The winning salons are those that invest in marketing both in-salon and online, as well as staying up-to-speed with innovation.
Where has this year gone? Summer is well and truly over and we are fast approaching the pre-Holidays season. To be honest, I genuinely cannot recall a year that sped past quite so quickly, and I know I’m not the only one thinking this.
Planning for 2017 has been going on for a while now and is pretty much done, so I guess when we are constantly looking forward, the present can all too quickly become the past. For our salon operator customers, planning ahead is of course crucial to their business success; but the reality is they also need to focus on ensuring tanners are coming into the salon in sufficient numbers on a daily basis. This of course means being able to react quickly if the numbers aren’t stacking up. For most salons, certainly within the UK, there tends to be a lull or at the very least, a slow-down in salon footfall between the end of the summer and the lead into the pre-Christmas party season.
I always find it interesting to see how different salon operators approach their marketing at this time of year and, of course, we are keen to be able to support their efforts as much as possible. A simple walk along the high street and a scan of online activity identifies that there are clear winners out there. And it’s no surprise to hear that they are the salon operators who invest in their marketing both in-salon and online, as well as staying up-to-speed with innovation in new products and services.
So, can you imagine how the mindset of an operator in Ireland has had to change since the introduction of legislation that, amongst many other things, includes no promotion of their UV tanning services. Yes – you read that correctly: they are unable to undertake certain marketing practices. For example, salons cannot run any type of offer that could be interpreted as encouraging consumers to have more sessions, such as, “Buy One/Get One Free.” Any promotion of reduced prices, which also means that there can be no financial benefit to the consumer for buying a course of sessions – so, whether you buy one tanning session or a course of ten, the individual session price must be the same. “Happy Hour,” loyalty cards or bonus points are also completely out of the question.
Of course, this means an operator has to be very clear from the outset as to what the salon’s session price will be, as it can’t be reduced going forward but can go up. So, for a new salon, there is the obvious advantageous opportunity to offer session pricing lower than any other local salon, and then have the opportunity to increase it at a later date; but this clearly is a disadvantage to existing salons in the area.
The upside: operators are increasingly ensuring that everything they do in terms of staff, equipment, cleanliness, facilities and so on, sets them apart from the competition. As a result, there’s no doubt that standards of operation have improved and, interestingly, the average session charge is generally higher than in the UK and business is good. Salons which have “upped their game” have reported increased revenue since the introduction of this new law, which is very encouraging, indeed!
It will be interesting to see if any operators try to test the law, perhaps by introducing soft campaigns – although with the risk of spending six months in jail if they do, I’m guessing that won’t happen anytime soon!
