The Future of Beauty Salon Software
New business models are all the hype these days. Think of how easy it is to request for Uber as opposed to whistling or yelling for a taxi; this is just one of the many ways in which technology has made life easier.
The beauty industry has not been left behind either, with an app, you can now manage the day-to-day tasks in your salon more efficiently. If you are still racing against time by managing your salon manually? Here’s what you need to know about the future of beauty salon software.
Features of Salon Software
There are many platforms, with each promising to be better than the last. To help you pick the best salon software, here are some of the latest features to look for:
Real-time Booking
To serve your clientele effectively, you need a receptionist who is polite, fast, and above all, one who is always available. Salon software provides you with a virtual assistant who is available 24/7. This allows for online bookings, instant responses, and scheduling- free of human error.
Salon Revenue Model
You are in business to make money and it, therefore, goes without saying that tracking every single penny is in your best interest. This can get tricky especially with several points of sales for merchandise and services.
A good software tracks and settles cash, mobile payments, card, and other forms of payments. It should also generate a cash report on command, at any given time.
Social Media Integration
Today, new clients are more likely to know about your business through social media as opposed to traditional advertisements. Your management software should integrate different social media platforms in an effort to bring you closer to your target market.
From Facebook to Twitter and other platforms, the software should make it easier for clients to book and make inquiries right from their smart devices.
Resources and Inventory Control
Off the top of your head, can you tell which beauty stations or rooms are unoccupied in your salon? Salon software will do the thinking, allocation and scheduling for you when you are there and even when you are away. It also keeps your inventory up-to-date.
Feedback
What people say about your beauty salon can make or break your business. Both positive and negative feedback needs to be looked at, and where necessary, addressed promptly. Your software should make this easier by gathering all comments, sorting through and giving you a say on what remains for all to view.
Analytics and Statistics
A good entrepreneur keeps a detailed analysis of appointments, new customers- both walk-ins and referrals, and revenue. A detailed analysis will also show you which services or products are on the rise or decline, labour analysis, and cash streams. Salon software provides all this at a glance with graphs for ease of information consumption.
What The Future Holds?
AI technology is revolutionizing how business is done with cutting edge software targeting the beauty industry. You may now install diagnostic tools for skin procedures, digital curtains and video walls. These are tools meant to capture your clients’ imagination and attention.
Augmented Reality
Salon software is also taking advantage of augmented reality technology. This means that you might be able to add layers of virtual space to your salon. If well exploited, these innovations can place your clients into a live fashion show in Paris, right at the comfort of your waiting area. Not only will this keep them coming back but the tech will make the waiting time more fun.2
What if Your Salon Software Could Answer Calls?
Yes, you read that right. As it stands, artificial intelligence has leapt beyond what was thought possible in the past. Ever since man discovered how to use tools, the race to reduce human effort from most tasks was on. In the salon industry, automation is everywhere, and now it’s possible to automate voice services.
Back in 2017, Google launched the google.ai, a division dedicated to advancing machine intelligence. A year later, Google AI Assistant could make calls for you. In the demonstration done by Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the AI actually made a call to a real beauty salon receptionist and booked a hair appointment.3
Today, for your upcoming trip, AI can suggest a rental service, a car model, fill out the rental forms, and even suggest a date; all this after seeing a marked travel date in your online calendar. This is a huge step since the chess-playing Deep Blue computer defeated the then world’s chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997.
Going forward, we can only dream and hope for even ‘more intelligent’ AIs. Wouldn’t it be something if your phone could place a call to a virtual receptionist in a salon, converse -in the background, and relay instructions back to you? That might sound like wishful thinking, but at a time when Siri, Alexa, and Google Duplex exist, anything is possible. And we are pretty sure leading salon software developers like Versum are on it right now!
The Takeaway
We are at the height of the digital era where everything is available online or at the touch of a screen. Sales, payments, advertisement, feedback and even decorations have now been digitized. Jump into the bandwagon by starting with salon software for smooth shop management. While at it, keep up with the developments in artificial intelligence, to say the least, its the future and the future is already here.
Resources:
1. https://www.salontoday.com/376999/take-a-tour-of-the-salon-of-the-future – Take a Tour of the Salon of the Future, Salon Today
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/07/30/9-powerful-real-world-applications-of-augmented-reality-ar-today/#2b6e70e42fe9 – 9 Powerful Real-world Applications Of Augmented Reality (Ar) Today, Forbes
3. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/22/technology/personaltech/ai-google-duplex.html – Google’s Duplex Uses A.I. to Mimic Humans (Sometimes), The New York Times
