In this episode of The Visibility Brief, Yext SVP of Marketing Rebecca Colwell is joined by Leah Hutcheon, Founder & CEO of Appointedd, to explore how AI is changing not just how people find brands, but how they move from discovery to action.
As AI assistants take on more of the research process, customers are arriving at decisions faster, with more context and more confidence. That means less browsing, fewer clicks, and a much shorter path between "I'm interested" and "I'm ready." And increasingly, that moment shows up as a booking.
So what does it mean when customers commit their time before they ever step into a store or complete a purchase? And how should brands design for a world where intent is signaled earlier and more clearly than ever?
Drawing on her experience building 'intent infrastructure' for global retailers, Leah reframes bookings as far more than a calendar slot. They're a signal of intent, a moment of trust, and one of the most valuable opportunities a brand has to create a meaningful experience.
The episode breaks down:
Why bookings are becoming a primary conversion signal
Why time is the most valuable signal customers give you
Why most brands underinvest in the booking experience
How leading retailers turn appointments into high-value interactions that drive higher spend
How intent data transforms the customer journey
What shifts when AI agents — not customers — do the browsing
If you're a marketing leader thinking about how AI is reshaping customer behavior, this episode will help you rethink where real intent emerges, how to design for it, and why the moment someone books may matter more than anything that came before.
Episode Links
Transcript
00:00:00.040 — 00:00:34.600 Most brands obsess about visibility and getting found, but few are really thinking about the appointment booking process, which is one of the highest intent moments in the entire customer journey. Today, I'm joined by Leah Hutson, CEO and founder of appointed. It's a platform that is trusted by the world's most incredible brands, and she is here to talk with us today about how brands are underestimating the appointment booking experience, what the best in class brands are doing and what is coming next as a genetic AI changes the game. Let's get into it.
00:00:42.440 — 00:02:23.090 Hi Leah, thank you so much for joining us today. I'm very excited to have you on. Thank you so much. I'm super excited to be here. So appointed is one of my favorite Yext partners. You do just an exceptional job with something I think is absolutely essential to the customer journey. For people who are not familiar with your platform. Um, tell us a little bit about appointed. Thank you so much. Um, so a pointed, um, started out, as you can imagine, from the name as an appointment platform. Um, but over the years, as we have gotten deeper into relationships with the retailers that that we work with, we have started to just really have some fun with that beautiful moment. That is an appointment when a customer is dedicating kind of, you know, that really valuable asset of of time. And so we now have started to see ourselves as kind of intent infrastructure within retail and really capturing what a customer wants when they are coming in for that appointment and making sure that the retailer can really make the most of that, both before the appointment and after it. Um, and how we can really, you know, make the most of that conversion that happens. So. Yeah. That's us. Incredible. I love that mindset shift that an appointment is not just the plumbing of marketing, but this really high intent moment. Um, it's a big it's a big commitment. Um, so before we dive into use cases around your platform and such, how did you get into this space? So I, um,
00:02:24.130 — 00:15:21.860 before I started appointed, I was a luxury Homes and Interiors magazine editor. So I'm really very different, and but I, um, had kind of had had the idea for appointed when I was at the magazine because we had some beautiful brands that advertised with us, you know, really high end luxury homes and interiors brands and they would, you know, create this beautiful creative and, you know, they would really invest in in the discoverability. And then they just couldn't really know at that point what happened with it. So it was, you know, where did where did that customer go. And, you know, of course, they would ask, you know, where did you see us? And somebody would say, oh, in a magazine. But of course they, you know, had lots of mad magazines that they would advertise in and such like, so yeah, that that moment kind of struck me as, as a challenge for both customer and retailer. And so when sadly, I was made redundant in the backdrop of the financial crash, and I just thought, well, when better to try and, you know, really seek to understand and and hopefully to overcome some of the challenges there. And I think I was very lucky that I was doing that at a point when tech was really starting to get exciting. So this was back in 2011. Um, and just the art of the possible. Obviously nowhere near what we can do now, of course. But yeah, it's a really exciting time to start a technology company. Right. And you were tackling a really big problem. I mean, the old adage in marketing, I know half of it works. I just don't know which half I can't. Exactly. And a really big problem on both sides, actually, because you're absolutely right. Um, from the the business side. But also at that