Big Retail vs Spas
If you haven’t read the brilliant article Spas vs. big E-tail by Vivienne O’Keeffe your’re missing out. Here’s an excerpt:
Amazon Infiltrates Spa Industry
In an effort to bring professional-level care to the masses, the website Amazon Professional Beauty puts scads of products, services (including professionals) and even free advice to within point-and-click mousing range of browsers.
Some frustrated product manufacturers and distributors, faced with slumping in-store sales, are pulling out their lines (and maybe their hair) and switching to other sales channels. I know that some spa owners are feeling the heat from Big E-tail as well, and thinking of dropping some of the product lines they carry because of poor sell-through.
But hold on a sec. Why not use your many advantages to fight back?
Brick -and-mortar spas’ advantage
1. Product prescription program
Amazon’s integrated recommendations program compares poorly to the product prescription program that’s been used in successful clinics and spas worldwide since the beginning of the industry.
Remember, skin or body analyses are the first things we do.
We are in a much higher position of trust and understanding, offering a far more personalized experience than a computer interface.
2. Competitive pricing
Price can be another advantage. Contrary to the perception that in-spa products cost more than their online counterparts, prices are generally about the same – or less when you factor in shipping costs.
3. Convenience
Yet another is convenience. Why wait for your skin cream when you can walk away with a bottle right now?
So why aren’t spas exploiting these advantages?
One problem is that when presented with the opportunity to promote a product, a lot of young inexperienced skincare professionals project their own perceived lack of funds onto the client.
All too often after a professional recommends a skincare product to a client, because of the clinician’s inability to close the sale, the consumer goes home, checks the reviews and buys the product online. Spas can address this simply by posting printed reviews (and prices) alongside the products, thus pre-empting this last step of typical savvy consumers and leaving no unanswered questions in their minds.
Want more? Check it out >>here.
Linda Harding-Bond
