Beauty businesses plunge ahead in this on-demand economy as people realize the need of services that they can leisurely consume by being at home, without having the urgency of going out to the salons in a bad weather or when there are guests expected at home or on a cousin’s wedding or in a hotel stay.
Over the years, while mobile technology has changed every bit of how business groups, enterprises and organizations reach out to the global audience, salon industry is not left out but styled up for a much better pampering experience. Now, you can summon not only grocery, but a whole salon at your place to do your makeup, hair, nails and a complete body rub down from eyebrows to feet.
And it’s not just women that seek a salon expert, men also need a retreat, a mood-litter, indulging hands that can give them a refreshing face massage and hair spa. But they really can’t take the stress in making a last—minute appointment and talking to an unwelcoming receptionist on the other end of the phone.
So, few salon de beaute came up with the idea of a salon app, which can send their stylists and experts to customers through a few taps on their smartphone screen and enjoy the luxury service brought to their doorstep in less than an hour. This shift started in 2010 but lift off two years back when app services like Style Seat, Beatty Booked, Vagaro gave people the confidence in house-call stylists.
These apps made beauty services accessible to all those women who might not have thought of having a body massage, hair conditioning or a rough blow-dry before going to an event.
The salon experience has definitely changed because it’s not more about getting an appointment with the hairstylist in a popular salon, but rather finding a colorist or hair expert that can offer an aesthetic treatment at a click of a button.
For all those who dream of having their own beauty salons can start with a mobile app. Running the staff, managing the clients and appointments, keeping a stock of inventory will be a lot easier in a digital space. And since world’s major population owns a smartphone and is inclined towards using on-demand services, a mobile app is a bingo for you.
Understand potential customers
Due to the appointments made online, you get to know your customers better. Through a social login into the app, an app owner can track the behavior of a user and understand their choices and preferences by the celebrity looks they admire, by the type of hair and makeup videos they watch and many other activities. So, an app owner gets an advantage of treating the customer more soothingly than any other salon person to which the customer walks to. When a practitioner visits the customer at their convenience, the level of interaction is not ordinary, it’s something exceptional both the parties experience.
Save on professional setup
Especially for the startups and entrepreneurs, a mobile business model of salon or home-based beauty business offers the opportunity for saving on the costs needed to deck up a whole setup of a salon with artful interiors, a place on rent and other overheads including electricity, water and much more. You can rather invest that money in developing a high-end app, which will definitely generate more revenues and more appointments because anyway people want to take the stress out of booking an appointment on phone and following up with the manager. Confirmation is just one click, or maximum two or three clicks.
Without a doubt, apps are the future.
Social aspect drives conversions
Women love to share their opinions, read their friend’s reviews and rating before using any salon services. Social aspect when merged with rich virtual makeover promises a better conversion rate. Also, a mobile app gives a more personalized makeup recommendations based on the skin tone and eye color.
As an app owner, you can gain more credibility by posting related blogs and how-to tips for consumers to try out home-based remedies, to stimulate them for time-to-time personal grooming involving manicure, pedicure and cleanup.
Now that we’ve known the various pros of developing an app rather than just running a physical salon, it’s time to move ahead. But what should be your next step? Of course, getting an app built. But how? From an expert or in-house?
This is a serious question concerning the app development because the type of app you offer to the audience differentiates you from the crowd. It decides whether your app will be downloaded or abandoned by the user. Developing an app in-house with an averagely-skilled team will cause the latter. Contrarily, hiring a dedicated mobile app developer is only the right step. This isn’t a biased statement because we belong to the same group but because this is pragmatic and reasonable. It’s good to accept that you can’t be perfect at everything, early in life.
Besides the technical competency, there’s another reason to choosing an app development agency. Due to the wide experience, the developers and designers are accustomed to user behavior and expectations from a salon app. In fact, if not particularly a salon app, developing apps for any other industry matures the developers such that they know what will work for the mobile user.
So, one thing that’s decided before moving forward is that you need to get in touch with a successful mobile app development company (freelancers are also not that reliable). That sense of perfection only lies in the hands of a full-scale development agency like ours. If not convinced, you can check out some great app developed and delivered successfully here.
Further, the next crucial aspect of developing a salon app is the cost- the investment you need as an app owner. The average cost of developing a salon app ranges between $9k-$13k. Like every other app, this range refers to the differing business requirements and features that you want to offer to the users:
Some of the key elements of a salon app are:
For each of these features, the cost may vary. If you want them all, the cost may go beyond what’s stated. But one thing that we can ensure if you get it developed form us is that the final price remains what it was estimated before starting the development. Only when there are big changes in the scope, our estimated price sees a slight alteration during the final delivery.
The benefits of beauty apps are plenty for the app owners as well as the customers. That’s largely due to the convenience and services your app provides. Moving with a smart business sense, the future looks brighter as consumers have started relying on the beauticians and stylists who bring the most relaxing and tailored salon services to their doorstep.
If you’re not a stylist but have a great business acumen, make ties with the local beauty salons and individuals and run the app independently. Ultimately, the goal is to reach to maximum people whenever they need your services, and a salon app is a perfect solution.
Heena Banga is a Senior Content Developer at Konstant Infosolutions- a globally recognized mobile application development company. She leads marketing and growth initiatives at the company using a mix of technical and business content tactics. Heena also contributes articles to CrowdReviews, OpenSourceForU, Sociableblog, ducttapemarketing, PAYMILL blog. She hopes to enjoy a business conversation onboard a commercial space flight someday. Her ultimate goal is to combine business and writing and go into Advertising.
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