. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 generating a targeted discount offer for a service user based on the user's history of using the service; and 
 electronically sending the targeted discount offer to the service user. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the discount offer is associated with one or more of a service, a practitioner, a date or a time. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the discount offer includes a gradually increasing or decreasing rate of discount over a period of time. 
     
     
         7 . A method for booking services, the method comprising:
 receiving from a service user a search criteria indicating one or more of a type of service, a date of service and a price of service searched by the service user;   searching schedules of available services in an inventory database;   displaying in a calendar-based service user interface a schedule of available service appointments and associated discount offers that match the search criteria; and   booking with a service provider a service appointment for the service user.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein booking a service appointment comprises:
 storing information about booked appointments in the inventory database; and   sending a notification about the booked appointment to the service provider.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7  further comprising:
 retrieving from the inventory database information about appointments booked by a service user with the service provider; and 
 displaying the appointments information in the corresponding time slots in the calendar-based service user interface. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein a discount offer is associated with one or more of a service, a practitioner, a date or a time. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein a discount offer includes a gradually increasing or decreasing rate of discount over a period of time. 
     
     
         12 . A system for scheduling and booking of service appointments comprising:
 an inventory database containing schedule of booked and available service appointments associated with a plurality of service providers;   a calendar-based service provider interface for creating a schedule of services provided by the service provider and storing the schedule in the inventory database; and   a calendar-based service user interface for displaying schedules of available service appointments and booking one or more service appointments.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the schedule of available service appointments includes name of service, date and time when the service is provided, name of practitioner, price of service and a discount offer. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the calendar-based service provider interface is further for retrieving from the inventory database information about appointments booked by a service user; and displaying the appointments information in the corresponding time slots in the calendar-based service provider interface. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the calendar-based service provider interface is further for retrieving from a third-party appointment booking system of the service provider information about appointments booked by a service user; and displaying the retrieved appointments information in the corresponding time slots in the calendar-based service provider interface. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the calendar-based service provider interface is further for generating a targeted discount offer for a service user based on the user's history of using the service; and electronically sending the targeted discount offer to the service user. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the discount offer is associated with one or more of a service, a practitioner, a date or a time. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the discount offer includes a gradually increasing or decreasing rate of discount over a period of time. 
     
     
         19 . A computer program product embedded in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer program product comprising program instructions for implementing a calendar-based service provider interface being configured to:
 retrieve from a inventory database information about appointments booked by a service user with a service provider;   display the appointments information in the corresponding time slots in the calendar-based service provider interface;   receive from the service provider a schedule of available services, which includes name of service, date and time when the service is provided, name of practitioner, price of the service and a discount offer; and   store the received schedule of services in the inventory database.   
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the calendar-based service provider interface being further configured to:
 retrieve, from a third-party appointment booking system of the service provider information about appointments booked by a service user; and   display the retrieved appointments information in the corresponding time slots in the calendar-based service provider interface.   
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 19 , wherein the calendar-based service provider interface being further configured to:
 generate a targeted discount offer for a service user based on the user's history of using the service; and   electronically send the targeted discount offer to the service user.   
     
     
         22 . A computer program product embedded in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer program product comprising program instructions for implementing a calendar-based service user interface being configured to:
 receive from a service user a search criteria indicating one or more of a type of service, a date of service, and a price of service searched by the service user;   search schedules of available services in an inventory database;   display in the calendar-based service user interface a schedule of available service appointments and associated discount offers that match the search criteria; and   book with a service provider a service appointment for the service user.   
     
     
         23 . The computer program product of  claim 22 , wherein calendar-based service user interface being further configured to:
 store information about booked appointments in the inventory database; and   send a notification about the booked appointment to the service provider.   
     
     
         24 . The computer program product of  claim 22 , wherein calendar-based service user interface being further configured to:
 retrieve from the inventory database information about appointments booked by a service user with the service provider; and   display the appointments information in the corresponding time slots in the calendar-based service user interface.