Following an unprecedented rise in energy prices, it is understandable to look for ways to reduce costs in the spa and other areas of your business. Whilst you may be hesitant to do this for your luxury spa, saving money will help prevent blowing your annual budget during a period you hadn’t planned for. To assist, we have looked at seven key areas where you could save money in the spa.
1: Reduce costs in the spa by increasing staff retention
One vital area to look at, to help reduce costs in the spa, is your team. The beauty industry is currently facing a spa recruitment crisis, making it more costly than ever to replace existing staff. This is due to the business costs needed to advertise roles and recruit. Not only is a new face costly, but it means clients will need to build up trust and loyalty with new staff compared to a familiar face.
Staff wellbeing is important for retention, making it vital to speak with each member of your team to make sure they are looked after. This could be as simple as looking at rotas to ensure staff allocation is evenly spread across peak times, creating business reward schemes for your team, and implementing types of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) to further their individual goals.
2: Ensure you stock the right items
Retail items are an effective way of bolstering sales, but overstocking the wrong items can be costly. Running a report on your stock best sellers, such as the ones present in Core by Premier Software®, you will be able to deduce what items are most popular. Similarly, you can view stock sold by each member of staff or manufacturer for the year period, viewing a breakdown of what items were sold. You can then order the appropriate amount of stock, reducing your quantities of other less popular items.
3: Reduce product waste
Your team will inevitably use beauty products during treatments, but are they making sure they only use what is necessary? It can be easy to use more massage oil or exfoliating facial cream than intended, with wastage adding up over time and leading to more product orders. Limiting the amounts used from spa products will ultimately help them last longer and reduce reordering.
Reducing product waste in other ways can also help reduce costs in the spa. For example, eliminating single-use plastic items, such as plastic cups for water, cuts the need to order more. According to the Institute of Lifecycle Energy Analysis, the general cost to order more glass or reusable alternatives and the energy cost to wash them will be more cost-efficient in the long-run.
4: Focus on existing clients to reduce costs in the spa
Attracting existing clients is much more cost-effective than attracting new clients, with 5% of client retention rates increasing profits by 25% to 95%, according to research by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company. Therefore, it makes sense to focus your marketing efforts on existing clients as they are already familiar with your brand and are more likely to purchase from you again. Loyalty schemes are often an excellent way to entice clients back, as are these other tips to make the most of existing salon and spa clients.
5: Implement energy-efficient lighting
The right lighting is important for a relaxing spa environment, but it is also important to cut those electricity costs. Energy-efficient lighting will help reduce costs in the spa, ranging from something simple like using energy saving lightbulbs, to more natural alternatives. Natural lighting is not only free, but can help lift our mood. Opening up the spa with clear windows, mirrors and space will help introduce natural light in more places than ever before.
For more on how to look after wellbeing using light and space, make sure you view our guide.
6: Reduce costs in the spa with savvy marketing
Marketing is a key area where you can save costs without lessening the impact. Beyond targeted email and SMS marketing, you can also leverage the power of social media networks.
Social media is used by over 4.62 billion people across the world, with platforms used on client phones every day. With regular, quality content coming from your business page, you can promote spa treatments, prices and more without the need to spend anything. However, should you set aside some budget, you can target a paid social media campaign to the right people and link them to your offerings. Not only can you track who has clicked through, but also make a more cost-effective purchase with a measurable return on investment. For this reason, social media is a powerful tool to help reduce costs in the spa.
7: Implement business management software
Switching from paper to software has a myriad of benefits, from helping manage your business to cutting the costs of new paper orders, making your spa more sustainable. Whilst there is an initial outlay, a digital system will help facilitate online bookings, store client data and reduce admin tasks, enabling resource to be used elsewhere. Therefore, this investment will provide a long-term gain by saving time and money.
Core by Premier Software® can achieve all the above, through the use of automated marketing, loyalty schemes, stock management and orders, performance reports and plenty more. To find out how Core can make a difference to your business, book a free presentation using the button below.
