WORK SMARTER not harder

After a challenging two years, salon owners are futureproofing their businesses by selling products online. Tamara Reid, head of brand for Timely Beauty Business Software, explains how

At the risk of stating the obvious, 2020 was tough and 2021 wasn’t much better. While businesses across all sectors were impacted by Covid-19, not to mention Government-imposed restrictions and cautious consumers, few industries were hit harder than beauty.

Right now, the official line is that we must learn to live with the virus. But that hasn’t stopped savvy, forwardthinking business owners from diversifying their income streams to both recoup losses and help soften the blow of any future curveballs.

For many salon owners and sole traders, ecommerce is a natural extension of the in-salon experience. Your clients are going to need a stash of products to maintain salon-worthy results between treatments, so it makes sense to meet them where they are: at home.

Creating an online store

Fortunately for the time-poor among us, setting up an online store has never been easier, thanks to beauty business software Timely, which integrates seamlessly with Shopify’s ecommerce and point-of-sale features.

Over 55,000 businesses globally use Timely to book and manage appointments, create sales and payments, and track their stock. Now, this newly launched Timely-Shopify partnership allows salon and clinic owners to manage their online and in-store product sales with ease.

How does it work? In a few clicks, Timely integrates with Shopify to sync up to an existing store or create a new one, which then allows for easy stock and sales management across both systems. This means you can take advantage of full transaction tracking both online and in-salon to run sales reports through Timely, giving you a clear picture of top and low-performing products.

Social integration

Social shopping continues to be an ecommerce trend for 2022 with consumers preferring to shop on-platform.

Shopify integrates with Instagram and Facebook, meaning salons can sell directly to their followers. “We go out of our way to make sure that all of our posts are tagged through Shopify with products,” says Kathryn Stevens, owner of Loxy’s salon in New Zealand. “It makes it so easy for people – they don’t even have to leave Instagram to be shopping on your online store.”

Ultimately, evolving your business will help you stay afloat during uncertain times. We all have our limits and boosting your cash flow by working long hours is a one-way ticket to burnout. An online store, on the other hand, will generate income while you sleep.

Find out how Timely can help your salon business at gettimely.com