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Powered by Flossie industry debrief — December 2022

Exploring the role of user experience in counteracting the decline of product sales in the hair product industry.

What is happening?

• The professional hair product industry is under pressure as major brands see declining growth, a drop in performance and impacted share price.

What is being said?

• It has been suggested that the reason product companies are experiencing the decline in revenue is due to customer behavior change in a worsening economy, “customers are putting longer between bookings for hair services” (Source: Glossy). The assumption made is that this is due to wallets being tightened as a global recession looms.

What does Powered by Flossie think?

• Whilst economic instability is affecting consumer spend across all categories, the hair industry is, in parallel, experiencing a consumer engagement boom (#TikTokmademebuyit with 30.8 billion views and counting). Never have customers been so obsessed with their hair: coloring, styling, texture and the products used to achieve the desired look. Examples of this can be seen across TikTok and other social platforms where hair influencers reign supreme. In the press coverage, this has not been mentioned, and nor is it being harnessed.

Why is that?

• The ‘how to’ generation have mastered many skills using the internet and lockdowns gave people time and impetus to try DIY hair servicing.
• The ‘DIY customer’ is currently viewed as a reason for the decline in salon performance (e.g. customers are more adept and can achieve the look they desire from home, therefore need less professional input), whereas we believe it presents an opportunity to improve the skills of the entire industry.
• The potential for correlation between customers’ increased interest in the hair category and the salon channel financial performance has not been considered, clearly demonstrated or optimized to truly prove its value at generating product sales in the hair category.

What does Powered by Flossie think is the way forward?

We believe product companies can stimulate faster repeat custom by investing in technology specifically to create exceptional user experiences within the salon channel.

By marketing to customers where they are (e.g. Tiktok) and showcasing skills they can learn from by booking with a professional stylist will drive the professional category. Professional brand product companies can support proactive customer re-engagement which will facilitate a stronger connection to the salon network.

Powered by Flossie has proven that this will drive the professional category. You can see a live example demonstrating the ‘ecommerce of hair services’ here.

Why does Powered by Flossie believe that to be true?

• Salons have always waited on customers to turn up and rebook when they’re ready for their next appointment.
• Customers rebook faster when remarketed to proactively across social channels.
• Customers have been trained in remarketing by adjacent verticals and brands (such as cosmetic ecommerce channels). Piggy-backing on this customer education will make it easy for product companies to utilize digital marketing strategies to proactively re-engage faster with customers who are now extremely tech savvy, seeking great UX/CX and already demonstrating their thirst for the category.

What is the most important challenge?

• Getting more people into the funnel for salons, ‘bums on seats / heads in basins’.

How this can be achieved: Powered by Flossie’s strategic guidance…

1. Product companies can use their significant marketing girth and prowess to build modern ‘e-commerce of hair services’ marketing campaigns.
2. According to Fortune Business Insights, hair coloring makes up 1/5th of the global haircare market. Professionals always need products to serve their clients in the chair and customers also need take-home products to manage their colored, treated hair at home. Driving more customers into the salon by way of providing the means to easily book appointments online will still turn into more product sales.
3. Performance can be tracked and measured like other channels with lifetime value metrics that can guide optimization.
4. Digital solutions can embrace the marrying of products and services together to create a stronger ecommerce purchasing experience for the customer, using data and content cues.
5. For example, using Tiktok to embrace trends and show customers how to achieve their hair goals by booking with the professional stylists.
6. Content rich marketing campaigns draw in and establish the desired customer behavior, and timely remarketing converts them across their ‘lifetime’ engagement.

Join the conversation. We encourage open dialogue, please leave a comment below.

About Powered by Flossie

We’re a technology solution enabling hair product companies the ability to sell online service bookings on behalf of their salon partners to drive product sales.