Our exclusive monthly benchmarking stats for each sector of the market

Vera Mont

Business Trends

It’s been a positive month for the UK beauty salon market with treatment bookings up on last year, resulting in a healthy 59% room occupancy. With make-up now bigger business than ever before – thanks to the array of product reviews and demos on Instagram and YouTube – more than a third of you are getting in on the action, posting your own make-up tutorials to help grow your following.

It’s important to make sure your team is motivated, which is why many of you are using incentives such as competitive commission structures and extra annual leave to boost retail sales, which shows in this month’s figures.

Florence Roby came out as your favourite brand for personalised salon workwear. Check out the hottest trends shaking up the uniforms and towels sector on page 78.

On the spot

Florence Roby

Which brand do you think does the best personalised uniforms?

1. Florence Roby

2. Simon Jersey

3. Buttercups

4. La Beeby

43% have therapists who do make-up in salon and post the looks online

What incentives do you use to motivate therapists to retail more?

1. Commission on each sale

2. Discounts on treatments or products

3. Commission based on targets

4. Days out or time off

May 2018 in numbers

HOW DID TREATMENT BUSINESS IN MAY 2018 COMPARE WITH MAY 2017?

AVERAGE TREATMENT ROOM OCCUPANCY

59%

HOW DID RETAIL BUSINESS IN MAY 2018 COMPARE WITH MAY 2017?

Insider spa

Matalan

Post-treatment product sales are up compared to May last year, and this could be a result of your focused approach on meeting targets – many of you offer therapists discounts on services if they reach their monthly sales goals. Treatment business also came in strong, with your room occupancy at 60%.

However, less than a quarter of you are using social media platforms to show off your therapists’ make-up skills and help drive in new custom. Find out more about using Instagram and how to set yourself apart from the beauty bloggers on page 70. When it comes to branding for your uniforms, many of you turn to Simon Jersey and Florence Roby for a bespoke touch.

On the spot

Simon Jersey

Which brand do you think does the best personalised uniforms?

1. Simon Jersey

2. Florence Roby

3. Diamond Designs

4. Buttercups

13% have therapists who do make-up in the spa and post the looks online

What incentives do you use to motivate therapists to retail more?

1. Discounts on treatments or products

2. Commission on each sale

3. Commission based on targets

4. Days out or time off

May 2018 in numbers

HOW DID TREATMENT BUSINESS IN MAY 2018 COMPARE WITH MAY 2017?

AVERAGE TREATMENT ROOM OCCUPANCY

60%

HOW DID RETAIL BUSINESS IN MAY 2018 COMPARE WITH MAY 2017?

Insider nails

New Look

The rise of non-standard salons has been an issue for your businesses of late, with nearly three quarters of clients coming to your nail techs for help after being the victim of a botched job elsewhere. Staying true to your value and skills is also among the reasons most of you updated your treatment menu in the past six months.

Upskilling the techs in your salon or spa is important, especially in terms of acrylics where many struggle to get the powder-to-liquid ratio and arch placement right. In general, the UK nails sector did well in May, with both treatment and retail figures up on last year. For the latest nail news and to find out about Bio Sculpture’s new training course, turn to page 91.

On the spot

What’s the biggest acrylic troubleshooting issue your techs struggle with?

1. Powder-to-liquid ratio

2. Arch placement

3. Over-reliance on filing

4. Room temperature impacting setting time

72% have had to fix a client’s nails after a botched job at a non-standard salon

When was the last time you updated your nails treatment menu? 1. Less than six months ago

2. A year ago

3. Two years ago

4. Three to five years ago

METHODOLOGY Insider is compiled from a monthly survey of spas and beauty salons. The people who participated represent a crosssection of the industry and were polled by email from May 29 to June 8, regarding business for the month to May 31. Nail business for the Insider Nails page was calculated from data provided by spas and salons that offer nail services among other treatments. The figures given represent the average score for each answer. Brands are ranked when mentioned by several respondents.

May 2018 in numbers

HOW DID TREATMENT BUSINESS IN MAY 2018 COMPARE WITH MAY 2017?

NAIL TREATMENTS PERFORMED ON AVERAGE PER WEEK

26

HOW DID RETAIL BUSINESS IN MAY 2018 COMPARE WITH MAY 2017?