What makes hair salons so unique?
In a digital world, where human relationships are increasingly virtual, there is one unique place where human contact between consumers and professionals continues to thrive: the hair salon. L’Oréal promotes this privileged relationship by enhancing the salon experience.
When consumers go to a hair salon, they are looking for a relaxing visit focused on their well-being that helps them disconnect from their daily worries and reconnect with themselves. They also want to enjoy a unique beauty experience with services and advice that suit their needs. Over a series of appointments, trust and customer loyalty develop. This close relationship explains why consumers prefer to purchase their products in salons .
Salon E-motionTM: we care for more than hair
L’Oréal fosters the unique savoir-faire of hairdressers by helping them to continuously improve their offering. The Salon E-motionTM programme was founded to do just that. Its goal is to develop the salon experience and offer customers much more than a haircut and colour, embodied in the motto “we care for more than hair”.
Since the programme launched in 2015, more than 24,000 salons have been revamped worldwide. Customers are guided through the visit, from beginning to end, enjoying well-being treatments (seated consultations, relaxation areas, etc.) and expert personalised hair assessments (like high-precision scalp diagnostics). As for the hairdressers, they benefit from digital tools to help them establish a diagnostic or help the customer preview the result of the treatment or hair colour they recommend.
To encourage customers to visit salons, L’Oréal has also developed augmented reality applications such as Style My Hair, which allow them to virtually try out different hair colours before their visit, as well as platforms like Salon Secret, for making appointments online.
Mathilde Parat, International Retail Innovation Director for the Professional Products Division, talks more about Salon E-motion™ :
Mathilde Parat
International Retail Innovation Director for the Professional Products Division
Complementary well-being experiences
While human contact remains at the heart of the hairdressing profession and, more broadly, a range of beauty professions, it can be optimised using digital tools and experiences to enhance salon visits and make them truly unique moments – so that customers can’t wait to come back!
This comprehensive ecosystem that combines online and in-salon experiences is a disruptive new paradigm. The far-reaching transformation has had a positive impact on the entire professional hairdressing industry. Now more than ever, L’Oréal is committed to serving beauty professionals and consumers.
Access platform: bringing hairdressers together to accelerate their businesses
In the United Kingdom, L’Oréal has launched the new Access platform. Its goal is to bring together a community of hairdressers by creating a space for sharing comments and recommendations related to the profession. Access also provides hairdressers with trainings available 24/7 via the e-academy, which compiles videos, tutorials and quizzes. It is a win-win situation for L’Oréal as well, since the hairdressers share their expertise online, adding to the platform themselves.
Over 12,000 hairdressers have subscribed to the Access platform in the UK
“What I love about Access is that it’s up-to-the minute trend-led education. For me, hairdressing is pure creativity and now it’s there at our fingertips. I use Access to see the leading experts in the industry and they are all there!”
Emma Fitzpatrick - Head Colourist, Rush Salon, United Kingdom
