Hairdressing & beauty salons themselves reaffirm that the industry is all about presentation. Customers visit the salons for having a comfortable and mesmerizing salon experience. What if you can offer the same experience from the booking step itself? Just like a salon is often judged by its appearance, the same way, a salon appointment booking application is judged by the design & browsing experience. A robust salon booking application amuses every other user registering on the application.
The hairdressing and beauty industry is gaining much traction from entrepreneurs. Hair and beauty treatment app development seems to be ruling the industry like never before. It is indeed a captivating business to enter into if you are planning to launch a salon appointment booking solution for your customers. You need to go with the trend and face the challenges that will come your way during the app development. But, in the end, everything is worth the profit you will make by developing a hair & beauty treatment app.
Just like you woo your customers by giving them a salon experience of a lifetime, the same idea should be applied to app development. You need to sit and discuss your salon app idea with an on-demand app development company having prior experience in this industry. With their specialized services, they will help you achieve your business goals.
One such application that has inspired us to write this blog is Uala. Uala allows its customers to find and book beauty salon treatments in the vicinity. It empowers the customers to explore various beauty treatments and select one with just a few taps. Users can read the reviews and feedback given by other customers. Based on that, they can instantly book an appointment. The user no longer has to wait in a queue to get the best of the beauty treatments.
Here is the list of compelling reasons why you need to develop a beauty treatment app like Uala?
Well, beauty is a business in itself. You will be surprised to know that women spend around $313 every month, and men spend around $244 on average for beauty & hair treatments. People of all the age-groups and gender are inclined towards beauty treatments of all times. By making an application like Uala, you will become more visible to your customers. However, the success of the application depends on how your application satisfies the customers.
Let’s look at the list of benefits you will have after beauty parlor mobile app development.
Single Tap Appointment Booking:
The 9 to 5 working hours make people run out of time to get beauty treatments for themselves. They avoid waiting in the queues and having the treatment after working hours. However, this beauty treatment application saves a lot of time for the customers. Customers can easily browse their favorite hairstylists or beauticians in their city, check for the available slow, and visit the salon at the scheduled time.
Hassle-free payment:
This is the most convenient feature to offer during these tough corona times. People hardly carry cash in their bags in order to avoid any physical contact with the person. You can allow your customers to pay with the payment gateways provided within the application.
This way, they no longer have to worry about instant salon bookings. All you have to do is generate an e-bill, send it to their phone number or emails, and get the payment procedure done.
You keep your staff away from doing all the paperwork done separately to maintain the records. In addition to this, you can have your structured database of the customers at your disposal.
Reach out to customers with discounts & Offers:
With the traditional salon marketing methods, it wasn’t easy to reach out to every customer who has availed of your services. But, with a beauty salon application, you can establish a long-lasting relationship with your customers by offering them discount coupons at regular intervals.
Showcase your work:
The great USP of any business is their past work. The same goes for the salon business. You can have a gallery section on your application where you can allow the salons & beauticians to showcase their work methods. You can also lure them by uploading videos of how you proceed with the beauty and spa treatments. Showcasing the work you do is a great way to build trust with your customers.
No manual paperwork:
Imagine how many employees you will hire to manage the salon reception and to maintain the database? Well, what if you can perform it manually? Hair & beauty treatment applications make it more convenient for you to handle the reception & the database.
Every user enters his/her details in the application form and thereby saves your time & resources. It enables you to refer to the history of customers making visits to the salon and communicate with them whenever required.
You can also have a list of hairstylists and beauticians who would be working at the salon. Moreover, you can keep track of wages & daily income earned by the salon. There are many more insights that you can have by developing a hair & beauty treatment app.
Customer retention:
With word of mouth marketing, it is almost impossible to reach out to each customer of yours & remind them about the services you provide. However, a salon appointment booking solution solves this problem. You can send them messages and acknowledge them about the offers at your convenience.
You can connect with them better and strengthen the bond you share with them. The stronger your bond is, the more likely are your chances to have a repeat customer at the salon.
So, what are the features that you need to include in your salon appointment booking application?
You will observe a drastic increase in the number of beauty service appointments by developing an app. People will make frequent visits, and you will have fewer monthly cases of canceled appointments. However, this can be achieved only if you integrate the right features that will leave a strong impression.
We have explained the features in brief; however, you can connect with our experts for any further help. Also, we have planned a mobile app development process series, in which we have explained Lean Canvassing, Product Requirement Document preparation, Prototyping, Quality testing in detail. It would be really beneficial to have knowledge of the app development process before you initiate a full-fledged app development.