time, you just like it felt really strange to me that I could book a flight to Singapore, or I could book to have a pizza delivered, but I couldn't book to go and see an interior designer, or I couldn't book to go and have an appointment. And it's like, but this is just me knowing that when I go into a store that there will be somebody there who can help me. Like that should be an easy thing for me to book, but it just didn't exist. So, um, yeah, there was two big problems. One on either side of the market. Incredible. And I imagine on the retailer side, ensuring that you have the right person with the right information prepared to answer the unique needs that, that that potential customer might have. Um, wow. So tell me a little bit about your customers. Who do you typically serve? So we work with retailers of all different shape and size. And yeah I absolutely love the diversity of our our client base actually is everything from Victoria's Secret to Harrods to Charlotte Tilbury to the card factory to all sorts of different, um, yeah, sports retailers, everything you can think of really in terms of, of retail, um, stores and retail brands, some e-commerce only actually, which has has really only come on the back of Covid and having kind of creativity around that virtual appointment of still recognizing the beauty, beauty of that connection that can happen. You know, I agree with you. I love that moment when you go in-store and you have that face to face, but actually, you know it. It's also wonderful if you're getting the best service. And, you know, one of our retailers said it beautifully, I thought where they said the virtual appointment gives you a chance to turn your website into your flagship store. And I thought, that's just wonderful, isn't it? It's like being able to have a connection there where you can have great salespeople, great colleagues who are able to do all of the wonderful stuff that happens in your flagship store. But it can happen, you know, via your e-commerce profile. And yeah, so really, really interesting. Um, and we help them to we help our retailers to book all sorts of different things. There's a lot of like beauty consultations, a lot of personal shopping, amazing events that happen bookable on appointed and and actually long customer journeys that would, you know, possibly might come to a one to many events. And, you know, you might then get offered the opportunity for a 1 to 1 personal experience with shopping or whatever and just having that layered experience that is, um, curated and kind of choreographed as a layered event experiences is just something that we, we love doing. And, and I guess from a kind of customer perspective, clients, customers have a great experience of that. They will get their problem solved quicker. And our customers, the retailers, get to know what their customers want before they come in. So it's like that beautiful moment, you know, somebody's browsing is very different to Sarah has booked a skincare consultation because she has dry skin and she's going to a wedding on Saturday. And that kind of specificity of what is going to happen happening ahead of time is a really beautiful moment for the retailer. So we've, you know, we drive revenue in a number of ways for our retailers. We know that we do a great job of increasing conversion rates. We see up to 100% conversion to sale on appointments. We see up to 700% increase in basket value. This is a recent one from one of our higher end men's tailoring. And yet they see on average a 700% increase for booked appointment versus average basket value. So we know that we're driving really great, um, results on that side of things. But we're also, you know, able to look at actually on the retail media side, you know, to talk about Sarah, who's coming in for skincare consultation that's happening and happening in a week's time. Sarah can be nurtured and have an education journey that happens long before she comes in store. That means that she arrives in store knowing the brands that that retailer has on offer, knowing different services that you might like to, you know, would you like to have a champagne nail bar experience or whatever? You know, there's a beautiful kind of nurture and education piece that can happen that just increases the loyalty and and increases the revenue. Well, this whole experience feels so respectful of the customer's time, right? It's my most valuable resource. So when I go in for an appointment, I don't want to provide information I've already provided a second time. I want them to be I want to be ready to go with all the information that I need. And I love that you are providing such a respectful experience with their time. I think it's so true. Like you're so right. You know, our time is our most valuable asset. It's the one thing you spend it and it's gone. Like, you never can get that back. It is, you know, such a it's a finite thing, isn't it? And and I think we know with the results that I was talking about there. We know that when customers are spending their time, they're also generally spending their money too. So it's such a big like it's such a Wonderful thing that a person and, you know, a customer and a brand coming together in that way is such a special moment. And and I love that we get to get creative on that every day and help brands and retailers who really are respectful of that most precious asset to. Yeah, to make it even more special. I know you're