?? Simplifying Salon Services for the Modern Consumer ??

At Flossie, we're aggregating thousands of hair service data points from hundreds of salons, each using different appointment booking software.?

While we have an immense amount of information at our fingertips, one challenge stands out: the discrepancies in hair service titles and descriptions creating confusion for consumers who simply want to ‘book a look’.?

Although the core elements of a hair service—like foils, toners, processing time, treatments, and finishing services—are similar, each salon has its own unique spin on naming hair services.

To better understand the importance of standardizing services, we spoke with Flossie’s Head of Product and Partnerships, Alexandra Campbell.

What’s confusing for consumers when booking hair appointments?

1. The Mystery of Hair Appointment Packages

A major frustration for consumers.

"Does my color service include a blow-dry or finishing service??

“Do I need to add a toner?”?

Salons often list these components separately, expecting clients to figure out what to add. Why overcomplicate things? Bundle it all together and make the experience seamless.

2. Booking ‘A Look’, Not a Service

Today’s consumer doesn't care about technical terms such as “full head highlights.”

What they really want is a result—like that perfect “Sabrina Carpenter Butter Blonde.”

Prescriptive descriptions and visuals are crucial to showing clients how they’ll get the look they expect.

Why is standardization important for hair services?

Standardization ensures that salons can provide clients with reliable experiences, making it easier for them to find the services they need without confusion. By providing clear, streamlined options, we eliminate unnecessary guesswork and help consumers feel confident in their choices.

The more streamlined and consistent this becomes, the more trust will be gained.?

Think of it like shopping online for a ‘red dress.’?

You see a variety of styles, all in red, even if some are gowns or mini dresses. If the search only showed 'red long a-line gown,' you’d miss out on options. Ensuring that a gown is found under 'dress' searches helps consumers find what they’re looking for.

The same applies to salon services—searching for ‘all-over color’ will show results for all salons that call it permanent color, single process, or full-head color, because they all deliver the same outcome.

?It’s about making it easy for consumers to find what they want.

How does Flossie build a standardized service menu for professional haircare brands?

When working with a haircare brand, we look at the most popular services across their network of salon partners and identify the ‘hero’ services they want to promote. We make sure the service menu isn't overwhelming but focused on the essentials and best-selling services.

The beauty of it is that salons can maintain their own naming conventions on their own salon booking software, while the haircare brand’s booking experience remains standardized, ensuring a consistent brand experience for consumers.

Our goal is to make things EASY.

We maintain a standardized service menu with clear descriptions, content, duration and imagery.?

When we import each salon’s hair service menu, we match their services to ours using a set of key terms. For instance, if the standardized service is labeled ‘all-over color,’ we match it with titles like ‘single process’, ‘permanent color’, or ‘full head color’ from the salon’s menu.

We also ensure that all the necessary components of a hair service are included. If a color service requires a new client consultation, toners, or finishing services, we package it all together.

Tell us what excites you the most for how hair and beauty services can be sold?

We’ve long believed that booking a hair or beauty service should be as easy and intuitive as shopping for clothes online.

The principles of e-commerce—scarcity, halo effects, upselling, and cross-selling—can all be applied to salon hair services.

There’s no reason we can’t use modern shopping methods like Instagram or TikTok to sell hair services. We already have the ingredients: inventory, pricing, unique URLs, and tracking.

Beyond the booking experience, there’s even more potential to enhance the pre- and post-appointment journey.

For example, through our appointment notes feature, salons can understand a customer’s hair type and desired look before they even step foot inside.

This opens the door to personalized advice, preparation tips, and even product recommendations, all tailored to the client’s unique needs.

Thanks for reading! We'd love to hear your thoughts (and experiences of booking hair service appointments). Comment below to continue this conversation.

About Us. Flossie is a trusted conduit connecting professional haircare brands to their salon network data. By integrating with existing salon booking and POS software, Flossie enables brands to offer seamless click-to-book experiences and bespoke products for data utilization.