Now, let’s continue with the list of features.
User-friendly on-boarding:
The visitor should feel comfortable with the interface when they open the application. It should not look complex or difficult to navigate. Keep the login/Sign up form as simple as possible so that you have a chance to convert the visiting customers.
Search for Salon services:
Suppose the functioning of the app Uala inspires you. In that case, you probably know how seamlessly they allow you to search for a hairdresser of choice. In the same way, allow your users to activate geolocation features and search for a salon in their vicinity. They can either search directly by entering a salon name, service name or title.
In-app blog:
More than the services, people today love exploring the blog section of a business. The reason being, it lets them know what services the business offers and how they function. The blog section influences the customers and convinces them to use your services.
Hence, plan a blog feature in the application where you will share information about beauty treatments and products. You can also ask salons if they wish to sponsor a blog and market their services.
Appointment Fixing:
Multiple taps to book an appointment is a complete No-No in the app-focused world. Hence, ensure that your user is able to book an appointment with just a few taps or, say, a single tap. Do not navigate them to multiple pages; instead, keep the interface as sleek as possible.
In-app shop:
In-app shopping is trending these days. You need to facilitate your users and allow them to shop a product/service through your application directly.
Tip: You can take your share from the businesses that wish to sell products/services on your platform.
Payment Gateway:
As mentioned above, cashless transactions are much in demand. Hence, integrate payment gateways in the application that allows the users to pay directly to the salons from the application itself.
Let’s go into the general features that should be integrated into the Customer’s screen and the Salon Manager’s screen.
Customer Screen:
- View appointments;
- Cancel appointments;
- Search for special offers;
- Chat with salon;
- View past appointments;
- Rating & Reviews;
- Appointment reminder.
Salon Manager’s screen:
- List of appointments for the day;
- Hairdresser/ beauticians management;
- Set working hours;
- Release offers/discounts;
- Schedule the breaks.
How To Hit The Bullseye With Beauty & Hair Salon App Development
- Know who your target audience is and what they need
You need to figure out who your target group of people is and how they avail of salon services generally. Then, outline the pain points they suffer from their regular salon visits like advance appointment scheduling, last-minute cancellation, quick payment, etc. This way, you will know what features and functionality your app needs to be an all-in-one solution in the market.
- Make as attractive an app design as you make your customers
App designing is the first and foremost aspect your app users will encounter. Therefore, it has to be elegant and expressive that renders a delightful user experience. You can also be creative at your portfolio gallery that appeals to users to book a beauty service appointment.
- Customer feedback
Want to know the hack of successful salon apps? It’s no secret but feedback from real customers. Big market players always respond to their user reviews and change their functionality that pleases their users. Happy users are the best to spread your word.
What is the cost to develop an app like Uala?
If you are developing one-of-its-kind applications, you can expect the development price to be somewhere around $30K to $50K. With this budget, you can have a sophisticated & full-fledged working application.
However, beauty treatment app development cost depends on a variety of other factors like,
- The number of app features;
- App functionality complexity;
- UI/UX design;
- Location of the development company;
- Hourly rates of the company;
- The platform of development;
- Technology stack selection;
- App Marketing;
- Maintenance.
If you wonder what the hourly rates of app development companies are and how they differ from one region to another, then look at this table.
| Region | iOS ($/hour) | Android($/hour) |
| North America | 150 | 168 |
| Australia | 110 | 110 |
| UK | 70 | 70 |
| South America | 43 | 34 |
| Eastern Europe | 35 | 35 |
| India | 30 | 26 |
This table will help you in getting an estimate of the cost of beauty treatment app development. It is advisable to discuss all your expectations & goals at length with the app development company in advance. Otherwise, the hidden charges/ changes may break your bank.
Conclusion:
A hair & beauty treatment application is the most basic thing to have if you own a salon business. With the mesmerizing UI and effortless onboard, you have a chance to attract a greater chunk of the audience.
And why now, self-pampering is becoming a non-negotiable thing for the audience. Well, there are a lot of things that you can cover in your application that fall under your budget. But, your prospective app development company should know which feature will hit the right chord. After all, more than the business, it’s about the brand name.
If you have any further questions, connect with us here. We have a knack for developing on-demand applications that run for years successfully. Feel free to discuss your app idea with our team of experts.
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