The very basis of spas and salons is ‘contact’, and with distancing becoming a norm amidst the ongoing virus outbreak, the personal care services industry has been confronted with unforeseen situations.
Vaasara has released its 2020 observations of approximately 30,000 beauty services users in UAE. Some observations, like those related to contactless payments were expected, some related to massages were astonishing. The new normal meant wearing masks, which resulted in eye make-up gaining unprecedented importance. Vaasara observed a sudden spike by 2,000 percent in eye related products and procedures. As incomes became restricted and customers paid more attention to getting maximum value onthe services booked, leading to an increase in appointments booked at providers with a better discount. The package offers also spiked in the second & third quarter especially within the women segment by 600 percent. Customers preferred clubbing many services at one appointment, to avoid multiple visits to the salon and benefitted from better discounts.
Additionally, hair treatments Keratin and Botox also saw a spike post COVID-19 by 400 percent. As the pandemic pushed salons and spas to close their doors to the customers for over a month, there was a surge in demand for men’s grooming. This high impact lasting form of semi permanent treatment and makeup gained momentum between July to August 2020.Taking a look at consumer behavior while using the Vaasara Mobile App, online payments increased to 96 percent from only 18 percent since 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the online payments since the ‘book an appointment’ was mandated.
While the pandemic shook the world, Vaasara took an extra measure to extend support to all its B2B partners by launching ‘#MySalonIsSafe’ campaign. More than 200 salons were marked ‘safe’ by Mid-April. A staggering 95 percent of the appointments post lockdown were booked at salons marked safe on the app, making ‘safe salon’ experience the most common experience sought after. On an average more than 70 percent bookings came from repeat customers in 2020 as compared to only 32 percent in 2019.Additionally, customers also benefited from the offers and discounts on the app saw huge savings, the highest being a whopping sum of AED9,000.“While there is no denying that the Covid-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges, Vaasara embarked on a successful journey post lockdown.
Data remained at the core of our business during these times of adversity. It was imperative to understand how our customers and merchants respond to the global crisis. Based on our data insights, surveys and constant communication, Vaasara launched new features and value-added services to cater to the rapid shifts in customer behavior and buying patterns, says Glenda Vaz, Chief Data Scientist at Vaasara.
“Our goal remains to outperform the market and deliver the best service to our consumers and our merchants.” The increasing booking volume also led to the 4,000 percent growth in Vasaara’s GMV as compared to 2019. Vaasara recorded the highest number of bookings in the third quarter of 2020.
