Loyalty: More Important than Ever
At a time when most salons are operating at less than full capacity with some guests remaining reluctant to even come in at all, making sure you retain the loyalty of clients that you do have is more important than ever. Of course the best way to do that is to provide exceptional service in a welcoming environment—that will never change. But in the age of Covid, with its intermittent shut-downs and heightened sanitary expenses, this tried-and-true business ethos is no longer enough. Every advantage that you can give your salon needs to be explored.
With Aura, salons are empowered with numerous automated ways to inspire customer loyalty—including customizable retention texts, prescribed service frequency alerts, rebooking prompts at checkout, accruing referral credits, and the salon industry’s most flexible loyalty program, Aura Rewards, which provides salon management control of every aspect of their program’s benefits. Ohh yes! The days of punch-cards are long gone!
“Loyalty programs work well in salons because guests associate an instant elevated value of any business the moment they hear of a loyalty program. Consumers want and seek value in their everyday lives and coming to a hair salon for either a service or product is essential for their everyday life.” – Emma Moore, owner of Brush Salon, an Aveda Lifestyle salon in Sonoma Valley, CA.
Make it Fun
Unless you have been quarantined longer than most, loyalty points and loyalty gamification have become a regular part of your digital purchasing life. My own kitchen cabinets are stuffed full of giant coffee tumblers I “earned” at Starbucks; I can’t buy a pack of gum at Walgreens without being asked for my phone number. Annoying? Yes. Do we do it? Yes. And these things keep us “loyal”—aka coming back—so we can earn more points, by spending more money. Win for the business? YES. Win for us? Maybe. But it doesn’t matter. As a consumer, we are openly and unabashedly conditioned. And we’re cool with it.
With Aura, any size salon can foster this feeling with its guests. As Moore points out, “Loyalty programs allow a small business like ours to engage with clients in an elevated way. They create a stronger point of difference for our brand—and increase guest retention.”
Of course, as a salon owner—Moore put her own creative spin on the way she wanted to market to her customers. It’s not fun saying “we got a new software please download,” she says. “I want our new software to feel like an exclusive Brush membership – that comes along with a loyalty program”. To promote the effort, Brush even came up with a logo that’s used to drive adoption of their new app. (Aura) 🙂
“My idea of Brush Elite came from knowing the importance and value in a loyalty program, and customizing it to drive a stronger retention to my brand. As a small business owner operating in 2021, industry standards of every sector are elevating at rapid speeds. My focus is to keep elevating Brush Salon to meet + exceed our communities expectations and create a stronger point of difference.”
Make It Win
Loyalty Programs are not all fun and games and here are some pretty mind-blowing facts to prove it:
- A 5% increase in customer retention can increase profits by up to 125%.
- A 2% increase in customer retention has the same effect as cutting costs by 10%.
- Salons that have already gamified their customer engagement tactics have enjoyed 47% higher engagement, a 22% increase in brand loyalty and 15% higher brand awareness.
Ask most business owners and they will tell you that they’re focused on getting new clients. But, it’s a big mistake to ignore the buying power of the ones you currently have, so make sure you maximize their individual buying power. Upsell services and retail with each visit, make sure clients rebook every time they checkout and encourage standing appointments—because existing customers spend 67% more than new customers.
Make It Yours
While it’s true that many software companies offer loyalty programs, none provide the degree of flexibility and control that Aura Rewards does. Especially for salons. We understand that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution, so we’ve built a program that allows you to customize how it works.
Set your own redemption point value—and decide the minimum amount of points required for redemption. Set your own maximum for points allowed on a single purchase – and create enforceable redemption increments.
Want to allow clients to redeem for services but not for retail? We got you. Other way around? No problem! In fact, you can decide whether or not loyalty points can be accrued or redeemed for any kind of purchase—be it service, retail, gift card, or series. You’ll also have the power to decide on combining loyalty points with promotions—and whether or not to deduct commissions separately on retail and services.
The best part?
Everything happens automatically on tickets—no math, no errors. Salon loyalty points can also be redeemed by clients directly from the Salon Wallet inside their custom branded Aura app.
Learn More about Salon Loyalty Programs and Aura Rewards
If you’re interested in learning more about how your business can benefit from an automated digital loyalty program designed specifically for salons, contact one of Aura’s knowledgeable salon specialists for more details at hello@aurasalonware.com or give us a call at 1-844-GET-AURA.
