Don’t Sell: Chapter 4: Online Shopping

Updated info in CAPS

 

The phenomenon that is online shopping is still relatively new to us. It has only been around for just over 20 years, and in that very short space of time, it has had an incredible, some might say catastrophic, effect on how consumers shop in the traditional sense of shopping.

SINCE THE FIRST LOCKDOWN, ONLINE SHOPPING HAS GROWN EXPONENTIALLY,  AS I WRITE THIS I AM WAITING ON (YET ANOTHER) DELIVERY FROM AMAZON.

WE HAVE ALL BECOME MUCH MORE ACCLIMATISED TO BROWSING AND SHOPPING ON OUR LAPTOPS, TABLETS AND MOBILES. IN FACT, IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT’S HAPPENED OVER THE LAST YEAR, YOU WILL SEE LOTS MORE BIG COMPANIES ACTIVELY ENCOURAGING YOU TO SHOP USING YOUR MOBILE.

WHY IS THIS? WELL IT HAS TO DO WITH HOW WE NEVER PUT OUR PHONES DOWN, AND THE BIG ONLINE RETAILERS KNOW THAT THEY CAN CAPTURE YOU MORE REGULARLY THROUGHOUT THE DAY BY ENCOURAGING YOU TO USE MBL’S TO DO EVERYTHING.

We all Google everything in this day and age. We all know how to use key words to search for anything we are looking for. And there are countless sites selling professional products that were once the exclusive collections that salons stocked.

This isn’t just affecting hairdressing salons. It’s the same for every retailing business. Whatever can be sold can be bought online. Amazon is not called that for nothing. It suggests you can get anything from A to Z and if you dig deep enough when shopping on the internet you can find absolutely anything that you are searching for.

FACT! IT TAKES JUST 3 MONTHS FOR HABiTS TO BE BROKEN AND IT TAKES LESS TIME FOR NEW HABITS TO FORM. THEIR BHABIT OF SHOPPING FOR HAIRCARE IN YOUR SALON IS FADING INTO A DISTANT MEMORY. YOUR CLIENTS NOW SEE IT AS THE NORM TO SHOP FOR THEIR ESSENTIALS AND LUXURIES VIA THE WEB. THAT’S WHY IT HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO HAVE AN ONLINE E-COMMERCE AND M- COMMERCE PRESENCE. THE CHOICES YOU HAVE ARE ENDLESS, BUT IF BUDGET IS AN ISSUE AND TECHNOLOGY ISN’T A STRONG POINT THERE ARE SOME EASY STEPS YOU CAN IMPLEMENT QUITE QUICKLY.

The impact cannot be underestimated. Amazon and all the other giant online retailers are powerful businesses that have immense influence, not only with consumers, your clients, but also with product companies who want to sell their wares through every possible channel.

SET UP A FACEBOOK SHOP, IT’S A FREE PLATFORM AND ALL IT TAKES IS A LITTLE BIT OF THOUGHT AND PLANNING AND YOU CAN BE UP AND RUNNING IN LESS THAN A DAY. CLICK THIS LINK: FACEBOOK SHOP

YOU CAN ALSO SET UP AN INSTAGRAM SHOP QUITE EASILY.

PLUS, IF YOU GOOGLE ‘SETTING UP E-COMMERCE’ YOU WILL FIDN LOTS OF PLATFORMS THAT ARE EASY TO USE AND DON’T COST THE EARTH.

Hairdressing product manufacturers invariably have their own shopping channels too where their professional goods can be purchased, usually at a better price point than salons offer them at.

ONE OF THE MOST POSITIVE ASPECTS OF LOCKDOWN SHOPPING IS THE SUPPORT THAT MOST MANUFACTURERS HAVE OFFERED, FROM SIMPLE GUIDELINES TO COLLABORATIONS WHEREBY THEY DO THE WORK ON YOUR BEHALF AND YOU STILL EARN FROM THE PROCESS. BALMAIN HAIR UK AND ELEVEN AUSTRALIA SCOTLAND WERE EARLY PIONEERS OF THIS.

