Beauty becomes more personalized.
Beauty and personal care customers are exploring retail purchases along with services and testing new experiences.
Customers like a one-stop shop: Sixty-three percent of consumers reported purchasing a retail item from a beauty business this year. On average, these consumers made purchases between one and three times, while 12% made them 10 or more times this past year.
Gen Z (83%) and millennial (78%) customers were the most likely to make a retail purchase from a local beauty or personal care business. In fact, the majority (78%) of Gen Z consumers say they'd also be interested in offerings outside of traditional services from a beauty or personal care business. These include things like in-person classes, online tutorials, at-home do-it-yourself boxes, live virtual classes, or off-premise services.
Your customers want to hear from you. Seventy-two percent of customers expect some communication from beauty businesses, particularly about loyalty programs and to remind them about appointments.
Customers around the world expect beauty businesses to communicate with them, more in some areas than others:
U.S. (79%)
U.K. (72%)
Australia (69%)
Canada (68%)
Of the types of communications customers were interested in, text message appointment reminders, reminders for future appointments, and email appointment reminders were the most desired communications from a beauty and personal care business.
Not only do customers want more communication, they're also open to automation. Gen Z (82%) and millennials (80%) are the most open to automation in place of live staff, responding that they prefer automation in at least one area.
Customers would prefer salons, barber-shops, and spas use automation technology instead of live staff in these areas:
35% for sending appointment reminders
34% for booking appointments
20% for managing customer loyalty program
18% for tracking product orders
16% for providing information on the products used during an appointment
12% for chatbots or other customer services requests
Despite being open to automations, about one third of respondents say they prefer live staff to any automations, so having a variety of options for your customers can help better meet their wide range of needs when it comes to their preferred experience.
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Consumers across the globe prefer paying for beauty services using contactless payments methods. Fifty-eight percent of global respondents prefer contactless payments to traditional card or cash payments. However, customers in the UK seem to prefer contactless payments more than customers in other markets, with 45% preferring contactless card payments and 20% preferring mobile wallets.
When it comes to paying for a service up front, 40% of customers say requiring a deposit to secure an appointment would lead them to avoid a beauty or personal care business. This was the greatest deterrent for baby boomer generation customers with 45% holding this opinion. For Gen Z customers, a lack of a website to review services, prices, and customer photos was a top deterrent to frequenting a beauty business.
Respondents also say they'd consider switching beauty or personal care providers if they couldn't find the right appointment times or their preferred provider left the business.
Millennials value their time the most when it comes to booking beauty appointments: 35% said they would switch if appointment times didn't align with their schedule, and 30% would switch if there was an overly long wait time for an appointment. In contrast, Gen Zers are most likely to switch providers because the booking appointment process was too difficult (24%), or it was too hard to get in touch with the business (24%). Baby boomers were the most loyal, with 57% saying they wouldn't switch providers, compared to only 23% of Gen Zers and 26% of millennials.
Appointment bookings
Appointment reminders
Loyalty program management
Tracking product orders
Providing product information
Customer support
Other
"We find that regular communication with our customers fosters a sense of connection. It helps to build personal relationships with our customers while still keeping customers informed. As a business owner now with two locations, I am not always based in the salons, so being able to communicate with my customers shows my commitment to the business while ultimately enhancing the overall customer experience."
