HOME SERVICES VERSUS SALON SERVICES

Home services have always been a threat to the salon business. However, the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown led industry leaders to re-think their stand and reexamine the demand for home services. Integrating the home services model into the salon business surfaced as a better solution rather than resisting it.

So, is home services a new business opportunity? Do salons need to modify their approach or oppose the same? Samir Srivastav, CEO, Jean Claude Biguine India (JCB), says, “It is ultimately about what the customer wants. If the demand is for home services and you are able to provide it, then why not?” JCB has been doing beauty home services for two and half years now. Its services are offered to the JCB customers within 3-4 km radius of the salon. “It has been a success in terms of demand and customer satisfaction. However, its contribution to the revenue is negligible.”

Srivastav further mentions that in a city like Mumbai, people like to step out of the house and experience salon services. Even before the pandemic, it was not wise of salons to be rigid and not offer the customers what they want. “Since the lifting of lockdown there has been a huge thrust in demand for home services,” he said, “This segment is definitely here to stay.”

Uday Takke, Director, Uday Takke’s Hair & Skin Institution, says that beauty home services are an inevitable fallout of the pandemic. “Right now, school going children and senior citizens are not visiting the salons while the college students have restricted access, and we are losing out on those customers.”

Further, Vikram Bhatt, Director, Enrich Salon, offers a list of parameters that salons need to consider with regards to home services:

• A salon needs to decide what services they need to offer and what experience you need to give to the customers. Remember you are a specialist. Whatever benchmark you have set for your salon, if you are unable to replicate it in home service business, the customer will question you.

• Also, decide the price points of these services. It is important to analyse what price the customer will be willing to pay.

• This has to be a business for convenience and not of price points.

Further, Anand Dureja, Vice President-Salon Business, Urban Company, says, “In our country, the beauty industry is in its infancy. All of us together need to help the industry.” He adds, “There are all kinds of customers. Some favour convenience and want services at home, some prefer high level of expertise and some just prefer going out. It is not about fighting it out. Customers can self-select between different formats. For us, the aim should be to provide top notch, high quality services, grow this market as much as possible, and grow it to a level that is comparable to the western world.”

Limitations in home services

All that is offered within a salon cannot be done at home. However, there are providers who are willing to offer customers the whole salon menu at home; if not done intelligently, This could prove detrimental to the salon image and the customer’s experience.

Srivastav says, “A business evaluation of home services is important to understand which format works best for you.” Further, Takke clarifies, “Home services is not a new segment; it always existed. However, today it is becoming more organised.” Dureja highlights how women’s hair services have been a tough call, although post-lockdown, they have seen a rise in demand for such services. Bhatt adds, “It is about how can I offer that value proposition to the customer. If it is acceptable to the customer, she will want it. But jumping into it because of pressure is not advisable.”

The experts have been unanimous in their opinion on stringent safety protocols for salon and home services staff alike. Dureja also points out that the appropriate technology is available for this.

Ours is an industry where human intervention will continue. Technology will only enable us and not replace us.

Analysing competition

Should salons consider home service providers or independent companies such as Urban Company as competition?

Bhatt responds, “We are witnessing 50 per cent footfall of customers, contributing to 70 per cent of the revenue. The customer count has gone down but the average bill value has increased. However, 50 per cent customers are yet to come, and we are sure they will. Ours is an industry where human intervention will continue. Technology will only enable us and not replace us.”

As for Takke, competition has been in the minds of salon owners who insist that others are eating into their business. “Once you change this attitude, there will be no competition for you. As an industry, we need to stop pulling each other down.”

Srivastav requests those offering home services, “Do not show salons in a negative light. We have to collaborate and grow.” He believes that the negative communication strategy has been modified and expresses his gratefulness for that.

On similar lines, Dureja clarifies, “We are not wedded to any particular business model; we are wedded to providing the best services to our customers. In the case of competition, it has always been there, but of the healthy kind, and that is important for any industry.”