The world of professional hair care has been undergoing a major shift in terms of the sales of professional products. Over the last few years, even highly conservative players started selling their products to consumers through retail channels, both online and offline. Intense competition from alternative channels, coupled with limited consumer spending and consumers stretching the time between salon visits, continues to adversely impact the number of salons globally. In 2023, the number of salons declined by more than 2%. Globally, the number of stylists witnessed an even steeper decline of 4%. However, the number of independent stylists remained relatively flat. In fact, in Europe and North America, it continued to increase, in contrast to the number of salons.
Both salons and stylists remain the backbone of the professional hair care industry; hence, marketers continue their efforts to best support them in their day-to-day business.
Knowledge of the purchase patterns of both salons and stylists is critical for successful collaboration with them. In 2024 Kline, for the first time, combines its two insightful survey-based studies to provide critical information comparable across channels on where, how, how often, and why salons and independent stylists shop for professional hair care products.
Here are the top three tips on how marketers can better target salons and stylists:
1 – Be present where they shop: Salons and stylists have different purchase patterns in many ways. One key distinction is where they make most of their purchases. In the United States alone, based on Kline’s surveys with salons and independents, we can notice that salons purchase mostly from manufacturers directly, as well as from distributors and wholesalers. This is not at all the case for independent stylists, where manufacturers accounted for only 8% of their purchases. Learning where purchases are made can empower marketers to better address their target audience.
2 – Address mobility: Independent stylists are often on the go. Independents usually work in 2–3 places on average (Source: IHS 2021 US), and they generally shop for products. Therefore, one of the key challenges that they face is keeping product stocks. Independents tend to “stop by” their nearest beauty supply store as they visit their clients. Moreover, apps helping them address their logistics and stocks can be an effective way for professional hair product manufacturers to address independent stylists’ business practices and their needs related to constant mobility.
3 – Help them retail better: Due to strong competition from other channels, sales done through salons and stylists are on the decline. This could be a lucrative part of their business, but only 57% of the salons surveyed in the United States claim that they retail products on a regular basis. Two key reasons by far why salons do not retail more are that they believe it is not part of their services and that customers believe they can find these products elsewhere at cheaper prices. Addressing this through possible exclusive at-salon-only price deals, paired with stronger education toward products retailing for stylists, could be a win-win result for marketers and salons/stylists.
Learn more about the purchase patterns of professionals in the hair care industry through Kline’s new Salon and Stylists Purchase Channels survey-based study, empowering brands to work more closely and address the needs of salons and stylists.
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