not allowed to have favorites, but if you could pick one of your favorite customers today and walk us through an example of an amazing experience that they're delivering. Total recency bias. Although I do love these, I have loved these customer, this customer for many years, and they've worked with us for about four years now. Um, but we just did a series of events with Victoria's Secret and it was just amazing. Like, I love the creativity of that brand, and I love the team and the passion that they bring and and yeah, when they talk about brands that love their customers, I think they're a great example of that and actually the love that their customers have for them is astounding. So, um, we just did a series of events where we had the Victoria's Secret bra boss, and we had this amazing bus that was, um, all decked out with the branding and just gorgeous pictures. Um, and people could book on. We had a number of different, um, bookable experiences. We engaged with influencers, so they had kind of VIP influencer bookable, um, experiences, but they just went out to their, um, kind of loyal customer base. They were bringing back a key store in Birmingham in the UK. Um, and that store had closed a while ago and so were coming back bigger and better and really, really exciting. It was a, you know, there'd been a real outcry when they'd closed the store. So coming back it was much anticipated. Um, and we really felt that. So they had dancers. They had it was, you know, a real activation and a real celebration of the brand. But they'd been super smart with the way that they'd engaged on social. They'd engaged their kind of most loyal customers. So it had just a real thought about it. And I think what that meant then was they didn't need to have huge marketing spends because they had actually connected with customers that that loved them, and they were doing something really celebratory. So we had booked out. It was like it booked out straight away. As soon as they went live with their different layers straightaway booked out, and then the appointed team and Victoria's Secret team were on hand to then see if we could also augment with walk ins. And we just kind of flexed the day as as we went. We wanted to make sure that everyone had a great experience, but that we could also kind of react to it and get as many people in because we were, you know, as causing such excitement. So we had, um, bookable brah experience. It was up on the top deck of the bus. You could sit downstairs and have a match, a latte and have a chat and, you know, you could come through. But I thought what was super, super interesting was they did beautiful merch campaigns and engagement campaigns beforehand. You then had your bra and fitting experience, and when you came out of that profit we captured in appointed your bra size and your preferences with your style. You know the style that you loved and just had a nice chat with, with them. And all of that was captured within appointed. So by the time they had left the bus, there was a beautiful email that was all designed and branded that had been triggered with the brass, their bra size there with their digital bra, bra fit, size, all like looking like the, you know, the styles that they loved and just that surprise and delight. Like we had people coming back being like, this is exactly, you know, this is me. Because they could, you know, they felt seen. This was something that was really personalized to them. And straight away, that kind of surprise and delight was was wonderful. And I know that they've got a lot of plans now to nurture and kind of further engage that, that customer base. I just think just some brands look at booking as, oh, it's just this simple thing, you know, it's just a hygiene factor. And what I love is when brands really look at it as the real kind of moment of delight that it can be. And, you know, as, as you mentioned, kind of that dedicated time together with, with a brand. Right? Because it's not just the operational plumbing of getting a customer in this store. Right? There's so much more to it. So, so on that note, do you have any horror stories? You know, just I'm guessing no, not any of these are your customers, but just an experience you've had personally. Like, what is this like? Oh well, do you know. So the one that I get from so many people, um, whether it's investors or just when I'm telling people what we do it appointed. Everybody has the same horror story of when they have given, um, they've done everything that we've talked about here. So, you know, they've been asked the right questions, they've given the information because they really care about it, and they want to kind of share so that they get the right experience. And then they turn up in store and they have to start again. And it's like, oh, who are you? Oh, have you got a booking? Oh, and it's just so we're all like, I can see on your face you've had it too. It's so maddening, isn't it? Especially a doctor's appointment. Right. Fill out all of these forms in advance. Give us all this information, and then do it again. And then do it again. Yeah, it's it's going back to the earlier part of our conversation. It's so disrespectful of our time to ask us to invest that twice. And then you just feel, um,
00:15:22.940 — 00:15:32.670 just unimportant. So, so if a brand, you know, really wanted to improve the booking process, what are the top 2 or 3 things that you would tell them to start with.
