Finally! For the first time ever, transaction-based sales data for the professional salon industry is available in the U.K. and Ireland. Just this month, we published Kline PRO UK and Kline PRO Ireland, which are extensions of our well-established and highly regarded Kline PRO platform that already covers the United States. We caught up with Paula Gottdiner, Project Manager, to discuss early findings.
Which salon services are hot in the U.K., and which are not?
Hair coloring services make up 30% of salon revenues and, as such, are important to the life of the salon. While highlighting remains the leader in hair color revenue, balayage/hair painting has had the biggest impact so far this year; with 22% more transactions, it led to an increase in revenue of 29%. The average price of the service rose from £61.63 to £65.11.
Stand-alone bond builder treatments also saw a double-digit rise in revenue. This is unsurprising, given that they have basically become a necessity in the current climate of extreme hair color. What is somewhat surprising is that the average price fell by 2% to £17.29. This could be attributed to the recent influx of products that can be used to provide the service.
Other segments of the treatment category, however, did not fare as well. Clarifying treatments were down 28%, followed by scalp treatments at -20%. Thinning hair treatments took the biggest hit with a 40% decrease.
Product sales in salons have been trending down in the U.S. Is that true in the U.K. and Ireland?
When we look at the first half of 2018 compared to the first half of 2017, both the U.S. and U.K. are down in all categories, resulting in an overall decline of 7.5% and 9.8%, respectively. Ireland, on the other hand, was up 3.7% in total; the only category down was conditioners (by 3.0%).
Even though product sales are lagging behind, what are you seeing that is doing well?
In the current climate, brands that gained share stand out. In the U.K., I see two different groups. First, there are those that could be considered “established” brands, such as Sexy Hair, Nioxin, and Pureology. The second group includes somewhat newer brands such as Kevin.Murphy, Oribe, Evo, and Davines. The list for Ireland varies from the U.K. but includes Kevin.Murphy, Joico, and Moroccanoil.
We know that hair coloring is hot. As a result, products designed to provided color-related benefits are in demand. Color care shampoos make up 25% of all category sales. The current number one item is System Professionals Color Save Shampoo. Another noteworthy fact is that three of the five top new shampoo items in Q2 2018 focus on color: Schwarzkopf’s Blondme Blush Wash in both Strawberry and Lilac, plus Redken’s Color Extend Blondage shampoo.
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| System Professionals’ Color Save Shampoo |
Schwarzkopf’s Blondme Blush Wash Strawberry | Redken’s Color Extend Blondage |
Are there any additional insights you can share?
There are, in fact, a couple of things related to Q2 data that I found interesting: One is that in the U.K., the kits/promotions category posted revenues that were 3.2% higher than last year. When I investigated what was driving this gain, the data showed that Nioxin was the second-leading brand in the category, up by 26%. This bit of information may help explain why in-salon treatments for thinning hair are down: Consumers are using at-home treatments!
Secondly, Private Label appearing in the top 10 company ranking for every category really jumped out. Other retail outlets have had success with private label branding, and it appears salons are willing to give it a try.
Kline PRO is a comprehensive interactive database which enables users to access the latest performance data on the professional hair care industry. Based on actual salon transactions, it yields category, brand, and product-level sales and service data on a quarterly basis. To learn more or to see it in action, please contact us.
