This is the most popular time of day for hair and beauty appointments

Work hours are the most popular time for hair and beauty appointments in the UK and Ireland, according to a recent report by salon management software company Versum. Clients book appointments online, opting for Fridays rather than Mondays, and spend reasonably, the report also found. The busiest and most profitable hour of the day for salons was 9am, when salons see four times more clients and earn nearly seven times more than at 6pm, i.e. after office hours. The early peak time-frame continued through the lunch break with 61% of daily appointments completed by 1pm. The report was drawn from over 325,000 British and Irish hair and beauty salons clients. Mondays are the least crowded - fewer than 9% bookings are scheduled for when the weekend rolls around. Fridays and Saturdays are the busiest with 40.19% of services scheduled on these days each week. The busiest months for salons was found to be March, May, and June (when 30% of annual appointments were booked). This could be attributed to two factors, explains Sebastian Maśka, CEO at Versum. "Firstly, whether it is a summer trip or a long weekend, clients want to look and feel good," he says. "Secondly, these months are also the peak season for job interviews which might be more than a coincidence." In contrast, January and February were the months with the lowest amount of bookings (7% of appointments each month). The report also revealed how the standard client behaves. “The average client is 38 years old, visits a salon five times a year and spends reasonably – slightly over £200 a year just in a single salon. Haircut and coloration are on the top of the list (40% of appointments yearly). At 13.8%, eyebrow and eyelash treatments proved almost as popular as manicure and pedicure (15.5%),” explains Maśka. Other popular treatments included facials (9.2%), hair removals (9.3%), and botox and fillers (7.3%). A few up-and-coming services include men beard waxing, hair extension, and Russian eyelash extensions. “The leap to online tools for scheduling and salon management is one of the most prominent trends in the industry,” adds Maśka. According to the Versum report, salons utilising its software saw an average of £55,200 in revenue last year from clients who are flocking to digital tools. In addition, the salons that take appointments online received up to 41% fewer phone calls than the ones who used physical notebooks.* “By taking advantage of new technologies salons can save time and resources so they can focus on running their business more efficiently and caring for their clients. In this day and age clients expect to be able to schedule services 24/7, receive text reminders and review the experience on-the-go,” says Maśka. The report is based on data from over 325,000 British and Irish beauty & hair salons clients registered with Versum.com between January 1st and December 31st, 2018. * An insight from the Polish market where Versum is based