Importance of Brand Loyalty in the Beauty Industry
The cosmetics and beauty industry is in many ways more difficult and complex than any other. Underlying this complexity is the consumer's fierce brand and product specific loyalty. Customers are unwilling to switch between products if they are happy with the product or brand they are using. This loyalty can prove to be both a stumbling block but also an opportunity for your salon to grow and help retain current customers. The problem that this brand loyalty creates is that it hurts your ability to sell national brand products in your salon - customers are only going to buy their favorite product and they are going to do so at the cheapest available price. As such, in order to sell a national brand product range at a high volume your salon is going to have to compete on a basis of having low prices, which means limited profit. On the other hand, you can leverage your own brand loyalty for high profits.
Brand loyalty can act to both retain current customers and increase the revenue from each customer
Creating your Own Brand Loyalty
You can create your own brand loyalty and use this to increase your profits - this is done through having an exclusive line in your store. If you can provide private label cosmetics your customers are happy with and thus loyal to, they will be forced to come back to your store to repurchase it.
An idea to help increase the speed in which this brand loyalty is created is by offering a package service where with salon services, private label products are also offered. With this there will be a higher level of new customers trying your salon products and thus becoming loyal to your salon and cosmetics.
Leverage Your Brand LoyaltyOnce brand loyalty is established, you can leverage this brand loyalty to increase your salon services. Customers returning for your cosmetics could be persuaded into getting salon services performed. Ideas for how to increase service sales could include having promotional material where the cosmetics are located, or having a certain number of dollars off of salon services with each cosmetics sale.
Brand loyalty can be built and leveraged. Building brand loyalty can help in ensuring customers continually return to your salon or spa. Once brand loyalty has been established you can then leverage this loyalty to increase the sales of your salon services from your customers.