SOFTWARE BRANDS TO KNOW NOW

Choosing the perfect software to suit your unique business needs can be overwhelming. So, we have put together a go-to guide on 2023's key software brands

FRESHA

There are 100,000 businesses in over 120 countries that trust the Fresha platform to transform their business and improve client experience. This has led to over 700 million appointments being booked in the hair, beauty and wellness industry solely through Fresha. The company offers a variety of functions, such as online appointment bookings, processing card payments and managing customer records. It also offers automations for marketing, staffing, product inventory and accounting. Fresha's online calendar offers a visual presentation of all your appointments, locations and team members. With Fresha, new clients can also find you and book online using popular external apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, Google Search and Google Maps, as well as through your own website. Meanwhile, you can find and contact your clients with marketing tools, like emails, text messages and updates within the mobile app itself.

ISALON

For over three decades, iSalon has provided software for the hair and beauty industry, delivering features such as appointment management, multicurrency till, reporting suites, stock control, SMS and email marketing systems. It has over 8.5 million customers globally and nearly 2,000 salons worldwide.

Its fully integrated payment feature stands out due to its partnership with the financial service and SaaS company, Stripe. This allows safe and secure transactions both online and in the salon. iSalon users also have access to The Hub; a platform containing a range of ‘How-To’ training videos so that they can optimise the use of their software package. The company is dedicated to adapting to the ever-changing hair industry, and as part of their commitment it offers a Software for Life Maintenance Policy which gives users the latest upgrades, without an extra charge.

PHOREST

Phorest aims to touch every point of the hair salon experience, offering features like online booking, reporting, custom-branded booking apps, a sleek POS, marketing features and integrated payment processing. It not only uses innovation in technology to help businesses, but offers mentoring and education too.

Ronan Perceval originally worked as a receptionist in a salon, and after noticing that the salon owner was struggling, he and Phorest’s co-founder, Jamie Mysercough, came up with a solution to send text messages to clients. This was a simple fix for no-shows and non-returning clients, reminding them about their appointments and displaying offers to entice them to return. This personal touch continues in 2023 as the brand connects businesses with their own dedicated business advisor. Another key feature is the PhorestGo app, ideal for staff members to manage the salon on-the-go, with tasks such as stock taking and booking appointments.

PREMIER SOFTWARE

With more than 25 years of experience, Premier Software has always supported salon growth. Of its four key software systems, two are specifically suited to hair salons.

Firstly, SalonLite is a cloud-based salon appointment scheduling system where stylists are able to save all of their data to their account, making everything accessible on-the-go. Their premium tools include online booking with five diary columns, linked payments for multiple appointments and stock control. Salon Hair, its other key software system for salons, has a flexible design to help bring to life your salon’s style. What’s more, its dashboard offers a complete overview of your business, handy for highlighting elements such as profit and areas of growth.

SHORTCUTS 

Since 1994, Shortcuts has wanted to empower salon owners by helping them to provide a great client experience while still being able to run a smooth business.

Many members of the Shortcuts team come from the hair industry so it is both passionate about, and experienced with, salon businesses. Shortcuts summarises this as, “software created by your industry, for your industry”, and the 14,000 salons across 45 countries that use their software, is proof of their success. To prioritise a work-life balance, and to be able to enjoy the creative side of running a hair salon, it offers functions to help with motivating salon staff members, stock-taking, client management and automating admin tasks. What’s more, it offers around-the-clock support, simply call or send a message.

TIMELY

Timely provides easy-to-use booking and client management software to over 55,000 hair and beauty professionals worldwide.

Its customisable calendar allows you to manage your hair business from anywhere, while letting your clients book their own appointments online at any time. Users can tap into different tools designed to help salons deliver exceptional client experiences, grow their income and manage business. The customisability doesn’t stop there, as the brand wants salons to remain unique and individual, all of its features are customisable. So, the ways you communicate with your clients and loyalty programs, can be set up in a way that matches your business. A salon’s business performance is crucial in its progress, so Timely’s reporting and staff management tools can highlight areas of growth and losses. To help with monotonous tasks, such as daily cashing-up, there is TimelyPay; a single payment solution for both in-salon payments, and online ones too.

TREATWELL

Treatwell boasts statistics of working with over 50,000 partner salons across 13 countries, and processes over eight million bookings every month and 100 million bookings yearly.

Treatwell Pro presents a range of tools including calendars, marketing features, streamlining admin tasks and a digital diary. Within the diary, you can find resources, tips and a chat box for software support. Also, salon owners can monitor how their business is growing, using real time reports. With a presence on applications such as Apple Maps, Instagram, Facebook and Google Maps, you can be spotted and instantly booked at any time. For salon owners, Treatwell Pro keeps these bookings in one location, to ensure everything is organised and clear to see.

VAGARO

The company's motto, “Vagaro user success is Vagaro’s success” is brought to life with their promise of 24/7 contact. It's no surprise then that over 174,000 salon pros use Vagaro.

Another customer-favourite feature is the custom-built forms which automatically send appointment reminders. Plus, Vagaro’s live stream feature not only offers the chance for digital consultations, but it’s a great tool for offering training courses online too. For an extra fee, you can build your own branded app and another modern update to the software is Vagaro Marketplace. Already integrated with Apple and Google, this means clients can search and book, via the salon’s map listing.

VISH

Vish focuses on intelligent colour management; tracking elements like colour usage, inventory and client formulas. Active in 16 countries, the brand bridges the gap between your clients checking in, paying and rebooking. It communicates the data it captures to the salon's POS, thanks to its integration with all the major salon software brands. There’s no requirement to upload and update services, employees or clients as Vish reflects all information, collected in the POS, in one system. Furthermore, it informs your front desk of all colour charges built up during an appointment. This link between the POS and Vish is set up during onboarding, so salon owners can sit back and enjoy seeing what's happening in their colour departments.

ZENOTI

Since 2010, Zenoti has helped over 25,000 businesses to drive success and grow their brands. It provides functions for every area, from the front desk to backroom inventory.

The brand focuses on salons being able to maximise their available appointments, without having to hire extra staff, and to drive the highest possible invoice per client visit. Some tools to help make this happen include booking of parallel services, variable service pricing based on demand, targeted marketing campaigns, data insights and retail recommendations for clients. Its more unique features are implementing membership models and selling gift cards online. Zenoti recognises that retaining talent can be tough in the industry. So, empower staff with Zenoti’s mobile app where they can easily see overviews on their phone or tablet. They can view client information and their schedule, and stylists can track their earnings all via the app. What’s more, salons get their own branded mobile app just for clients, which makes shopping for services, booking online and connecting with staff simple.