00:15:33.790 — 00:22:22.680 I think just really sweat the detail on who your customers are, who your best customers are that you really want to engage with in in a deep and meaningful way, and just really think about what they would, what they would enjoy and what problems they have to solve. And, you know, maybe get creative with, you know, trying out brand alliances or, you know, thinking about the brands, you know, when when they think about the retail media side of things especially, you know, what are the new brands that you're stocking that your customers or your best customers might not know about at all? And how could you partner with one of those brands to do sponsored appointments? Or, you know, how could you get creative about the journey to where somebody is going to sit for that appointment? What could they see on their journey to where they're going to have their makeover? What could be on the TV screens when they're sat there? Because you've got that dwell time. You've got somebody if you've done your job correctly in in the booking journey, they're in such a good place when they're sat there and they're engaging with your brand. And so it's like, just really spend the time to think about those little moments of of delight. I feel like I've said delight so many times, but to me, I'm just so passionate about that moment that we have with, you know, the retailer, the brand, the customer, all just they're in in that moment of real synchronicity. So yeah, I think just really sweat the detail that it makes a lot of sense. I am curious, this kind of brings us to this, the next major area of discussion around where this is going with a genetic AI. Yeah. So what happens when people are using LMS to research brands? Um, I have a lot of questions here. But first of all, let's talk about are these showing up more informed or differently in those appointments. So I think. Yeah, I mean, we're definitely seeing a more informed customer for sure. And I think there's some really interesting research around, you know, how much even people are using Llms when they're in store to augment the advice and guidance that they can get from the in-store colleagues. So I think definitely that is is there. But I, I'm actually really excited by it because I think it is an augmentation. It's not a replacing. It's something that is happening alongside, um, and I think for us, I mean, it's like it's almost, almost you don't want to talk about these kind of things in a live setting like this, do you? Because it changes on week by week. So you kind of date yourself by talking because it will be like, oh, and now this has changed. And it's, you know, I think, you know, retail is just moving so fast. Retail technology is yeah, it's amazing to see the pace of change, but I think when we think about it specifically, I think that a booking, you know, it's a structured data point, it's a conversion. It's a moment where you know, there's a change of state. And I think that, you know, is is so beautifully aligned to what is happening on the agent side of things. We're certainly seeing clients, um, experiment with our APIs and with, you know, surfacing in, in LMS. So, yeah, it's it's super exciting. And what's happening with universal commerce protocol and things like that, I think, yeah, we we are living in very, very interesting times when it comes to the, the retail tech environment, aren't we? We are at Yext. We just completed a global survey, um, about AI adoption. And so we asked how are you using AI? And what we found is that appointment bookings is one of the actually it is the top thing that people are comfortable having an agent do on their behalf, whether it's it's booking a paid appointment or booking more of a, let's call it a prospecting style appointment. And it was really interesting. So, so much of what you have discussed is the delight that happens when a person is booking and they have this lovely experience, and then the appointment delivers on that. How do you think having an agent book on your behalf changes that equation? I think it definitely does change the equation. And I think it's, you know, to your earlier questions of the different types of appointments, you know, where it is something that you are doing, where it's a very considered purchase. You know, we work with brands like Harrods and Liberty and people like that, where the that booking is definitely part of the experience, the excitement of, you know, getting to. To engage with, with all of that. I don't think those customers want to give that up to an agent. Um, I'm thinking specifically of, um, the Liberty and Santa for the Christmas bookings in the grotto and things like, you know, we do so many amazing, amazing experiences that, yeah, it would be a shame for an agent to get that fun. Um, but, you know, it's really interesting because Christian War and our chief data officer has talked about this grid. He does a Foursquare, and it's it's about the complexity of the purchase or the experience and how much you like it. And so if you