UK beauty and hair salons lose £1.2bn per year due to no-shows

No-shows are still a huge challenge for the industry, with UK beauty and hair salons losing up to £1.2 billion every year as a result of clients failing to keep pre-booked appointments.

Research from software provider Powered by Flossie found that the issue has affected the capital the worst, with just under a third (30%) of women in London admitting to not showing up to an appointment.

A failure to digitaltise the booking process could be one of the reasons behind the lost profitability, found the report, with 75% of salons still using paper systems.

One in three millennials said they booked their most recent appointment online, and as this demographic comes in for treatments more frequently than any other age group this is important information – 18 to 24 years olds visit salons on average once per month in comparison to the overall average of one appointment every six to eight weeks, discovered the report.

However, an additional third of millennials said they were unable to make an appointment because their chosen salon didn’t have an online booking option, while a further fifth said their online experience was so frustrating that it put them off booking altogether.

“Whether it’s causing them to lose revenue via no-shows or preventing customers from easily accessing the services they want, legacy technology is hurting the hair and beauty industry,” said Jenene Crossan, chief executive and founder of Powered by Flossie.