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Profitable Salon Retail
Date Added: 2009-11-16
How can you turn salon retail into a profitable part of your salon? Salon Business Online took some top tips from industy guru, Zackary Milardo.
The key to successful and profitable retail product sales is based on several important factors. According to national surveys, one out of every four clients will purchase retail hair care products. Each and every client that visits your salon for a service is a potential retail client that can literally help you pay your salon rent.
Retail Display
The retail product display area should automatically draw the client towards the products. In order to achieve this you will need to very carefully plan an effective display area to achieve maximum product sales. Following are some retail merchandising methods used by some of the most successful salons in the USA & Canada.
• Create a retail plan with attention to how and where you would like your traffic to flow.
• Invest in a good quality and attractive display unit that will be noticed.
• Retail area should be well lit and dust free.
• Clearly price all retail products.
• Clean and stock retail display daily.
• Place products in the order of usage: shampoo section, conditioner section, finishing section and so on.
• Products should be clean and very well arranged - no clutter.
• Product shelf talker displays are also highly used by top salons. They help attract clients directly to the product. Do not use too many shelf talkers because it will have the opposite effect.
• It is proven that clients seem to be drawn to the products that are placed at eye level. Stand in the middle of your retail area and place the product that you would like to see sell more. Make sure it is placed at about 5’ 4” which is the average woman’s height.
• Place the smaller products to the left and the largest to the right.
• Place your best selling products in several areas of your retail space.
Brand Names
Based on salon surveys, more than 93% of successful salons carry most or all of the wellknown name brands on their retail shelves. Many clients know what retail products they like, and are automatically drawn to salons that carry many different lines. If you have a limited retail purchasing budget, and cannot carry most of the major known brands, it is recommended to choose at least 4 to 6 of the best-selling retail products in your area.
Negotiating with Distributors
Always negotiate a salon buying price from your distributors with an agreement that you will give them a prime shelf location, and promote their products regularly.
Multiple Salons
If you have two or more salons, you should definitely be getting an additional discount from your current salon buying price. This should be negotiated and agreed upon in writing. Most or all successful and profitable chain salons use this formula as leverage in
order to get the best possible price from distributors. This leveraging method is not only used for retail products but for hair color product as well. This is a huge part of every chain salon’s bottom line.
Distributor Support
It is in the distributor’s best interest to support the salon in helping to sell their products. Sales reps are quite knowledgeable when it comes to retail sales .They can help you with setting up your retail area for maximum exposure. Many distributors offer in-salon promotions, where they send one or more of their sales reps to your salon and actually set up an area, usually in front of the retail section, to promote that particular product brand. This is an excellent service and will increase your retail sales.
How to sell retail products to your clients
Your retail center is fully stocked and looks fantastic. How do you go about selling retail products to your clients without being pushy?
Ask Questions: In the initial client consultation, ask your client questions regarding their hair:
• What products are you currently using?
• Do you spend lots of time styling your hair?
• What kind of problems or challenges do you have with your hair?
This is a great one to ask since whatever challenges they are having with their hair, you as the stylist will recommend the best products to meet their needs.
Educate: Once the client answers some of these questions, you as the expert will recommend the products best suited for that particular client’s hair type. If you are performing a service, it is highly recommended to use the product which you are suggesting on your client.
Closing the Sale
Many salons use a product prescription system. This is a very professional and effective method, similar to a doctor’s prescription method. The stylist has a professional salon retail prescription pad with the client’s name, hair type, and products recommended. At the end of the service, the stylist hands over the product prescription to the client and walks over to the retail area to show the recommended products. Retail product sales using this method are very effective and successful.
Zackary Milardo has had a passionate career in hairdressing for over 30 years having owned several successful salons both in the USA & Canada. In addition, he is also a business salon consultant and travels across the USA & Canada teaching his salon seminars entitled: Secrets of Successful and Profitable Salons Revealed.
