Competing With Online Retailers

Managing director of salon skincare brand, PHYT’S, Paul Massa explains how to avoid losing your retail customers to online competitors.

Professional Beauty guest contributor Paul Massa discusses retaining your in-store retail clients in a world of increased online shopping convenience…

One of the most common concerns we hear from salons at this time of the year when people are shopping for presents, is, ‘how do we compete with online retail when it comes to selling skincare products?’

In fact, there is no magic formula; the main reason for shopping online is convenience. The client could be indisposed to return to the clinic to purchase products, also perhaps in fear of being ‘sold’ other products and services.

This is easily addressed by setting up a computerised system where you record all your customers’ purchases and, with normal use, when they should be running out of products.

The system alerts you when the time comes and prompts you to send a reminder by email or better still, call her to ask to renew her order which you could send by post. This avoids the client to look elsewhere and has also the effect of creating loyalty as she would appreciate the attention she gets from the salon.

The other method is to add your products to the salon’s website and regularly send promotions and specials to your client’s database informing them of these specials. I personally prefer the personal approach which is lacking when shopping online.

Some people also shop online because are looking for bargains. This is a minority and frankly are not the type of clients a reputable clinic is looking for.

Given the right amount of attention and service, your client will return to you every time. The key is give attention and service; most therapists are uncomfortable at ‘selling’ to their customers. This is in fact a major mistake, it is the duty of a therapists to ‘prescribe’ to their clients to treat and give the best results according to their skin concerns.  This is the very reason the client visits the salon. It is like visiting your doctor with an ailment and leaving the surgery without a prescription to cure it.

As with the doctor, the process of prescribing starts with the initial consultation with the client, assessing skin condition and recognising the client’s needs. These needs should be met with the right treatment and post treatment products should be prescribed to take home to optimise the salon’s treatment.

At this stage you have given your client the impression of being treated professionally, personally and not being sold products they don’t need, thus creating the bond between the therapist and the client and minimising chances of the client shopping elsewhere online.

At PHYT’S, we’ve created a system which makes it easier the client to order products online and the revenue goes to the beauty salon who initiated the contact.  As an added bonus the salon doesn’t need to purchase huge amounts of stock.

The ‘Client Connect Card’ is given to customer after a treatment and prescription of home treatments, the client has the option to purchase products from our website and by quoting the number on the card, the client receives the ordered products next day, without paying postage and, from that number, we can trace back to the originating salon and pay them 65 per cent of the margin.

We’ve found this system extremely successful in all aspects. The client is happy because she has the convenience of ordering products without leaving home, she is also given personal attention by receiving regular promotions, newsletters. For the salon owner, it means keeping the client’s revenue for as long as she orders, even if she moves interstate.

This is a guest post by Paul Massa. Massa is the managing director of salon brand, PHYT’S, specialising in organic skincare for over 40 years.

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