A visit to a salon is no longer a luxury. With spending increasing significantly on self-grooming, especially post-pandemic, salon services have risen phenomenally, with at-home offerings becoming major market players.
Companies like UrbanCompany and YesMadam provide salon services like facials, manicures, pedicures, waxing and even haircuts at home, giving major competition to salons. Urban Company recently filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for a Rs1,900 crore IPO, and has a 50,000-strong workforce. Co-founder and CEO Abhiraj Singh Bhal earlier this year said that the brand is even contemplating use of robots for services.
YesMadam, a beauty-tech brand that provides at-home services, recently launched two physical salon spaces in Indirapuram and Noida, in an effort to straddle both spaces. Mayank Arya, CEO of YesMadam, has said Tier 1 and emerging Tier 2 cities are proving to be incredible grounds for salon services. The company’s focus is to enhance its footprint in southern and eastern India where there is a tremendous emerging market for beauty and wellness.
Meanwhile, salon brands are looking at significant expansion plans in terms of franchise and services to retain customer trust and business. Their edge lies in premium services like microcurrent facials, laser procedures, elaborate hair colouring procedures and others that require the customer to visit a salon.
Looks Salon is focusing on eastern India by adding salon studios in places where it has noted a significant rise in customer base. Samir Srivastava, CEO of Looks Salon, says, “In east India, the consumer is really spending. Right from the ‘seven sisters’ to Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha, we’re seeing so much more disposable income coming into all categories, not just beauty. To give you an example, we’ve got four salons in Patna, three in Bhubaneswar, and three in Ranchi.” Speaking of expansion plans, he adds, “We’re opening in Cuttack. We’ve got two salons in Guwahati and adding one more there, then we are coming up with Siliguri and Shillong as well.”
International salon brand Toni&Guy is also preparing for further expansion in India. “We are launching new branches in emerging markets and scaling training programmes at the Toni&Guy Academy, including specialised barbering courses to meet demand for professional men’s grooming,” shares Raghav Bhambri, co-owner, northwest India, Toni&Guy.
Hair’s the reality
Despite the proliferation of at-home salon services providers, industry experts maintain that walking into a salon studio is a markedly different experience than home salon services, and the former can never be replaced by the latter. Also, the more premium services, like microcurrent facials, laser procedures, and others still require the customer to walk into a physical salon. “We have five decades of customer trust and reliability as our products and services stood the test of time with visible results,” says Shahnaz Husain, founder of the Shahnaz Husain group, one of India’s first ayurvedic beauty brands. According to her, Shahnaz Husain Signature Salon is unmatched by any other in many ways.
“We provide specialised treatments with a variety of services suitable to customer concerns and requirements. The techniques and herbal products we use are vested in the principles of ayurveda supportive of holistic lifestyle and wellness, the latest trend in the beauty market,” she adds.
Distinguishing the at-home salon services from services provided at a studio salon, Husain says, “Majority of the people opting for at-home salon services keep visiting salons due to the fact that they prefer a certain skilled professional catering to them, whether it is a stylist, therapist or skilled beauty professional. Additionally, the salon staff will be updated on the latest trends, with knowledge of current requirements, offering their guidance and providing valuable insights, which cannot be replicated at home.”
Looks Salon’s Srivastava adds, “Customers may prefer at-home technicians for basic services like a finger facial, or a pedicure, but more technical procedures require training and monitoring as well.”
Commenting on whether the salon brand would take its services to the home, he says the experience would not be the same. “While we are investing in elevating experiences, adding coffee shops, cafes, sleeping areas, pods, and more, we want the consumer to really come and have an individual decompressing experience at the salons,” he adds.
Bhambri of Toni&Guy agrees. “At-home services have their audience, but they cannot compete in terms of expertise, precision, and the environment of a professional salon. Clients come to us for stylist skill, advanced products, and a creative edge, which simply can’t be replicated at home,” he says.
Bhambri points out that the priority of the company is not to compete with convenience. Rather, the focus is to elevate the in-salon experience, with personalised consultations, premium rituals, and innovation in services. “Our memberships, loyalty programmes, and digital booking systems ensure clients find both ease and exclusivity when choosing us,” he adds.
Affordability or ambience?
With an outpouring of salon brands, and exponentially more chain stores in India, brands with physical studio spaces are walking the tricky line of keeping their services cost effective, while also innovating with the services they offer. Salon brands are upping their games to ensure that customers return for that walk-in salon experience at least once every couple of months.
“Customers may prefer at-home technicians for basic services like a finger facial, or a pedicure, but more technical procedures require training and monitoring as well,” says Srivastava of Looks Salon.
While the Looks Salon franchise has no plans of breaking into the at-home salon market, Srivastava does acknowledge the reasons why customers tend to prefer them for certain services— because of the convenience to do so. “If I’m doing a late night party, I don’t want to get ready hours in advance, and the salons close at 9 pm. But I want to do my makeup at 9 pm only. In such cases, we commission our staffers to provide makeup services at the customer’s residence,” he adds.
As for Bhambri, he speaks from his experience at Toni&Guy: “Services themselves haven’t become cheaper, but spending power has increased, clients are prioritising grooming and personal style in their budgets.” He says that instead of just a haircut, customers now opt for cut, colour and treatment packages, which have raised the average bill size by around 20-25% in the past few years. “With global exposure through social media, Indian clients are now experimental, asking for international cuts, balayage, and advanced hair repair services,” he adds.
“Customer interaction with a beauty professional at the salon, consultation, and current discounts are for sure an added advantage that makes the salon experience worth it all,” says Hussain, pointing out that trained and informed insights from technicians cannot be expected with at-home salon services.
She recalls an example from her years of experience. “A regular client had approached me for her dry scalp issues. We provided her with solutions that helped her regain hair and scalp health without having to reach the stage of extremities that leads to brittle hair and eventually hair loss. She avoided it all due to her regular visits to the salon,” she adds.
