Technology
MEET
THE ALL IN ONE
SITE FOR BEAUTY
PROFESSIONALS
A
t CosmoBiz Salon, we’re always on the
lookout for interesting software, sites, and
apps you can use to help organize, streamline, and grow your beauty business. This
month, we came across Style Seat in our research and
decided we had to share it with you. Style Seat is an appointment booking site and app, but it’s so much more
than that. Not only can you use Style Seat to keep track
of your clients, you can showcase your work so that potential clients can find you, since it also allows clients
to sign up, browse stylists, and book appointments with
beauty professionals. Here are just a few of the reasons
you should check it out.
1. Style Seat allows 24/7 booking. You have the
option of slotting appointments using the app, but
so do your clients. They can look you up, see the
times that are available to them, and book an appointment, freeing you up to let them do the work.
They’ll also be able to see exactly what you charge
and how much time you set aside for each of your
services. You can also easily keep track of how often any particular client books, since the app tells
how long it’s been since their last appointment.
Clients receive text message reminders before their
appointment, so they’re less likely to forget. Plus,
you can add a short personal message along with
the reminder (for example, “Looking forward to
seeing you! –Brittany”).
2. Style Seat takes care of payments for you. So
there are a couple of interesting things about Style
Seat’s payment system,
which is called ExpressPay.
First, it’s super convenient
for you and your client to
give and receive payments
through a secure online
system. What’s more interesting is that you can set up
ExpressPay to charge a fee
for last minute cancellations
and/or no-shows. Statistically, clients who pay with a
credit card usually tip a bit
more as well. One Style Seat
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COSMOBIZ SALON NOVEMBER 2015
client said, “It was a great experience, and it was
nice not having to fumble with my credit card after
and think about tipping in salon.” And for using the
ExpressPay system, Style Seat will automatically
boost your profile within the site so that more users
see you. It’s basically free advertising. Payments
process within one to two business days, and clients’ credit card information is stored in the app for
future appointments, so they don’t have to re-enter it. Their receipt is then sent to them via email.
You should note, however, that though it’s free to
sign up for ExpressPay, payments are subject to a
2.75% processing fee.
3. You can sell retail through Style Seat. Style Seat
has partnered with the L’Oreal brands (Redken,
L’Oreal Professionnel, Pureology, Kerastase, etc.)
to create an ecommerce site, making it possible for
you to allow your clients to not only pay for and
book services, but also to purchase the retail products you carry in store through their app. We were
super intrigued by this concept. Style Seat and
partner brands will pack and ship retail orders to
your clients, making your job even easier..
4. New clients can find you through Style Seat. Not
only can you use the site and app as appointment
and payment software, Style Seat is also a little bit
like a social media site for beauty professionals.
You can create a profile, complete with images of
your work, so that potential clients can find you,
see what you do, and even get ideas for what services they might want to book with you. The Salon Finder feature allows users to go online and
look for salon professionals in their area, view their
profiles, see their work and reviews of their work,
and book appointments. That means you have the
potential to bring in new clients just by creating a
Style Seat profile so that people know you’re out
there. Plus, as we mentioned before, using ExpresPay gets you an automatic profile boost so it’s easier for clients to find you.