Of course it’s unfair but it’s a way for the company to generate more revenue from their professional lines as well as the mass market products they produce.

Clients are aware that they can find your products elsewhere and will quite often search whilst sitting at the styling station. That’s a tough one for lots of hairdressers to overcome as they know clients can hit the purchase button and probably receive their goods the day after with free delivery and possibly a discount voucher for their next online purchase.

ONCE YOU HAVE TAKEN THE TIME TO SET UP YOUR E-COMMERCE PLATFORM YOU NEED TO PROMOTE IT REGULARLY ACROSS YOUR SOCIAL PLATFORMS SO THAT YOUR CLIENTS SEE THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE FROM YOU DIRECT.

YOU NEED TO OFFER POSTAL SERVICES OR LOCAL DELIVERY TO MAKE THE SHOP APPEALING TO EVERYONE.

What then can we learn from online shopping sites that can be used in the salon environment?

KEY ELEMENTS THAT YOU NEED TO CONSIDER THAT RELATE TO BOTH YOUR (NEW) ONLINE SHOPPING CHANNEL AND IN YOUR  SALONS WHEN LOCKDOWN EASES.

• Online: Shopping sites are not afraid of presenting more than one product to a customer.
• YOUR PLATFORM: BUNDLE PRODUCTS TOGETHER AND OFFER A DISCOUNT OR ADDED VALUE ELEMENT TO ENCOURAGE CLIENTS TO PURCHASE.
• Salons: Every product or piece of equipment used on your client’s hair should be presented as a potential purchase.

 

• Online: Websites are confident in mentioning price.
• YOUR PLATFORM: DON’T SHY AWAY FROM THE PRICE AND DON’T DON’T FORGET TO MENTION ADDED CHARGES FOR P&P. YOU NEED TO DO SOME GROUNDWORK HERE TO CHECK OUT HOW MUCH IT COSTS TO SHIP THE PRODUCTS YOU INTEND TO SELL.
• Salons: Price every product clearly to eliminate the fear factor of having to say how much it is.

 

• Online: 3^rd party recommendations and feedback are always presented as part of the information shared.
• YOUR PLATFORM: ADD REVIEWS FROM CLIENTS AND TEAM MEMBERS THAT POTENTIAL SHOPPERS CAN READ AS THEY BROWSE THROUGH YOUR SHOP PAGES.
• Salons: Share your team and client’s feedback about products as and when they are being used.

 

• Online: Alternative products in different price structures are often shown together.
• YOUR PLATFORM: MIX AND MATCH, CREATE ASSORTMENTS THAT CLIENTS WITH DIFFERENT HAIR TYPES CAN SEE AS BEING THE PERFECT COLLECTION FOR THEM.
• Salons: Mix and match the selection of products presented to clients.

 

• Online: Randomly connected goods are shown as ‘people who bought this also bought this’ suggestions.
• YOUR PLATFORM: ADD ACCESSORIES AND ADDITIONAL ITEMS THAT COULD BE OF INTEREST TO YOUR CLIENTS AS THEY SHOP. BALMIAN HAIR UK OFFER BEAUTIFUL ACCESSORIES, AS DOES MABEL&MABEL, AND DON’T FORGET BRUSHES, COMBS, INVISI-BOBBLES ETC.
• Salons: Introduce a variety of alternative products that can enhance the client’s hair such as combs, brushes, invisi-bobbles etc.

 

• Online: Purchases are put into a shopping basket so that you can continue browsing.
• YOUR PLATFORM: MAKE SURE YOUR CLIENTS KNOW THAT THE PLATFORM YOU HAVE OPERATES JUST THE SAME AS THE ONES THEY HAVE BEEN VISITING TO DO THEIR ONLINE PURCHASES.
• Salons: A basket next to, or on the client’s styling station, could be used to hold all the products you recommend.

