Deliver More Personal Client Experiences with Phorest AI
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by Staff
49% of Americans Influenced by Online Reviews When Choosing a Salon
When it comes to shopping for a new salon, almost half of Americans are influenced by online reviews, and 72% say they use Google to search nearby salons.
by Staff
August 18, 2022
A salon proudly displays their Phorest Client Experience Award.
3 min to read
According to research from Phorest Salon Software, almost half (49%) of Americans say that they were influenced to choose their current hair salon based on the business’ online reviews and online reputation, while 26% look to online reviews when choosing a spa.
When attempting to find a new hair salon to visit, 72% of respondents said they searched for salons on Google, while 25% searched on social media. Other online research methods included searching on Google Maps (18%) and viewing the online listing platform Yelp (15%).
Consumers are also using the internet to search for spas. Of those surveyed, 52% searched for spas on Google, 28% searched on social media, 16% used Yelp, and 10% used Google Maps to find spas in their area. American clients seem to be more willing to search online than consumers in many other regions surveyed. In Ireland, for example, only 48% of participants said they perform an online search to help them find a new hair salon, while only 37% of the same Irish group searched online when looking for a new spa.
American consumers aren’t just using the internet to search for new service providers, however. 22% of participants said that they follow their regular hair salon on Instagram, while 17% follow their individual hair stylists’ Instagram pages. Spa clients are even more engaged with their salon online, with 25% of those surveyed saying they follow their spa on Instagram and 17% saying they follow their specific esthetician or technician.
Commenting on the data, Verna Wall, Lead Researcher at Phorest, notes: “These findings show that American consumers are extremely engaged with the beauty industry online-both when trying to find a new salon and when keeping up to date with their current service provider. As an American professional beauty business, it’s never been more important to nurture your online presence. Ask for online reviews, engage with your client base on socials, and think seriously about how you’re showing up on the internet to current and potential clients. Those who take their online reputation seriously will clearly win business over those who are not paying attention to their online reviews and social channels.”
This month, Phorest will be sending out their annual Client Experience Awards. These awards reward salons who keep a minimum of 60 online reviews above an average of 4 stars over a 12-month period, presenting them with a physical (and virtual) window sticker for their salon.
Verna continued: “Salons love to collect these awards year-in-year-out and display them on their shopfront to broadcast their exceptional customer service. But the greatest benefit for these award-winning salons is the ability to publish their top reviews to their Google Business and Facebook profiles from Phorest, allowing them to capture the market that, from the above research, clearly puts a lot of weight into online reviews. These reviews are important both when choosing a new salon and sticking with an existing salon. We are delighted for the Phorest CEA award winners for 2022 and hope that both their window stickers and their killer review profiles continue to help fill their seats with new clients over the next 12 months.”
Topics:Technology
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