Acuity Scheduling
Founded in 2006, Acuity helps small businesses offer and manage appointments online.
Summary
- Acuity Scheduling recently created an app to let its customers manage their appointments in real time, and saw a need to let customers take in-person payments through the app.
- Acuity’s previous experience required customers to key in credit card numbers. This caused difficulties and led to higher rates that could have a heavy impact on a small business, so customers were extremely price sensitive.
- The developer was able to remotely build and test the app in React in a few days with the Square Reader SDK.
- Acuity customers can now access swipe payments directly in the Acuity Scheduling app, giving them access to lower rates for in-person, card-present payments.
A Scheduling and Payment Solution for Small Businesses
Acuity Scheduling was initially founded to address the real-world needs of the CEO’s mother, who was trying to balance simultaneously serving clients and booking new appointments. It started as an online platform, but soon saw the need to build an app to help customers manage their schedules on the go.
The app lets business owners see their schedule and bring clients through service to payment. The solution, however, required business owners to key in credit cards, which takes more time and has higher payment processing fees. This, combined with frequent requests from customers to use Square for in-person payments, led the Acuity team to explore the Square Reader SDK.
“We’re always looking for ways to make things easier for our customers, including making money … . Our customers already love Square, so we wanted to give them an easier way to integrate with Acuity and take advantage of a lower in-person swipe rate.”
- Gavin Zuchlinski, CEO of Acuity
Using React Native, Acuity’s developer, who is remotely stationed in Greece, was able to build and test an iOS integration with the Square Reader SDK. Within two weeks, he had both an iOS and Android version ready.
Once business owners set up their account and payment processor online, they can log in to the app, connect their Acuity and Square accounts, click an appointment, go to a payment screen, and swipe to make a payment. Additionally, transaction IDs are passed securely between the web interface and the app through the customer’s Square account, giving customers a more holistic view of their business.
Acuity Scheduling is still rolling out the integration to customers. So far it has seen increased customer satisfaction because of Square’s lower swipe rate for in-person payments.