Salon tech could save you a weeks' admin work a month

Beauty and personal care businesses could be losing 45 hours, or over one working week, a month to administrative tasks rather than being able to generate revenue through treatments or undergo training. 

According to research revealed by tech company Square, commerce and finance tasks are the biggest time and energy drains on the sector, with four in ten (39%) of Irish spa and nail salons, barbers, tattoo parlours, piercing studios and personal trainers not using automated booking platforms or marketing tools. 

In addition, just 15% are automating inventory management, while less than a third (28%) are automating marketing campaigns.

Automated booking systems can open a business to a wider clientele; the research showed that 46% of Irish consumers want to make an appointment after hours or at the weekend.

Square's research also shows that more than half (53%) of Irish beauty and personal care businesses continue to accept cash payments, compared to a third (34%) in the UK.

Commenting on the results of their research, Riona O'Hara, Head of Square Appointments at Square Europe, says: 

“Scheduling appointments, sending booking reminders and keeping the calendar full are demanding admin tasks for any beauty business. Solutions like Square Appointments play a much needed role by giving business owners an opportunity to automate admin tasks, streamline their point of sale operations and accept online bookings 24/7. With 46% of customers opting to book their appointments out of hours, we want to make it easier for businesses to take bookings around the clock, even when the salon is closed.”

Of those surveyed who do use automated services, beauty and personal care business owners said they would use the time saved by streamlining administration to finish work on time (59%), identify new services to offer (38%) and provide further training for their team (37%).