UK beauty and hair salons lose £1.2bn per year due to no-shows

UK beauty and hair salons are losing up to £1.2 billion every year as a result of no-shows, with clients failing to keep pre-booked appointments.

Research from hair and beauty software provider Powered by Flossie found that no shows are plaguing the industry, hitting London the worst, with just under a third (30%) of women in the area admitting to not showing up to an appointment. 

A failure to digitise the booking process could be one of the reasons behind the lost profitability, found the report, with 75% of salons currently still using paper systems.

One in three millennials said that they booked their most recent beauty or hair appointment online and this is important as this demographic come in for treatments more frequently than any other age group, the data found. 

However, an additional third of millennials said they were unable to make an appointment because their chosen salon didn’t have an online booking option, while a further fifth said their online experience was so frustrating that it put them off booking. 

18–24 years olds visit salons on average once a month, in comparison to the overall average of one appointment every six to eight weeks, discovered the report. 

“Salons in the UK face a number of challenges, but one of the most widespread is the impact of a lack of digitisation,” said Jenene Crossan, chief executive and founder of Powered by Flossie. 

“Whether it’s causing them to lose revenue via no-shows or preventing their customers from easily accessing the services they want, legacy technology is hurting the hair and beauty industry.” 

Are you struggling with no-shows in your salon? Comment below. 

A recent PB focus group discovered that no-shows and burnout are the top challenges for beauty freelancers at the moment.