 

• Online: Shopping sites do not push anything, they merely suggest.
• YOUR PLATFORM: USE YOUR SOCIAL PAGES TO TALK ABOUT THE PRODUCTS AND TO SHOW IMAGES OF HAIR THAT HAS BEEN CREATED USING THEM, CREATE A FULL ROUNDED STORY SO SHOPPERS CAN SEE WHAT YOU USED AND WHAT THE PRODUCTS ACHIEVED.
• Salons: Don’t sell anything, but tell your clients about everything you use on their hair.

 

• Online: They remember what you have previously looked at.
• YOUR PLATFORM: UNLESS YOU HAVE A SERIOUSLY BUILT E-COMMERCE PLATFORM THIS IS SOMETHING YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO DO, SO REVERT TO TYPE AND ADD ANY PURCHASES ONTO YOUR CLIENTS EXISTING SALON RECORD CARD, PAPER FORM OR ELECTRONIC.
• Salons: Keep a record of the products clients purchased and what they had recommended to them.

 

• Online: Websites use algorithms to share your viewed products on social platforms.
• YOUR PLATFORM: USE YOUR FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, TIK TOK AND OTHER FEEDS TO SHARE PRODUCTS AND USER FRIENDLY INFORMATION, ENCOURAGE YOUR STAFF TO DO TIK TOK VIDEOS SHOWING HOW TO USE THE PRODUCTS, EQUIPMENT AND ACCESSORIES TO CREATE STYLES. REMEMBER, WHILST ON FURLOUGH YOUR STAFF CAN STILL BE INVOLVED IN TRAINING, AND VIDEOS YOU SHARE ARE CLASSED AS TRAINING [THEM] TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR CLIENTS!
• Salons: Try and share focussed products that clients may have had presented to them on to your social sites. This is a challenge but can be simplified if you have a specific promotion running that focusses on one product or brand.

 

• Online: Most online shops reward you for purchases.
• YOUR PLATFORM: THINK ABOUT HOW YOU CAN REWARD CLIENTS FOR PURCHASING FROM YOU. PERHAPS SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS GIVING THEM AN ONLINE STAR EACH TIME THEY DO, AND THEN TRANSFER THOSE STARS INTO ‘MONEY OFF’ WHEN THEY RETUN TO YOUR SALON…. IT’S ALL ABOUT GENERATING LOYALTY FOR YOUR E-COMMERCE / M-COMMERCE AND MAINTAINING LOYALTY TO THE SALON.
• Salons: Create a shoppers’ loyalty programme that encourages shopping in the salon.

 

Hairdressers are not algorithmic whizz-kids, that’s the strength an online shopping site has, it uses those mathematical values to link products together and share lots of information with their customers.

DO YOUR BEST, USE WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY TO CREATE AN ONLINE SHOP PRESENCE.

*IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO CAN BUILD WEBSITES, PERHAPS NOW IS THE TIME TO THROW SOME CASH AT THEM TO GET YOU UP AND RUNNING.

Online shops are not human, even though they try very hard to replicate a real-life experience. It is simply not yet possible to create something that mirrors the uniqueness of being a hairdresser  who can spend up to 45 minutes with each client in one-to-one conversation.

YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE AN ONLINE EXPERIENCE THAT STILL OFFERS THE PERSONAL TOUCH YOU DELIVER IN SALON. MAKE SURE YOUR CLIENTS (POTENTIAL SHOPPERS) KNOW THEY CAN CALL YOU OR EMAIL IF THEY HAVE ANY QUERIES.

This time together allows the stylist and the client an opportunity to talk naturally and intuitively about products that are being used whilst the clients witnesses how they feel and what they do to the hair. Now that is something online shops would dearly love to be able to achieve.

DO IT, DO IT NOW WHILST WE ARE STILL IN LOCKDOWN AND MAKE SURE YOU CAPTURE AS MANY SALES AS POSSIBLE.