One of the many perks of using Rosy Salon Software is the ability to open your own Online Store. Through an integration with SalonInteractive and using a network of authorized distributors for order fulfillment, Rosy users can expand their current in-salon retail by offering their favorite brands online. Having an Online Store is a major convenience for salon clients and added income for the business.
Rosy user Chloe Masters of Vista Belle Salon in W. College Corner, Indiana, set up her free Online Store in 2021. She immediately added her salon’s bank information to her account so she could collect commissions. More recently, she discovered the ability to customize her Online Store with the salon’s logo and changed images and color themes to suit her business’s brand.
In a recent Rosy Cabinet of Thought Leaders session with other team members, Chloe said, “Everything we have on SalonInteractive, we carry at least one thing in (the salon). Our main lines (in the salon) are Milbon and Milk_Shake, but we have other items here and there. For example, we love the Unite Texture Spray because we haven’t found a texture spray from the lines we currently carry – so we brought that one in. We’re not going to carry something that we don’t love.”
“Even if we are just using one product from a brand in the salon, the entire line is on our Online Store. When a client says, ‘Hey, I’d love to try more things from that brand, I love the smell.’ We say, ‘Oh, okay, we’ll send you a link to our Online Store, (the entire line) is on there.’ And they just go on there and shop like they would on Sephora, and put everything in their cart, and check out, and we get the commission for it.”
Capturing More Retail Sales
With an Online Store through SalonInteractive, Rosy salons can give clients another way to buy products from their salon and continue to support a local small business at the same time. It’s a great way to capture sales from anyone who likes to shop online, leaves the salon empty-handed, or runs out of product between salon visits.
Chloe explained that although she tries to stay up on inventory, sometimes items are out of stock. “Once in a while, we run out of one of our greatest sellers, and I’ll say, ‘I’m so sorry, I just ordered it. It will be in within a week, or you can go on our online store – I’ll send you a link – and it can be shipped directly to your house.’ Some say, ‘I drive 45 minutes to get to the salon anyways, so I might as well just order it online.’”
Asked about her favorite feature of her Online Store, Chloe responded, “One thing that we love is the product recommendation – the little heart thing that is on SalonInteractive. There are a lot of clients that will come and get their hair done. We talk about products with them, and they say, ‘I don’t know if I want to buy anything today;’ maybe it’s their first time. And we say, ‘I’ll just send you a link with all of the products that we talked about today, so you don’t have to come back into the salon (to get them). You can just order them online, and they are shipped to your door.’ Everybody loves that – we have people do it all the time.”
Earning Commissions Without Expense
Salons earn at least 25% for commissions from online sales through SalonInteractive. When factoring in the business’s overhead, plus the time and expense to buy, stock, and ship products, it mostly balances out compared to in-salon sales. The main difference is that the salon does not have to spend commissions to replace the product on their shelves.
Chloe was asked about her thoughts on commissions and how she shares them with her team. “I think differently than other salons, so this might be weird to some. I am a commission salon. For in-salon retail sales, I give a 30% commission to my team, but I give them all of the commission (in this case, 25%) for online sales because, technically, they are the ones who sell the products. I do not have to do anything as a business owner – I just have the Online Store, which is free.”
In-Salon Versus Online Sales
Asked by another cabinet member if she found that her online sales take away from in-salon sales, Chloe responded, “Not at all – we still sell crazy amounts of retail in the salon! We get about ten online orders a month, but in the salon, I am selling products to everyone who comes in. To me, that’s a huge difference.”
Niki Davis of ND Artistry in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, another Rosy user and Rosy Cabinet of Thought Leader member, chimed in: “I’m with Chloe – I don’t sell a ton online, but the big thing for us is the full sizes, like liters.”
“When I have a client who loves the Everlast Color Shampoo and Conditioner, for example, and they are running through it, I suggest the liter size and tell them they can just order it through our Online Store. They get free shipping for orders over (a certain amount), and it’s the same time as it takes for me to get it, but they’ll get it right to their house. Everyone is watching their money these days, so a lot of my online sales are these liters. Because of that kind of savings and that trust – that’s a bargain. That’s pretty easy to do without having to promote it. It’s just letting them know, ‘Hey, if you love this – get the big one, and it’ll last longer with less waste. You get more for your money.’”
More Opportunity to Retail
For Niki and Chloe, in-salon retail is a huge part of their salons’ business. However, eCommerce may be the only option to sell retail for some salons that don’t have the room or capital for retail.
“The fact that you don’t have to buy the product and have the inventory in your salon potentially saves you thousands of dollars. All clients have to do is go online to purchase it. People love purchasing things online. I don’t even shop anymore – I do it all online,” mentioned Chloe.
She added, “I am very thankful for the (eCommerce) option because our clients love it. We have a lot of clients that drive a long way to come to us, so it’s really nice for them if they need to stock up between appointments, so they don’t have to drive here if they are an hour away. That would be silly. And they also like supporting our small business rather than ordering it from Amazon or elsewhere.”
Getting the Word Out
As far as promoting a salon’s Online Store, SalonInteractive encourages placing a Shop Now button on the business’s website and social media channels and sending texts and emails to clients to let them know about the option to buy online. If a salon also uses Client Connect, the Online Store is automatically linked in the footer of those marketing emails. There’s also On Behalf Marketing, where a salon can give their favorite brands permission to promote products to their clients.
One tactic that has been especially successful for many salons is displaying QR codes that lead to their Online Store throughout the salon. Clients can scan the code and save the link to their phone’s home screen for easy access later.
Niki was asked how she promotes her Online Store, and she responded, “I do have the QR codes up front, and if someone is interested, they can scan it right then and there. Otherwise, it’s mainly word of mouth while they are in the salon.”
Chloe added, “I have a commission salon, so I make sure my stylists love at least a few of the brands to where they don’t have to sell them; they can just talk about them. They already love them and will use them, and the client is suddenly like, ‘I want that!’ SalonInteractive has helped us with that.”
Rosy Salon Software Director of Sales and Business Development Lori Obiedzinski interjected, “We are coming to the holiday season, and having an Online Store just makes you more valuable to your clients. You can always use something else, but this is free, and you earn commissions. It’s a different way to get your products to your customers and make some extra revenue at the same time.”
Whether it’s strictly for client convenience, to expand the salon’s product offerings to clients, or for passive income, having an Online Store is a benefit to any beauty, grooming, or wellness business. If you are a Rosy user and have not set up your free Online Store yet, this is a good time to do so, especially with Cyber Week and the upcoming holidays. Simply log into Rosy and click SalonInteractive in the Partners tab to get started.
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