like doing it, even if it's complex. Some people love researching financial investment or whatever, right. They're going to keep doing that. But if they hate it, they're going to outsource it. So what I think I hear you saying is exactly. People love it. They're going to keep doing it. Yeah. And I think that's wonderful, isn't it? Because we are now living in a world where we can outsource the bits that we don't like and we can enjoy the bits that we do like more. And what I hope is that enjoyment will open the door to brands engaging more and to retailers engaging more. So that conversation that I talked about of, you know, opening the conversation and asking the right questions and that kind of thing like that will be part of the experience when it's appropriate for it to be and when it's not appropriate, that will all be outsourced and it will be totally fine that it's just like, I need this now, you know, I need to get my haircut or I need to go and buy, uh, you know, whatever. I need to get fitted for school shoes or whatever. Those kind of things can just be really on demand. And it's like, I don't care what it is. I just need to know what's going to happen versus the, you know, beautiful experiences that we've talked about. And I think there's a place for both of them, for sure, for the experiences that people are comfortable with an agent handling on their behalf. What does a brand need to do to be ready for that?
00:22:23.880 — 00:22:28.360 Um, well, I would just say have a great booking tool in place.
00:22:30.400 — 00:27:54.109 I mean, it's about like, is all of the things that that we know are really important. So it's having that structured data. It's knowing that it can be trusted. Actually I think that's a huge part of this, isn't it? And, you know, I think on both sides actually, we've had some really interesting conversations around. Yes, absolutely. The customer needs to be able to trust that the booking has been made and that it's, you know, the data has been handled securely and such like. But actually when you put an agent into the equation, the retailer also needs to know all of those things. You know, it's like you don't want your precious time being taken up and, you know, these bookings happening and then, you know, nobody turns up. And so I think, yeah, it's about both sides just having the right the data in the right structures, the right levels of security, and the right checks and balances, which actually, you know, it's always makes me laugh at these things. I kind of almost get dizzy with the pace of change. And then you kind of remind yourself, yeah, as it ever was, you need the right checks and balances in place. You need to be handling data securely. You need to make sure the customer is at the heart. So I think it's those business tenets that we we've known forever. It's just that we have to keep reminding ourselves more often of them because of the pace of change. And that trust is a two way street as well. When you talk about as a business, you need to trust the agent, the agent, you know, the people need to trust that they're booking an appointment. Um, I really love what you said about just data accuracy and consistency as well. It's so important. I know that many of your enterprise customers are also using Yext, so we have a lot of joint customers. Do you have a sense of how they are leveraging the platforms together to deliver that trusted data? Yeah. I mean, I often think about you guys as. You're such a wonderful partner. Because I think we're the two sides of the same kind of coin, aren't we? You know, this journey that we've talked about, you are, you know, so wonderful about the around the discoverability and the kind of opening up of, of things. And then we kind of slide in and we're like, cool. Now come this way of, you know. And it's like just I think we work in such synergy together, don't we? And and I think that that's really perfect. So I think there's some really interesting examples, um, where we will be enabling customers. I think this is a customer that we can't name specifically, but I'm thinking of one particularly where there's a really interesting and really smart, um, kind of partnership between appointed and Yext around discoverability of stores and surfacing the data in the right time zone, knowing that your nearest store might not. Might be in a different time zone to you. So just making sure that that booking is, you know. Happening in the right time zone. That the communications are happening in the right. Time zone. And and I guess same with the language side of things. You know where we're doing. We kind of. Help retailers level up on that sort of thing don't we. And I think we work in beautiful partnership of, you know, the retailer I think comes to us and says, you know, this is the reality of my business. I need, you know, the different time zones or I need the different languages or, you know, this is how many stores I have and I've got a high concentration here. But, you know, they need this to move over there. And I