6 mins
Know your options
Choosing the perfect software to suit your unique business needs can be overwhelming, but we’ve got you key software brands
Treatwell
Treatwell currently has 55,000 salon partners across 13 different countries, processing eight million monthly bookings.
With salon management software options to suit different businesses, pros can make the most of an intuitive digital calendar, targeted marketing tools, stock management, a POS system, and more. They can use insightful analytics and reporting to create a data-driven plan for success. And, with integrations across Google, Apple Maps, Instagram, Facebook and more, salons benefit from strong online visibility.
With Treatwell’s all-in-one solutions, salon pros can attract and retain clients, boost bookings, foster loyalty, streamline admin and save time.
Vagaro
The company’s motto, “Vagaro user success is Vagaro’s success” is brought to life with its promise of 24/7 contact, and more than 174,000 salon pros use Vagaro.
Another customer-favourite feature is the custom-built forms, which automatically send appointment reminders. Plus, Vagaro’s live stream feature not only offers the chance for digital consultations, but it’s a great tool for offering training courses online too.
For an extra fee, you can build your own branded app and another modern update to the software is Vagaro Marketplace. Already integrated with Apple and Google, this feature means clients can search and book via the salon’s map listing.
Trybe
Built and designed intuitively, Trybe’s fully cloud-based software simplifies booking management for staff, delivers more impactful user journeys and supports revenue growth. More than just a booking engine, Trybe offers a complete property management solution for the spa and leisure industry, in a bid to make the necessity for disparate systems redundant.
Specialist features include holistic property management, including payment integration, membership management, retail and inventory management and reporting on the staff agenda.
Zenoti
Since 2010, Zenoti has helped over 25,000 businesses to drive success and grow their brands. It provides functions for every area, from the front desk to backroom inventory. The brand focuses on salons being able to maximise their available appointments without having to hire extra staff, and to drive the highest possible invoice per client visit.
Some tools to help make this happen include booking of parallel services, variable service pricing based on demand, targeted marketing campaigns, data insights and retail recommendations for clients. Its more unique features are implementing membership models and selling gift cards online.
Zenoti recognises that retaining talent can be tough in the industry, so encourages salon owners to empower staff with Zenoti’s mobile app where they can see an overview on their phone or tablet. They can view client information and their schedule, and can track their earnings all via the app. Salons also get their own branded mobile app for clients who can shop for services, book online and connect with staff.
Phorest
Phorest aims to touch every point of the salon experience, offering features like online booking, reporting, custom-branded booking apps, a sleek POS, marketing features and integrated payment processing. It not only uses innovation in technology to help businesses, but offers mentoring and education too.
Ronan Perceval originally worked as a receptionist in a salon, and after noticing that the salon owner was struggling, he and Phorest’s co-founder, Jamie Mysercough, came up with a solution to send text messages to clients. This was a simple fix for no-shows and nonreturning clients, reminding them about their appointments and displaying offers to entice them to return.
This personal touch continues in 2023 as the brand connects businesses with their own dedicated business advisor. Another key feature is the PhorestGo app, created for staff members to manage the salon on-the-go, with tasks such as stock taking and booking appointments.
Premier Software
With more than 25 years of experience, Premier Software has always supported salon growth.
The brand has four key software systems, including SalonLite, a cloud-based salon appointment scheduling system where therapists are able to save all of their data to their account, making everything accessible on-the-go.
In addition, Premier’s premium tools include online booking with five diary columns, linked payments for multiple appointments and stock control.
Shortcuts
Shortcuts is focused on helping salon, spa, and beauty business to provide an exceptional experience for clients and run a seamless business.
Key features include Series, designed to help your clients conveniently bulk-book treatments, and business benchmarking thanks to the Business Performance Calculator, an analytics tool that measures how well you’re doing compared with similar businesses in your industry.
Shortcuts provides round-the-clock support through both phone and email channels, with access to its team of experts. Thanks to 24/7 support, salons will be connected with a genuine individual to resolve their concerns, giving them peace of mind.
Timely
Timely provides booking and client management software to over 55,000 hair and beauty professionals worldwide. Its customisable calendar allows you to manage your beauty business from anywhere, while letting your clients book their own appointments online at any time.
Users can tap into different tools designed to help salons deliver exceptional client experiences, grow their income and manage their business. The customisability doesn’t stop there, as the brand wants salons to remain unique and individual, all of its features are customisable. So, the ways you communicate with your clients and loyalty programs, can be set up in a way that matches your business. A salon’s business performance is crucial in its progress, so Timely’s reporting and staff management tools can highlight areas of growth and losses. To help with monotonous tasks, such as daily cashing-up, there is TimelyPay; a single payment solution for both in-salon payments, and online ones too.
iSalon
For over three decades, iSalon has provided software for the hair and beauty industry, delivering features such as appointment management, multicurrency till, reporting suites, stock control, SMS and email marketing systems. It has over 8.5 million customers globally, and nearly 2,000 salons.
Its integrated payment feature stands out due to its partnership with financial service and SaaS company Stripe. This allows secure transactions both online and in the salon. iSalon users also have access to The Hub, a platform containing a range of “how-to” training videos so that they can optimise the use of their software package. The company is committed to adapting to the ever-changing beauty industry and offers a Software for Life Maintenance Policy, which gives users the latest upgrades without an extra charge.
Fresha
There are 100,000 businesses in over 120 countries that use the Fresha platform to manage their business and improve client experience.
This has led to over 700 million appointments being booked in the hair, beauty and wellness industry through Fresha.
The company offers functions, such as online appointment bookings, processing card payments and managing customer records. It also offers automations for marketing, staffing, product inventory and accounting. Fresha’s online calendar offers a visual presentation of all your appointments, locations and team members.
New clients can also find you and book online using popular external apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, Google Search and Google Maps, as well as through your own website. Meanwhile, you can find and contact your clients with marketing tools, such as emails, text messages and updates within the mobile app itself.
Salon Tracker
Salon Tracker’s software packages are designed to suit the needs of each individual salon, providing a helping hand in the day-to-day running of each business.
Specifically for beauty businesses, the software offers skin tests linked to an electronic signature pad to make sure your salon has signed disclaimers attached to each client card, ensuring both your customers and your business are protected.
Other key features of the Salon Tracker software suite include timer integration for tanning beds, as well as add-ons such as Salon HQ, which allows salon owners and their teams to control the salon from home or another site.