Emil McMahon – Is retail still salon relevant?

In today’s haircare marketplace where salon clients are bombarded with messages about haircare via their social media channels, and when everyone googles everything, the question is, is retail still salon relevant?

Emphatically the answer is a resounding YES. Hairdressers and barbers are the only true hair experts consumers can speak to and get advice from. It’s all well and good visiting a website and purchasing a product or two that look interesting, but without the knowledge and help of someone who knows what products are most suitable for an individual’s hair and scalp type, invariably the purchases end up sitting in a bathroom cabinet because they don’t do what is required.

Everyone has products tucked away that were purchased online or in chemists and supermarkets that didn’t perform as expected. That’s why hairdressers and barbers need to share their expertise and talk to clients about the products they have on their salon retail shelves.

We can’t ignore that people shop online, but the more conversations that happen whilst clients are sat in the salon chair, the more likely a retail product will be purchased.

Here’s a quick example to show why retail in salons is relevant:

If you have 3 stylists who see 20 clients per week and everything that was used on the client’s hair and scalp during the visit was discussed as a possible home use product or piece of equipment, that equates to 600 retail opportunities each and every week. Think about the incremental revenue that could be generated by salon teams simply talking about everything they used and why they chose it.

Talking about products should be as natural and as intuitive as talking about haircuts, colours, and styling. By simply communicating in an informative and interesting way, clients will engage and interact with hairdressers and barbers and make purchases based on the information shared by their chosen stylist.

Using the technology iSalon provides to monitor and evaluate client buying patterns allows business owners a more focussed approach to the retail offering they carry; what the best sellers are, what works when promotions are running, and updated stock levels. Client details can [also] be accessed with records of individuals purchases, a perfect way for team members to be reminded about previous products clients have bought into.

So yes, retail in salons is most definitely still relevant, it is an integral part of the overall service and when a team is focussed in on recommending each and every product and piece of equipment to their clients, organic sales will happen, and using a salon management system like iSalon gives businesses real time facts and figures on a daily basis.

Let’s not forget, having your own e-commerce platform that you promote through your social media channels is another way for salons to grow their retail sales in a cost-effective way, but that’s a topic for another day!

Emil McMahon is an independent business consultant and the author of two books dedicated to the art of retailing in salons. Don’t Sell volumes 1 and 2 are available exclusively at www.emilmcmahon.com.