A major trend in our industry today is creating consumer experiences that move beyond providing simple local business information to offering consumers a richer local search experience. In recent months, we’ve shared examples of local search providers that have added things like menu search options for restaurant searchers and social search features to drive more targeted and tailored search results.
Repair.com recently announced a new feature that allows customers to not only find maintenance solutions for household appliances, but also to schedule repair appointments directly on the site. “Customers can go online to make dinner reservations or schedule an appointment with a doctor,” said Chris Spanos, General Manager for Repair.com. “It should be just as simple to schedule an appointment to repair a TV or appliance.”
The appointment scheduler allows customers to find local repairmen in their area, view user-generated reviews and ratings, and compare appointment schedules to find the service provider that best fits their schedule, budget and other needs.
Repair.com’s new feature is a great example of how local search providers are innovating the ways in which ready-to-purchase customers take the next step in their purchasing decisions.
