Ms. Curtis

Spas, Health & Fitness

Spa Retail Management: What does it mean?

By Nina Curtis, Founder & President, The Nile Institute

Retailing is "serious" business in today's global economy. Spa goers are more savvy and knowledgeable, demanding better value and guest care, and progressive spa retailers are listening and addressing their guests' needs as fast as they can.

The Spa Retail Management process is comprised of key components that allow you to develop a foundation that will enhance your business strategy and positively effect your bottom-line.

The Retail Concept is one of the first things that need to be defined. This focuses on determining your target market's needs and how you will satisfy those needs more effectively and efficiently. Who do you currently serve and how well are you serving them? Take a look at your current spa offering to determine what you sell and who is buying it.

What do you sell? What is your retail mix? How have you integrated all that you do? These are just a few questions that need to be answered to define your retail concept. Who are your competitors and what do you do that is unique and that ads 'use value' to keep your guest coming back time and time again?

What products do you sell? These are tangible and intangible items that your guests purchase. Often focus is only given to the tangible things that are sold but even the "experience" is a product that might need to be a line item.

Your tangible products are your skin and body care items, your nail care, hair care and accessory items. Your intangible products are your facials, body treatments, body massage, nail care treatments and hair styling. Do you have these on an inventory spread sheet? Are your treatments directly connected to the tangible items you offer? Often not. When a guest comes in for a treatment do your spa associates know exactly what professional home care recommendations to make? And do they? This is where the "buck" usually stops. This is where I hear people say things like, "I'm not a sales person". This is where the communication breaks down.

A situational (swot) analysis needs to be conducted so that you can see what you and your team have to work with while developing your retail concept. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are your opportunities and threats? Let's take a closer look.

What makes you unique? What do you do that the competition can't do? What are the specialties that make up your spa team? Once defined, these present your strengths in your organization. What are some of your weaknesses? Do you have a strong enough team to deliver on your retail concept? Is everyone on the team aware of your goals and able to carry their load? Do you have the support and resources of upper management to carry out your strategy? If not, these can represent some of your weaknesses. In the situational analysis your strengths and weaknesses represent your internal properties.

Opportunities and threats are external components that have a direct effect on your business and your success. What are opportunities in the market that you can take advantage of? How is the Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability (LOHAS) affecting your business? What are Baby Boomers spending their dollars on these days? What are the trends that are affecting the industry right now? What are the threats that you will come up against if you and your team are not prepared to withstand changes in consumer trends and lifestyle buying decisions, the economy and the environment? Boy, does this sound like a lot to consider? Yes, it is but if you don't think about it your business does not have a chance to sustain in today's competitive arena.

Once you have a clear sense of who you are, who you serve and how you serve them, you can begin to set your retail strategy in place. Your retail strategy will provide you with the direction you must take to deal effectively with your guest, competitors and environment.

Your retail strategy is a statement that identifies (1) your target market, (2) the format that you plan to use to satisfy your target markets needs, and (3) how you plan to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

Let's take for example:

Sustainable competitive advantage becomes very important in the spa retail management process. This means the advantage you hold over the competition that can be maintained over a long period of time. With the speed at which our industry is changes and the advancements in technology, this can become a daunting exercise that is always under construction. Nothing is stagnant and as a spa owner or director it will be your responsibility to stay on the front line of opportunities and the potential for threats.

How do you build a wall around your retail market position? What are your relationships with your vendors and guest? What loyalty programs do you have in place for your guest and vendors? How have you designed programs with your vendors and that support your retail market needs? Are you truly minding your business?

The spa retail management process also includes your strategies for long-term growth. Market penetration and expansion are two areas that will allow you to gain a stronger hold on your current clientele base and new clients that you may want to attract.

Market penetration includes providing incentives for your guests to do business with you in areas they have not yet ventured.

Ms. Jones comes in every month for her oxygen facial but how do you link sale another service to her? The idea here is to look at all the guest you current serve and figure out how to serve them more. If you have two hundred facial clients how do you get them to become two hundred facial and body treatment clients? Often too much emphasis is put on getting a new client versus "speaking to the choir", those who already like what you do.

Next time Ms. Jones comes in for her oxygen facial offer her complimentary thirty minute (30) stress reduction back massage. She has already shared with you how much stress she carries in her upper back and shoulders. Once she begins to comment on how great she feels recommend that she book this treatment every month along with her oxygen facial. That's building client penetration one guest at a time.

Market expansion allows you to go after potential clients that you don't currently serve.

Once again I say "speak to the choir" find out the needs of your current clients' family and friends. It's no secret that your business is probably built on word-of-mouth referrals so get more people advertising for you. Create "Tell a Friend" promotions. Reward those that tell their families and friends and then reward the families and friends that come in. This really works.

Further market expansions will include internet direct sales, adding additional merchandise and treatment offerings and the potential for additional business locations as the market dictates.

I think by now you are getting a good sense of all that is included in the spa retail management process and why it is so important for you to truly mind your business.

Future articles will explore aspects of the spa retail management process with even more detail and focus. Stay tuned.

Founder and President of the Nile Institute, Nina Curtis has worked in the personal care and spa industry for more than 25 years. She holds certifications in aromatherapy, reflexology, acupressure and color therapy and was instrumental in developing of training programs for salons and spas across the country. As principal of Curtis Communications, she consults for leading companies in the personal care industry. Ms. Curtis earned a MBA from Pepperdine University, and sees the value of learning business skills that are directly applied to the spa a nd hospitality industries. Ms. Curtis can be contacted at 310-275-6453 or curtiscomm@earthlink.net Extended Bio...

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