As we are all acutely aware, 2020 was a year like no other. The COVID-19 pandemic affected all aspects of everyday life, and it certainly took a toll on the salon industry. Interestingly, the year started out on a promising note: Kline PRO Pulse reports that for independent salons, January and February product sales indexed at just over 100, and service revenues stood at 96% of the prior year. After this, everything changed. Mass closures, including salons, began in late March, and it was not until May and June that salons could re-open and offer some glimpse of hope that things may eventually be okay for the industry.
At present, we are still not completely out of the woods, but with the recent release of Kline PRO U.S., our salon retail products and services database, we are now able to look back and see that there were, in fact, numerous high points in the salon industry in 2020 that deserve to be mentioned.
Services
The demand and associated revenues for in-salon thinning hair treatments really “zoomed” during 2020, which can be largely a result of people being an active part of video conferencing platforms. The number of services were up 119%, and revenue came in at +146% compared to the previous year. Adding a treatment to a haircut or color service also saw a rise in request and revenues. Clients’ tresses were either in need of acute care due to a long gap in visiting the salon, or they just decided to splurge on themselves. The haircut/treatment combination service saw a revenue bump of almost 35%.
Products
Based on increases in the share of revenue over the prior year, it became clear that the top concerns for hair care are:
Some brands, despite all odds, experienced an increase in revenue in 2020. Out of the Top 50 brands, 10 of them topped the previous year’s sales. The majority of the brands are considered to be indies and reflect the consumers’ willingness to seek out and try new brands and products.
New Launches
In spite of the pandemic, new products were successfully launched in 2020, and it is probably not a coincidence that many of these products came from the brands which witnessed revenue growth and supported the growing consumer concerns. A few of note are:
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It will be interesting to see if the industry highs of the last year carry forward to 2021 and how a year of living socially distant lives shapes the future for the salon industry.
Kline PRO is a comprehensive interactive database that enables users to access the latest performance data on the professional hair care industry. Based on actual salon transactions from a panel of thousands of salons, it yields category, brand, and product-level sales and service data on a quarterly basis.
