Improving your retail sales is a sure-fire way to boost revenues and return visits. Avoid disaster by getting it right first time
It is time to be very honest when it comes to spa retail in the Gulf. Many spas are seriously underperforming. The Middle East Spa Benchmark Report compiled earlier this year by Ernst and Young discovered that on average, retail makes up around 8.5% of total spa revenue in Dubai.
Consultants Aspen Spa Management president Leslie Glover sums up precisely how much of a problem this represents. “Spas that are generally doing well with retail can make anywhere from 30-35% of the entire spa’s gross profit from retail sales,” she asserts.
Clearly then, there are massive opportunities for spas to boost their bottom line, simply by correctly executing their retail offering.
First and foremost, it’s important to understand just how important it is to have retail products within a spa, irrespective of percentages. “Once you’ve filled up with your column of treatments, you don’t have any opportunities other than retail to be able to sell or to upgrade revenue,” says Wafi Health and Leisure director Daniella Russell.
It is also a relatively easy way to boost profit. “Unlike service revenue where there are labour costs and operational costs associated with it, retail does not have such high expenses related to it,” says Glover. “In this day and age, a spa really has to have a retail component or it’s just not going to survive.”
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE
At this crucial time of economic uncertainty, retail is more essential than ever before since it can provide products that make results last for longer. “Clients have to work their budgets better,” says Russell. “Where a client may have come in every week, they may now come in once a month. You don’t want to come in for one treatment once a month, and the next time you come find you’re back to square one.” She reports that recent months have seen retail figures increase to 34-42% at the Wafi operated Cleopatra Spa.
While many spas do have a retail element, the problem seems to stem from a lack of understanding of client needs. Experts agree that fully understanding your client not only makes it easier to sell retail products to them, it is also likely to encourage a return visit.
Giving a full consultation which helps define which products are most appropriate for the client also makes the client feel they are getting more for their overall spend. “The client must make this conscious awareness that when they’re actually going to a spa, they’ll get the full benefit, rather than just thinking all they’ll get is a massage,” says Russell.
“Stepping in with something as crude as selling, which is how most spas see it, is unacceptable, which is why a lot of spas don’t retail well. They also don’t spend enough time educating and encouraging their team to understand it’s not necessarily about hard selling, it is about making sure your clients get the maximum potential out of every treatment,” says Russell.
While customers are becoming more knowledgeable about products, it is still the job of a therapist to direct them to those that will provide the most benefit and to answer any outstanding questions. “Retail sales really come from the learning about the product during the treatment. It’s the technicians that are educating the clients during their treatments and can customise homecare that’s more appropriate,” says Glover.
However, it’s important to simply recommend, rather than crudely ‘push’ products on a client. “[Therapists are] there to assist you in improving the condition we’re dealing with, and it’s entirely up to you how you proceed. The client is then not forced into anything but they have the advantage of understanding the benefits of their treatment,” says Russell.
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