Effective Merchandising -

Create a Salon/Spa Shop!

Regardless of space a well-stocked salon shop will strengthen your identity.  It creates awareness of your products and begins to help plant a seed that can develop a desire to buy.  There is unlimited potential to increase turnover and improve cash-flow within the salon/spa by focusing on and increasing retail sales.  This sales process will have a positive impact on figures, increasing turnover for the salon and commission for the staff.

However, the approach to the display and merchandising of retail products can be quite poor and sometimes even overlooked within salons and spas.  Once you decide to include retail in your salon, you must start to think like a retailer as well as a therapist.  As a therapist, you know more about the skin than the counter staff in any retail outlet, so why lose sales to local retail outlets, such as department stores, pharmacies and even supermarkets, just because you haven’t given enough thought and attention to effective merchandising.

Merchandising - is how products are categorised and grouped together in a way that will enhance them and encourage clients to buy.  It involves the location of products in retail area and how they are arranged for purchase.  

Effective merchandising views selling from the client’s point of view, and since a huge percentage of purchases are made on impulse, merchandising strives to make purchasing products as easy as possible for clients, while increasing profits for the salon.

Stock Levels:  
Revise and re-examine all your stock levels.
Make sure you have all your best sellers in stock.
If you are out of stock of an item, communicate this to all staff, so they don’t recommend a product you don’t have.
Place regular small orders until you have your stock levels correct,
Make sure you have enough, but don’t tie money up in stock that isn’t selling.

The Merchandising Process must contain these 3 elements:

Products:  according to your market, are the right product types and brands present in the point of purchase display?

Position: location – are the products placed in the ideal location in the client traffic flow?  Are products in the right section, in order with market leaders, and in order of package size?  Are the products rotated to keep stock fresh?

Presentation:  pricing – are the products clearly prices?  If not, an alternative product might be purchased elsewhere.  Do you use point of sale materials strategically?  For example, use of advertising, shelf edgers, show materials, special prices etc.  Are all the products and units/shelving/counters clean and attractively displayed?

You may even need to take some photos of your retail displays from different perspectives to see your salon as your clients do!

And finally, check out your competition – visit other retail outlets, pose as a customer looking for a new skincare programme and compare their merchandising to yours.  Check out how they use all the ‘tools of the trade’, eg. samples, testers, product information to enhance their sales.  Learn new and effective silent selling skills which can be taken back to your salon and implemented, allowing you to grow your business.

Liz McKeon is a beauty/holistic therapist, business graduate and coach who has helped many beauty businesses reach their true potential through her personalised consultancy service.  The process begins with a FREE, no obligation initial telephone chat.
For more information, check out www.lizmckeon.com or call 086 386 1243.