Beauty salon technology is only worthwhile if it brings a real benefit. In the salon, that benefit is measured on the bottom line, with ROI. Tempting as it is to consider some of the more spectacular uses of digital technology, such as virtual reality reading materials, you have to ask yourself whether your customers are actually going to be more likely to visit with these toys in place… after all, can you really relax in public with your head buried in a VR mask while your nails are done?
Beauty salon technology is about making connections. It works best when it creates discrete, natural expansions on the traditional service model you’ve been perfecting for years.
You want technology that connects your salon with your customers, your staff with their workplace, and yourself with your business.
Beauty salon technology is often at its most effective when you don’t even notice it.
Technology is for Convenience
The dominance of smartphones has made near impossible for us to separate out daily lives from technology. Many of us probably no longer even consider using our phones to book reservations, talk to friends, and shop for gifts as any great technological feat. That’s the kind of technology that can help you in the salon. The kind that just blends naturally with the products and services you’re selling.
There are a whole lot of new technologies about to head your way in the 2020s. To sort out what is useful from what is just digital noise, ask yourself, How does this improve the customer experience and my bottom line?
Try applying this mindset to the following areas of salon life.
- Your Website is a Digital Shop Front
Short of word-of-mouth motivation, most of your customers are going to first get to meet you via the internet. Your website is therefore crucial in enticing that next wave of customers into your store. In addition to explaining all the products and services you have to offer your site should also offer customers a clear way to contact you.
Make sure there’s an easy to spot, easy to use online ordering system and reservations calendar so your customer can act on impulse and make a booking without any annoying digital barriers. This system has plenty of room for customer comments and requests, and, most importantly, it should be directly connected to both your internal booking system and to yourself – you don’t want to be surprised by a sudden rush when staff levels are low.
- Let Customers Pay in Comfort and Security
Perhaps the most profound change the digital revolution has brought about is the way we pay. While cash is still floating between registers, more and more customers feel safer banking digitally. This means your salon needs to be able to accommodate as many types of payments as possible.
A digital point of sale system should give you the flexibility you need to accommodate cash, card, and smartphone options, as well as wireless, mobile, and register-bound devices. Also, you’ll have to make sure your payments are equipped with end-to-end encryption and the latest authentication technology so you can retain your customer’s confidence.
- Better Connect with Your Staff
Your relationship with your staff has a direct impact on your bottom line and your beauty salon technology should enhance this partnership. You should be able to find a management system that lets them see and alter their rosters online, make notes on customers and provide general feedback, and communicate with you via their personal devices. Many digital POS systems now include such features, although the tendency is still to prioritise customer interaction.
Just as you want to empower your customers to proactively make bookings and purchases, so to should you use today’s digital communications platforms to bring your salon team together. You can create a space to share videos, training materials, or simple social chat.
- Create a Digital Inventory
Once you move information into a digital format you can do just about anything with it. You can send it, analyse it, and manipulate it to serve your business needs. Which is why many salons are embracing digital inventory solutions. Often attached to the wider POS networks we’ve mentioned above, this digital account of every purchase order, sale, and stock count gives you an up-to-the-minute understanding of the product you’ve got, need, sold, and can’t sell.
Digitizing your entire inventory lets you analyze sales figures over timeframes short and long, automate purchase orders and restocking, and discover patterns in customer behavior that have a real impact on your bottom line.
- Get in the Cloud
Cloud computing is a simple idea that has already had a big impact on small business. It’s just a form of outsourcing where you rent the data and programs you need to run your business from a third-party who bears the cost of maintaining and storing all this information. You get to use the latest business and communications tools, and you don’t need to hire an IT expert.
As a result, your entire salon systems, all the customer, staff, and business elements, are accessible from any internet-connected device. The Cloud is going to dominate business in the 2020s, so it pays to start understanding how it can work as a beauty salon technology.
Technology That Enhances Your Salon
The technologies you introduce into your salon should improve the customer experience, and therefore your bottom line. The 2020s are going to take us in all sorts of shiny new digital directions, but each gadget, each app, and each innovation should bring you closer to your customers.
Technologies that engage and simplify our customer relations are the ones that endure. We should be seeking out solutions like easy to access and easy to understand websites, trustworthy payment options, dynamic sales options, streamlined ordering and inventory systems, and loyalty programs that provide our customers with real value.
The best way to sort through the unending tech options that are going to bombard us in the next decade is to ask, How does this improve the customer experience and my bottom line?
The POS products we create at talech are designed to help your salon bottom line. They are practical solutions that enhance the customer experience and make your life easier. Sign up for a free demo, and we’ll show you how technology can improve your ROI.
