The mainstream media has always romanticized the idea of living in a smart home, fully equipped to do anything you asked of it. Though the actual execution of a fully automated smart home is still one for science fiction flicks, many advancements have been recently made that make it possible to incorporate elements of this idealistic smart home into your current dwelling.
With barriers towards smart home technology being continuously broken in 2017 an on, consumers are starting to look into other applications of this technology. For salon owners, there are a lot of cool gadgets that can make for a great business investment.
If 2017 is the year of the smart home: why not the smart salon? What’s stopping you from investing in this business-changing technology? Here’s how Arsova Salon became a smart salon, and how we amazed customers in the process.
Music for Salon Made Simple
Top salons provide a great customer experience. Part of creating this ideal customer experience is creating a relaxing and inviting atmosphere. Many salons achieve this through the use of music, but taking a look at professional audio equipment pricing is enough to make your head spin.
Here’s our math:
- Receiver: $400
- Audio Player Tablet: $200
- In-ceiling speakers: $600 (3 x $200)
- Professional gauge wire: $50 (200 ft)
- Wiring and Install by professional: $500+
And the equipment we were looking at was considered to be mediocre at best!
All Arsova Salon really wanted was a great sounding audio system that was easily expandable. Plug and play. Is that so much to ask?
We wanted to make things as easily as possible on our staff, minimizing the work required to deal with devices each day. After all, their skills are much better utilized providing services to paying customers!
As a result, we decided to go with a truly wireless solution. We found something that offers everything we were looking for in one package, which also ended up being a one button solution – just press “play”!
Sonos is what we decided on. It’s a true audiophile solution: wireless and easily expandable.
Our total cost broke down as follows:
- Sonos Playbar: $650
- Sonos Play 1 x 2 devices ($150 each): $300
The total expense? $950 for an amazing sound system that is small in size, wireless, and integrates with all the streaming services we would ever want. It is controlled and managed from our front desk, where we just press “play”.
Sonos Play 1 is the perfectly-sized compact speaker, loud enough for ambient music in a business. The Sonos Playbar is the event speaker we use, featuring 5.1 surround sound with 9 built-in speakers. It’s hard to imagine a small business that needs more power than that.
Smart Thermostat for a Salon
Operating a salon in Chicago means dealing with constant changes in temperature – both seasonally, and sometimes daily!
A good thermostat can save you money on power and keep your salon comfortable. Most importantly, the ideal solution is conveniently managed with other smart salon components at the front desk.
After trying Nest (which unfortunately wasn’t compatible with our HVAC), we tried (and recommend) ecobee3. Its “room sensor” detects the temperature in the salon as a whole, and also the heavily trafficked reception area.
Nest Cameras for Salon
Moving from one salon location to another was just the kick in the butt we were looking for to update some outdated technologies. Specifically, when it came to surveillance and security cameras, we took a critical look to our older camera systems, and how they were set up. For us, this was a central unit, wired with all the cameras attached.
Unfortunately, this setup did not offer the flexibility we were looking for in the new salon. So, instead of going down the same route, we opted instead for a Nest Camera system.
This wireless solution allowed us to easily setup cameras around the salon. Total install time? Just 30 minutes! No technical experience necessary.
Social Marketing Display by Mevato
The induction of digital signage really took our branding to a whole new level.
Mevato’s Social Marketing display complements the customer experience your my salon creates, by educating and engaging your audience through an attractive and interactive social marketing display.
With the subtle push Mevato’s digital display provides, guests are encouraged to post their selfies to our digital signage, using our hashtag #arsovasalon. Just this simple reminder to get active on social media has resulted in:
- Over 900 social posts by clients reaching out to their thousands of friends and followers.
- Our Instagram account, @ArsovaSalon, has grown to over 6000 followers
Since we’re using a TV as a marketing display, we can show social media posts, but also videos featuring the beauty brands we carry.
Overall, our Mevato Social Marketing display helps us with educating our clients, increasing our sales thanks to product advertisements, and engaging clients on our social media channels.
Social WIFI by Mevato
Although most major wireless carriers have started offering unlimited plans, customers without this luxury appreciate the opportunity to stay connected digitally while spending time in Arsova Salon.
We offer free gated Wi-Fi that delights customers but also acts as a marketing tool. Social WIFI by Mevato leads customers to a branded splash page with login information. Different calls to action can be specified on this page, which collects a customer’s email (for future marketing, after they leave your salon), but can also encourage action, thanks to:
- Specific service discounts (great for an upsell on salon services)
- Links to social accounts to encourage following
- Calls to action to visit the salon website (perhaps to book their next appointment)
Offer free Wi-Fi in your hair salon, beauty salon, or barber shop with power-packed Wi-Fi solution. Fully compliant, it’s great for marketing specific offers to customers.
These five solutions will bring your salon from retro to state of the art. But if you’re looking for even more options, consider:
- A tablet control center for audio – we use an affordable Amazon Fire Tablet
- A WeMo device makes our light switches smart, allowing for lighting control from a tablet or smartphone.
Will you be implementing any of these smart salon solutions into your business? Tweet us at @ArsovaSalon, and we’d be happy to share any of our relevant experience if it helps you get there!
