Purrr-fect – the secrets to creating a great app for your veterinary practice 

However large or small your business may be, creating a mobile app for your veterinary practise can help you to win new clients, keep existing customers happy and add a new level of convenience to your customer service offering.

As with any business, your vet’s surgery can tap into a wealth of benefits by offering your customers the use of a dedicated app. You’ll find it easier to keep them up to date with events, offers and new services, they’ll find it quicker and often more convenient to make bookings and you can together ensure your furry friends enjoy a superb level of care.

Of course, to ensure that your veterinary practise realises all of those benefits, you’ll need be confident that your app design is fit for purpose. Here, we’ve rounded up a few of the essentials your new app must include to keep your four-legged friends feline purr-fect…

1. Appointment and bookings

A core feature of any service business app design, it most definitely pays to include appointment and booking functionality in your new app. This feature is time saving and convenient to boot – owners can use this to quickly make repeat visit appointments for example or quickly secure a slot for routine visits such as vaccinations. This handy tool is a valuable addition to your offering if your surgery is often busy and pet owners find they have a lengthy wait to get through during busy times of the day.

2. Push notifications

Having push notifications as part of your app can keep your entire practise running smoothly and ensure that your clients never miss an appointment. As well as sending appointment reminders to minimise wasted slots, you can also use this feature to send periodic reminders for things such as annual vaccinations or surgery special events.

3. Gallery

Many vets have a gallery of pets adorning surgery walls with notes and heartfelt cards from owners – why not incorporate this into your app too? An app makes it even easier for owners to share pet progress and memories as the image can be uploaded directly from their smartphone rather than having the picture printed.

4. Shop

If you sell things like pet food, toys, treats and equipment like bowls or pet grooming products in the surgery, having a store on your app gives you a potential new revenue stream. This is a great way to boost your income without requiring any new veterinarians to join your team.