How to merchandise your salon effectively

We’ve brought together our top tips for merchandising year-round, and some special tips for the festive season.

1. Set clear sales goals

What do you want your product sales to be? Setting a clear goal gives you and your team something to aim for. It could be doubling the amount you’re selling each week, or increasing the items per transaction. 

It’s a good idea to establish these goals with your team so they can have some input and ownership into what they can achieve. Then implement product training from a brand rep or organise a competition to motivate your team. 

Holiday tip!

For the festive season, set special goals and rewards so your team feels motivated and excited to sell!

2. Engage the senses

Set up your salon to appeal to all the senses. 

Sound: Create an inviting atmosphere by curating salon playlists that resonate with your clients. Music can create a calming, inviting environment and adds a sense of privacy. It can help influence purchasing decisions, making clients more likely to buy products. Check out our Timely playlists for salons.

Sight: Give your clients a clear visual experience at every interaction they have with you. This means making your salon, website and social media look and feel consistent by using the brand’s colours, logo and imagery. Make clients feel amazing when they’re with you, use good lighting so they feel like a million bucks.

Touch: Encourage clients to touch, feel and test the products you’re using with them. Inviting them to smell and feel what you’re using on them will help them feel a sense of ownership over the product. If you can give samples away, do it! This is a great way for them to really test whether what the product works for them.

Smell: Good smells evoke positive feelings. Incorporate candles and diffusers with your salon’s signature scent.

Taste: Provide complimentary drinks like coffee, herbal teas, or sparkling water with lemon to create a memorable experience for your clients. Small things like this can make your client feel appreciated, pampered, and more open to product suggestions. 

Holiday tip!

Adapt everything to the holiday season. Create festive playlists (or just use ours!)*, use fairy lights and offer seasonal drinks. 

3. Make your products look appealing

With a few quick tricks, you can your shelves to make sure your products look organised and appealing. 

 Keep products front-facing, and spend a couple of minutes each day making sure everything looks neat and tidy. 

Ideally, keep your products three units deep – too many out and people might think they’re unpopular. Only one out and people might think it’s old or no one wants it. 

Keep products at eye level and within reach so clients can interact easily. Use symmetry and contrast to draw clients’ eyes.  Keep product heights symmetrical to show a balanced view – do this by stacking shorter products or using risers. Or, on the contrary, use asymmetry to draw the eye from start to finish.

Don’t forget to add space between product lines and brands. This gives everything room to shine, rather than overwhelm. 

Holiday tip!

Stack up gift packs to resemble a pile of presents under a tree. This helps spark nostalgia and encourages clients to think about buying for the holidays. An attractive display piled high with goodies is a sure way to catch their attention. 

4. Group products that pair well 

Put complementary products on the same shelf to increase items per transaction. For example, put the same brand of shampoo, conditioner and styling product next to one another. Pair this with signage like ‘best sellers’ or ‘top picks’ to give your clients guidance. 

If you have a product that’s not flying off the shelf, try moving a tester to a high traffic area, like the checkout and encourage clients to try it. Or, add it to a complementary grouping to promote more sales.

Holiday tip!

Your vendors are likely to come out with some great specials and bundle deals for the holiday season. And at this time of year your clients are in the mood to treat themselves and are on the hunt for gifts. Use special Christmas merchandising and deals to entice shoppers to buy.

5. Keep things fresh and clear

Keeping low stake items – like hair clips, beard balm, travel-sized products – at the checkout counter. These are items clients that don’t cost a lot and clients can buy on impulse. 

For larger displays, rearrange them regularly so your regular clients get to see something new. Analyse sales data to see what kind of displays work better. 

Use price stickers and signage to make the cost of products clear, increasing their motivation to buy. 

Holiday tip!

A free gift wrapping service is an inexpensive way to surprise and delight your clients during the holidays.

Good salon merchandising is a powerful tool year round for increasing product sales. Take these tips, put them into action and watch your revenue increase!

*Make sure you check the laws in your area before you play copyrighted music during business hours