just yeah, I've loved the creativity of the collaboration between Appointed and Yext. We really, really enjoy working with you genuinely. Oh thank you. I know it's all about smoothing out those rough, potentially rough edges and delivering just a seamless experience for the customer. I have a few more quick questions for you today. And so when we talk about visibility and discovery, the metrics kind of take care of themselves, right? I'm really curious how you measure if a booking process is working and how you think about metrics. It's an interesting one, I think. You know, again, it's different things for different businesses. I find it really interesting, actually. Even within the same business, we will sometimes find that on one service. The important metric is, um, you know, volume of bookings. They just want lots of people booking in and they want to make sure that they're, you know, seeing as many customers and servicing as many customers as possible for that one service, whereas they'll have something else that is, you know, the other end of the spectrum where it's kind of hidden and it's gated, and you only get to see it when you're a specific, um, customer persona. and so you maybe only get served it as part of a personalized journey that might be part of retail media, might be something to do with your loyalty program or or whatever. And so those two things, you know, I'm thinking specifically of, of one retailer that we're working with, and those two things can exist and, and absolutely be appropriate within the same website, the same booking journeys, the same tools ending up, you know, in exactly the same place. But the experience is totally different. So it's definitely not a one size fits all in terms of, you know, volume of bookings or um, I think conversion rate is always important. You know, you want to, to make sure that I think conversion rate is
00:27:55.190 — 00:31:03.770 the indicator that you're doing the job right. You know, whether it is a volume or the scarcity, that you've gotten the right people there and that they have done what you wanted them to do. Um, and I think one that gets undervalued sometimes I think, but is so just like NPS and just, you know, how the customer has felt because we know when we have customers that survey, NPS and survey, um, you know, customer enjoyment and satisfaction as part of that booking flow or, you know, after the appointment or whatever, we see real increase on that, because, again, if the brand or the retailer has done their job right. Of course the customer is going to be more satisfied. Of course they're going to be happier. So I think that's a really simple one that feels like it can actually be all encompassing. Everything else feels like it has to be a little bit more tailored and and it's something we struggle with as a business. You know, what is our North Star metric? It's like actually when we think about the differences of, yeah, differences of our customers, it's it's really appropriate that we have a few. What should brands start doing, stop doing and rethink about their booking experience. So let's start with what should they start doing? What they should start doing is thinking about intent more. I think, you know, intent. We're talking about it quite a bit, but what does that mean? You know, what does their customer want and how do they find that out as early as possible and give them the best possible journey and, and match them with brands that that fit that intent and fit that budget or whatever. So yeah, I think really sweating on the intent and then optimizing for that. So not just optimizing for traffic and not just being discoverable, like really thinking, what does this person want when they discover me before? What should they stop doing? I'll be much quicker on this one, because I realized that wasn't a quick fire around just treating bookings like plumbing. Like it's not an admin. It's a beautiful moment where a customer has given you their time. Like, don't treat it like plumbing. Agreed, 100% agreed. And what do they need to reconsider? I think they just need to reconsider or realize how valuable that moment is, I think. Um, yeah. I'm really inspired by what you said earlier about, like, time is your most valuable asset. And I think, yeah, you've made me really think on that again. Um, so, yeah, I think all retailers should think about that and just think, if somebody is giving you that, what should you give them in return? Well, that is a perfect way to wrap today because I appreciate your time so much, your valuable time for coming in and joining us. I love the examples that you share and I really value our partnership. So thank you so much. No thank you. Honestly I've so enjoyed this. As you can see, I'm grinning from ear to ear. So yeah, so much. And yeah, look forward to our continued collaboration. So thank you. That's a wrap on this episode of The Visibility Brief. If you found this useful, subscribe, leave us a review or send this to a colleague who needs to hear it. We'll see you next time.
