How to build the best online salon booking system?

You must have waited a little too long for your turn at the salon, haven’t you? Salon appointments can be difficult to schedule, requiring a lot of time and effort. We seldom have the time or patience to book an appointment at a salon. But in the world of technology, where we have an app for almost everything, why would anyone struggle to rely upon manual things taking hours when the same can be done in just a few minutes? Wouldn’t you agree?

What’s the answer? Build an online salon booking system that helps people book appointments whenever they want. Customers can end their anxiety about waiting on the phone or physically visiting the salon by visiting online. Moreover, service providers have access to a means for effectively managing their appointments.

• Reasons to move online with your beauty and salon business
• Investing in an online salon booking system is a good idea. Here’s why!
• The long-term impact of COVID-19 on the beauty industry
• Quick glance at the benefits of an online salon booking system
• Essential features every salon booking system should have
• How Yelo helps you set up your own salon booking system?

Reasons to move online with your beauty and salon business

• An online salon booking system assists business owners in streamlining and digitizing appointment booking processes. With an online salon booking system, you can give your customers the freedom to fix an appointment as and when they want to, irrespective of your working hours.
• You need to make it easy for consumers to book salons online by making an online salon booking system based on the fact that consumers are searching for salons near me and attempting to book salons online.
• With a salon booking app in place, the service providers can save themselves a lot of time and energy by avoiding tasks like manually handling appointments, reports, and billing.

Investing in an online salon booking system is a good idea. Here’s why!

According to recent data from Phorest Salon Software, only 54% of appointment bookings happen during salon and spa opening hours. Consequently, salons could lose out on up to 46% of bookings if they don’t offer clients the option to book online or through an app. The study of hourly appointments at more than 5,000 salons and spas revealed that 28% of bookings happen after salon closing time and 18% occur before salon opening time.

Online appointment scheduling is a solution for large and also many small businesses. This allows businesses to offer their services easily and schedule appointments.

• 38% of spa and salon bookings go for same-day appointments.
• 35% of total appointments are booked by men.
• 88% of total appointments are booked by women.

The online salon booking system & software market is expected to register a CAGR of 7.11% over the forecast period (2021-2026). As people strive for healthy and standard lifestyles, they are seeking services that can help relieve stress. In response, the demand for beauty and salon services is increasing, which is driving the market. This results in the investment in spa and salon management software, to streamline business activities.

The long-term impact of COVID-19 on the beauty industry

The COVID-19 crisis is likely to cause some permanent changes. Here are three areas in which the pandemic could influence the beauty industry in significant ways:

1. Digital continues to rise: Beauty-industry players will need to prioritize digital channels to capture and convert the attention of existing and new customers. Operationally, the use of artificial intelligence is expected to accelerate in order to benefit from concerns about safety and hygiene fundamentally disrupting product tests and in-person consultations.
2. The pace of innovation accelerates: As the COVID-19 crisis demonstrated, the world is adaptable and can change quickly. Unfortunately, supply can’t keep pace at all times. Even before the pandemic, brands were under pressure to restructure their product-innovation pipelines, inspired by direct-to-consumer brands to go from concept to cupboard in less than a month. But the need for speed is now more evident.
3. Multiples fall as mergers and acquisitions rise: Due to the COVID-19 crisis, which has the potential to severely damage the balance sheets of brands, retailers, and suppliers, many companies will need to raise additional capital. Meanwhile, given the hit to revenues and the global economy, multiples could fall from pre-crisis levels, when some brands traded for more than eight times revenue or 10 to 15 times earnings.

Quick glance at the benefits of an online salon booking system

• No follow up needed on the appointment via a phone call or an e-mail 
• Reduce the number of missed appointments
• Taking payments online; hands-free and contact-less
• Easy bookings even at closed hours  
• Organize and manage service provider work schedule 
• Setting up an automated appointment reminder 

Essential features every salon booking system should have

For the customers:

1. Integrated calendar: Be sure to incorporate an integrated calendar to schedule appointments. In this way, your customers can open the app, check reservations that are instantly linked with your in-house calendar, and schedule appointments for cosmetics and beauty solutions.
2. In-app payments: In the post-COVID era, in-app payments make it infinitely easier for your customers to make payments. With in-app payments, you can manage transactions and payments from your customers.
3. Loyalty programs: By establishing a loyalty program, you can show your customers how much you care. Consider creating a loyalty program for you to give your customers incentives. As an example, you might give free haircuts to your customers after they buy ten items. Additionally, you can offer your most loyal customers other rewards and perks, increasing the likelihood that they will stay with your business and bringing in more customers.
4. Style library: Including a style library can be extremely useful. With a photo gallery filled with tons of images, your customers can give stylists a clear idea of what they desire, improving communication.
5. Push notifications: Due to the vast number of applications and software available on the market, it can be easy for customers to forget about yours. By far, push notifications are the most effective way to notify your customers that you are available. They let you send them information about new features, updates, and other activities.
6. GPS: Nowadays, every app makes use of GPS. To make your salon accessible to customers, you must make use of GPS.

For the business owner:

1. Client Management: The capability to view, add, and delete users, reducing the manual chaos.
2. Appointment Management: With this function, the admin can view, update, and manage past and upcoming appointments.
3. Beautician Management: This feature assists in adding, deleting, or updating the data of beauticians. Also, a timetable for each beautician can be viewed.
4. Service Management: The beauty service management allows the admin to view, add, delete, and edit data. Among them are bank account details, ID card, and beautician records, as well as appointments.

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How Yelo helps you set up your own salon booking system?

Beauty service providers, part of the on-demand niche, are rapidly opting for mobile app solutions to grow their businesses. The importance of having a mobile salon app cannot be overstated, regardless of whether you own a small or large chain of salons.

Today, we are living in a new era where nearly any problem can be solved with technology. If you are worried about hiring a developer to get your online salon booking system developed and designed, then change your thoughts and be smarter today! With zero coding and in no time, set up your own SaaS beauty and salon appointment booking platform and be ready to outshine the business.
With Yelo, you can have the best app features that every salon booking system should have. Contact us today if you’d like to address the needs of your community by starting your own beauty and salon business with Yelo. Start with a free 14-day trial now!