As business owners, we are all looking for ways to increase sales and overall foot traffic to our storefront. Especially when it comes to owning a brick and mortar, your sales instantly stop the second you lock the front door. Imagine if you could be making sales with the doors shut and the closed sign up... eCommerce is the solution!

Salon Specific
Let us talk about your salon. Think about your customer base, specifically your regular clients...How often are they visiting? If I had to guess, they are probably coming in about once a month. When it comes to the one off clients maybe once every three months. The reason I want to get you thinking here is because of the time spent away from your salon. They are clearly using beauty products whether it is shampoo + conditioner to face wash and hand cream, so why not provide them with these products. These clients come to you wanting to feel their best! They are going to take your advice as you steer them in the right direction. Also, they are more likely to buy products from you after a great experience! They will want to increase longevity of the satisfied product. Keep this in mind especially with stores like Target, Sephora and Amazon where such products are so easily accessible. If they do not want to buy products immediately after their treatment, it would be wise to provide an option for them to do so before they come back and see you, eCommerce! Afterall, without an online shopping cart to directly buy beauty supplies from, they will mostly end up on Amazon Prime. While it may seem tedious and time consuming, believe me it is not all that complicated. I have laid out a few important categories to help you maximize your online potential!

Increasing Sales through eCommerce
How many followers do you have on Facebook or Instagram? Imagine each of those followers making an average of two purchases a month from your store. You can literally turn your social following into an extra stream of revenue by incorporating an online shopping cart. They already follow you, so why not post merchandise and give them two clicks to make it theirs? Not to mention, the folks from out of town will be able to purchase your inventory from their couch miles and miles away. Lastly, the incorporation of this shopping cart will inevitably drive foot traffic into your store. For example, I am browsing Instagram looking for Christmas gifts, I then see your post of a new fur sweater or face cream. My mind immediately starts thinking, what else does this store have to offer? If I purchase the fur sweater for my mom, maybe I can grab something for my sister too... Hypothetically, I buy both on Instagram - they arrive to my house and everyone loves the new swag! They ask me where I got it, and now we are all headed to the brick and mortar. Yes, that may have seen like a silly story but guess what? It happened last week!

1. Take high-quality photos of your work
If you see your salon business as a high quality or potentially trendy, and modern salon, it is very important to focus on high-quality pictures. Take the time to invest in a professional grade camera, lighting, and maybe even a graphic designer to edit the photos to appeal better to your target audience. You should also consider doing before and after photos that showcase how you have transformed your client with your amazing stylist expertise.

2. Get your customers involved and engaged
Set up a loyalty rewards program that requires your customers to share your salon’s social media handles online. By doing, you can increase customer retention as well as utilizing your customer base for online free word-of-mouth advertising. Not only will your clients feel obligated to share their experiences online, but they will take the pride in knowing they will receive loyalty points or bonuses which will bring them back to your salon. Create a selfie station in your salon where customers can take their own selfies of their hair, makeup, or nails. Put your logo on a cute, creative, banner and let them spread how awesome your salon is -- without you having to lift a finger. Read more about the Salon Loyalty Program.

3. Create an awesome landing page or website
Your clients expect for you to have a website, and if you do not,  that speaks volumes about your brand in a way that is inefficient. Invest money in a website and landing page so that your customers can utilize to gain more information from you. Please keep in mind that this will also allow you to appear in Google search results, and it is very beneficial to you especially for localized searches. If you need any help with creating an attractive website, click here to read more.

4. Create targeted Facebook ads
Create compelling and interactive Facebook ads that will grab the attention of your target audience. On Facebook, you can refine the criteria of the ads to show up in the feeds of your target audience in the area your salon resides. If your ads are compelling enough, you should see an increase in your inquiries as well as salon appointments. Strategize and research effective and creative advertisements for salon businesses.

A website for your salon is a great tool for you to use to attract potential clients. Think of it as an extension to your business; what online visitors see could be what establishes your credibility as a professional. You want your online presence to be reflective of the brand you’ve created in-house. You wouldn't want a potential customer to walk into your salon and think it’s a complete mess, chances are they’ll turn around and walk out the door. Same goes for your website. To avoid that from happening, we’ve put together some tips and tricks from our ebook, The Easy Peasy Guide to Having a Killer Website, to make sure your website has a great design that truly represents your brand.

1. Have a clean logo that links. Your logo is your brand. You want to make sure your logo is on your website and that it links back to your homepage.

2. Use one primary color and one secondary color. You don’t want your website looking like crayola exploded on it. Keep your color scheme to 2-3 colors throughout. Use the right font for what your company is about. For example, if your company is selling arts and crafts, it is okay to use a more decorative font . However, if your company is a law office you may want a more stern and simple font like Helvetica. Remember though, just like colors, do not overuse fonts. If you want to use a fun font, stick to one fun font and one basic font like Times New Roman or Helvetica. Also, only use 2-3 different fonts per website. 1 font is good, 4 fonts is ugly.

From scissors to hair care products, salon owners have many areas to which need their attention in order to keep their salon running successfully. As many salon owners have learned the skills and methods to stick within the budget of creating a smooth sailing business, they still struggle to learn which areas they could be saving a lot of money. Shampoos, stylist, hair dyes, and more, salon owners invest a lot of time and money into people and products they know will help develop a profit in return. Month to month, Salon owners review processed payments to calculate the percentage of profits made and ultimately whether or not they’re on track to make plan. Being a business owner comes with a bumpy ride. However, learning the right strategies could help improve revenue and save money for salon owners overall. Here are the top 5 ways salon businesses can save:

1) Reporting

Currently using Excel or a notebook to track weekly/monthly reports? Move to an automated system to eliminate the headache in admin hours. Some software options include: