Choosing the best skin care products for your salon

How do you choose the best skin care products for your salon? Thanks to Diamond Designs Uniform for these great tips.

When it comes to the brands you use in salon or through your mobile business, choosing carefully is key. All too often it can be easy to choose to use the brands we are already loyal to, or the brands that we favour due to their clever marketing methods, but it is important to consider your target market, and what would appeal to them most.

Understanding your customer

The first step to choosing the perfect skincare brand to use in salon, whether this be through treatments, products to up-sell, or both, is understanding who your customer is and what their needs are. It can seem challenging to select a brand that suits each and every client you have, so consider choosing two to three brands that you know you can rely on to deliver great results.

Consider the age of your clientele, their sex, your most popular treatments and the location in which you work in to determine the needs of your clients. Age, of course, comes into skincare as a clients’ age will dramatically effect their skincare regime. If your clientele tends to be of a younger generation, skincare brands that focus on youthful skin and are fun and well marketed online would be ideal, whereas salons with a clientele of an older age will want to focus on keeping skin looking youthful, and so a more classic brand that offers anti-ageing is ideal.

If your clientele is predominately female, a skincare brand that caters to women would work well, whereas if you do have male clients, consider a brand that would work for both, or stock a feminine brand as well as a brand created specifically for male skin, in order to avoid alienating anyone, or putting clients off from booking all together.

The location in which you work is also key to selecting the right brand. When setting up you would have considered the perfect price point for the location, in comparison to the competition and who your target market is, and so choosing a skincare brand to stock is no different. If you focus on luxury treatments, choose a truly luxurious brand that reflects this. If you focus on a lower price point, choose a brand that is cost effective, but still delivers that luxurious feeling.

In choosing to stock a skincare brand, you are making an investment, so it’s a decision that should be considered carefully, to ensure you get the best return on that investment possible.

Consider trends

Trends are essential to take into consideration when choosing the right brand for your business. Firstly it’s important to understand whether your clients are influenced by trends, and if you chose not to stock the latest products, if this might cause them to go elsewhere. When it comes to choosing a skincare brand, you want to offer consistency, products you know well and that you know delivers results, but if you’re looking to choose a brand for the long term, how can you incorporate trends? There are several options here, that enable you to ensure you don’t miss the boat when it comes to trends and high demand.

1. Choose to use a layer system. Select a base brand, that is your go-to, all year round skincare brand, one that you know sells well, provides a good profit and great results, and that you know your clients love. Select a second brand that reflects current trends. For example vegan and all natural skincare is huge right now, so you might want to consider stocking a range for 6 months, and depending on the demand and if the trend is moving out, choose whether to stock the brand again or introduce a new brand that reflects current trends.
2. Choose an interchangeable brand. The second option is to choose one brand that offers a wide range of products, and tends to keep up to date with trends, releasing new and relevant products. This option could prove more difficult at times, as you are relying on the brand to release products that meets client demand, but also enables you to build a long lasting relationship with the brand, and allows your clients to find a brand that they know and love, and will continue returning for.

Do your research 

It is important to scope out what your competitors are offering, and understand whether it is better to offer something completely different to stand out, or if you’re going to offer something similar, understand how you can have the edge above them. It’s essential to understand what’s in demand when it comes to skincare, to make sure you can meet that demand, but it’s also worth considering if there is demand that isn’t currently being met by your competitors, so that you can offer something a little different, that you know people will want.

Take time to research what similar businesses are offering, research potential brands and look into the earning potential each brand offers. It’s always a good idea to actually ask your clients what it is they want, taking the guess work out of things. Consider creating a questionnaire to give current clients to fill out, or send it out via email to your database. If you prefer to be less formal, simply casually ask clients when they are in for treatments about their current skincare regime, and the kind of products they like to use. A little big of digging can go a long way!