Numbers may not be fun, but they are necessary. Since we know you’d much rather be behind the chair than behind a desk, our goal at GlossGenius is to make this part as easy as possible. Because our platform automatically integrates payment data as you go, we crunch the numbers for you in no time – with a few taps, all the analytics you need to know will be at your fingertips anytime you need them.

Here, we share more on why those metrics are important, where to find them, and how to improve them.

Try GlossGenius free for 14 days!

Why Numbers Are Important

What’s your total appointment number? How much are your clients spending? What percentage of your income is retail? If you don’t know the answers or don’t know how to access them, you may be wondering why does all of this matter?

Having an understanding of these metrics when it comes to your business gives you the opportunity to look at your progress from past, present, and future perspectives. Once you have a starting point, you can set solid goals for growth or check in on goals you’ve already set for your salon.

[CTA_MODULE]

The Numbers You Need to Know

If you’re already a GlossGenius member, all of these stats are available at a glance with the in-app Analytics feature. From the home page, navigate to Analytics and from there, choose whether to view the numbers by All Staff or by individual team members. Below, we break down each number you can expect to see in your Analytics snapshot.

Average ticket

This number tells you how much money you are earning per client visit and includes both services and retail. It may seem straightforward, but keeping an eye on this number and gaining a deeper understanding of what it means can contribute to growing your wealth and balancing your time. When you think about how much money you want to make annually and start dividing that by the hours you’re spending with each client, you can start to better understand where your rates need to be each day, week, or quarter to hit your desired salary without working overtime. If your average ticket is too low, start to consider profitable add-ons you can offer each client or how you can encourage sales of more premium products.

Average service per visit

By breaking down your Average Ticket further, you can look into what percentage of those sales is coming from services and what percentage is coming from retail. This is useful in developing a stronger picture of the return you’re getting from the time spent with each client. As mentioned above, this matters because getting the right balance between time and money is how you’ll go home with a salary that works for you.

Retail and average retail per visit

According to The Salon Business, the average percentage of salon retail sales falls around 12%. This number could grow to 15-20% if you have a strong selection of products and a team skilled at closing sales. You can also look at your Average Retail per Visit to get a better idea of the dollar amount clients are spending on retail across the board. Seeing how much your products are bringing in is key to helping you understand where you can save money. If your retail percentages are lower than you’d like, you may not be moving your inventory fast enough and it could be time to reevaluate your sales strategies or recalibrate your product orders.

Repeat clients

Knowing what percentage of your total clients are repeatedly coming to you for appointments is an important tool in your analytics toolbox. The higher your repeat client rate the better because it’s statistically proven that repeat clients will spend more money on average than new clients. If your total client number is good, but your repeat analytics are too low, this is a sign you need to look into ways to keep your clients coming back.

Gratuity

[CTA_MODULE]

You may think the tips you receive are an indication of your hard work and a courteous bonus from your loyal clientele, which they are. In addition to that, however, your gratuity income can be quite telling. If the percentage is too low, you may want to cross-reference your reviews to make sure you’re consistently delivering the level of service you aim to provide. If the percentage is too high, you may want to consider that your clients could be over-tipping to compensate for your low fees, meaning it’s time to raise your prices.

Cancel fees

This should be the lowest percentage on your analytics in hopes that your cancellations and no-shows are minimal. On the positive side, if Cancel Fees are a low percentage, it means that your automatic appointment reminders (or your cancellation policy) are doing their job and keeping those last-minute cancellations at bay.

Other

If you’ve started to integrate alternative income streams into your salon (good on you for doing so!) this is where any numbers that fall outside of the typical salon revenue model may show up. These streams might include profits from affiliate links, income from educational programming, or fees collected from speaking appearances in industry events. As salon revenue models continue to evolve and service providers begin to offer more than just services, the industry expectation is that this number will grow and your service percentage may slightly decrease as a result.

How To Improve Your Numbers

The first step to improving your numbers is knowing them! Pulling your analytics regularly over time will help you gain a deeper understanding of your business’s growth. With GlossGenius, you can review your analytics over a period of the last four weeks, last three months, last year, current year, or in total. Once you’re able to start identifying patterns, you’ll be able to draw conclusions on what works best (or what doesn’t) when it comes to your sales.

Use the tools GlossGenius provides in order to focus on improving each of these numbers. Whether it’s increasing your retail offerings, communicating with your database to increase your repeat clients, or rebooking before a client leaves your salon.

Try GlossGenius free for 14 days!

Remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to making your salon successful – only you can set goals that feel appropriate and attainable for you. The sky’s the limit, but those goals are built by knowing numbers!