Picture the scenario—a client arrives at Studio Gaven in Franklin, Tennessee, a few minutes early for her standing appointment, so the receptionist indicates the ‘Lift and Learn’ retail shelves in the reception area and invites the client to try it out while she waits.

The client wanders over to find a series of products lined up directly under a television monitor that is playing displaying gorgeous product videos and imagery about different products. A specific product catches the client’s eye, so she picks the sample up off the shelf. A sensor on the back of the product communicates to the monitor, which begins playing product information specific to that exact product. Once in her stylist’s chair, the intrigued client asks her stylist about the product, and later she happily leaves with the product in her bag.  

For decades, savvy salon owners have known that retail sales are their surest way to build profitability, but at the same time they’ve struggled to convince their reluctant stylists that providing product education to their client is more than just pushing retail. Now, Inovshop gives these owners a digital leg up, while offering their team members a helping hand in their retailing efforts. In addition, the engagement and interactivity of this cool technology heightens the guest’s overall salon experience.

Inovshop uses interactive, touch-screen displays, media players and related technology to tailor a client’s retail experience while promoting informed purchasing decisions. “Lift and Learn is just one example of the way you can create a digital, interactive experience,” says Martin Spritzer, vice president of sales for Inovshop USA. “These touch screens can guide guests through a retail quiz that asks about their hair type and their style goals, then output a personalized care routine. Monitors can play content from our library that is supplied by major brands or the salon’s own generated content, such as before-and-after images, stylist how-to videos, client reviews, stylist profiles or other content produced for the salon’s social channels.”

Image and videos with embedded QR codes can invite the client to continue the retail journey on their own personal devices. When Inovshop is integrated with the salon’s management software, tablets can be handed to the client while they are processing allowing them to add retail items to their ticket, so the products can be waiting at the front desk. If there is a line at checkout when the guest is ready to leave, they can check out, pay, leave a review and book their next appointment all through a tablet.

Dana Funk, director of Studio Gaven, says they first brought Inovshop into the salon in 2018, and theyhave been so impressed by the quality of the media players, the company’s library of content and its customer service, they added seven more players in 2023. The salon has them in the retail area as well as on the ceiling above the shampoo stations in the shampoo lounge. “They have a library of up to 8,000 videos and images that you can select from so we can change what’s playing so guests see different content at each visit,” she says. “When we heard about the Lift and Learn we brought that in, and we had our biggest retail month since 2007 after implementing it.”

Funk recently put together a Lift and Learn display that promote healthy hair, including detanglers, split end treatments and deep conditioners. “We positioned it for Back-to-School season and included products you need to improve the hair from summer damage—you can really get creative with the display.”

Data supports the theory that this higher level of engagement correlates with higher sales volumes. “ROI (return on investment) data shows that when a customer dwells more than 30 seconds on content about a product, conversion rates go through the roof,” Spritzer says. “A personalized, engaging experience is 10 times more likely than a static display to result in a sale, and we’ve been able to show that this increases average retail basket size by 140 percent.”

Funk believes the displays really spark conversation between a guest and a stylist about retail and services. “Guests particularly love when they see their own stylist on the screen, whether it’s an example of a before and after, a hair story or a how-to featuring one of our products or tools,” she says.

“If the first time a salon client is asked about retail is when she’s asked if she needs anything while checking out, the answer is almost always, ‘No.’  They need to be engaged by some kind of personalized journey,” Spritzer says. “In a five-minute time period between the time a guest arrives and is led back to the stylist’s station, they can enjoy a self-guided experience that leads to a professional conversation with their service provider.”

Funk admits that it’s also fascinating to watch new guests interact with the displays for the first time. Each year, Studio Gaven works with the Academy of Country Music Award’s Lifting Lives Music Camp, a camp open to musically talented individuals with developmental disabilities. Visits from country music veterans help the campers prepare for a performance at the Grand Ole Opry. “We had about 30 campers here and get them styled for their performance. They were blown away by the Look and Learn display, they couldn’t stop picking up the products and playing with it,” she shares.