App-solutely
Beautiful
Beauty booking apps and websites are no longer a rarity with many salons and spas making use of the convenient online service. Is this the future of appointment bookings?
H
ow do your clients make appointments at your business? Do they have to call up reception, can they fill out an online booking form on your website, or do they e-mail you? As a salon or clinic, you want to make it as easy as possible for people to find your services and make a booking, so have you considered being listed in an online beauty booking directory? SPA+CLINIC talked to the people behind four leading beauty appointment services.
Natalia Pchelina, Founder of Beauro: Beauro was founded in 2015, and I came up with the idea for it based on my own experience. As a customer, I wanted an easy-to-use, comprehensive platform to browse all quality salons and spas in town and instantly book treatments without having to pick up the phone. I couldn’t see why, in a world where practically everyone owns a smartphone and virtually anything can be accessed online (think: Airbnb, UberEats, Expedia), there wasn’t a hassle-free solution to finding and booking hair and beauty services. I then realised all the benefits an aggregate platform like that could offer to salons and spas, and thus Beauro was born in late 2015. Beauro allows customers to book appointments 24/7, essentially working as a round-the-clock receptionist, so salons and spas don’t miss a single booking. We have a 24-hour cancellation policy, which helps beauty businesses to pretty much eliminate thousands of dollars they lose in no-shows and last24 | SPA+CLINIC
minute cancelled appointments. When last-minute cancellations do happen, the salon still captures its revenue in full via Beauro. Additionally, we have built a technology that allows salons to advertise and fill last-minute available time slots via the app in one click - we will make sure it’s filled by sending a push notification to hundreds of customers in the area. When customers book through Beauro, we help salons to keep customers coming back by sending reminders when they are due for their next appointment. We are not big fans of mindless discounting and focus instead on attracting repeat clients. We are unique in that we only list salons and spas that provide outstanding quality of services, which means the salons are always going to be featured alongside fellow reputable businesses and our users are guaranteed a great experience. As a result, we welcome all businesses in the hair, beauty and wellness industry, who offer excellent services and are looking to reach new clients and keep them coming back. In terms of being listed, it is extremely easy for a business to jump on board. We take charge of all the initial set up hassle and walk you through how it works one-on-one. There are no fees involved with the onboarding process and we don’t charge any subscription fees. It is forever free to be a part of the app, the salon only pays a small commission fee when we actually generate a new customer for them. All businesses get a one-month free trial when they join. We also don’t ask salons to switch from their current booking management software provider – Beauro syncs and runs alongside it as a complimentary service. Beauroapp.com
Matt Dyer and Nathan Airey, Founders of Bookwell Australians are spending more on health, beauty and wellness services every year, and this industry has been relatively slow to adapt to new technology. There’s a genuine need from both businesses and consumers for simple, easy online booking management. Nathan and I saw a lot of opportunity in this market.
