Sun-Less?

How do you think your business would do if you owned a pizza restaurant but only served cheese pizza? Sounds crazy right? Well, that is the equivalent of not offering sunless tanning in your salon. It reminds us of the fireworks salesman in the movie Joe Dirt. “I see you’ve got snakes and sparklers, but where’s the good stuff man?” Our thoughts exactly Joe.

Cheese pizza, snakes, sparklers, and yes of course UV tanning are all amazing things, but only offering specific services cut your customer base significantly.  Here is a shocking statistic for you. Did you know that 65% of tanning salons do not provide Spray Tanning? Sad but true. That is a TON of business left on the table. How could that help your business in a recession?

This brings us to our second point. The cheese has been moved.

If you are unfamiliar with the sales book Who Moved My Cheese, we suggest you grab a copy. The gist of the book is to stay fluid in business and change and adapt to things like your customers’ wants and needs. While there was a considerable increase in tanners post lockdowns, the habits of tanners did change during that time. Many people were forced to start performing services for themselves at home.

Items such as home hair color, and DIY nail kits spiked in sales and popularity, as did at-home sunless tanning. Many nail technicians have reported a drop in the number of clients they have coming in for services, while new brands like Nail Boo by Paris Hilton are booming. Sunless retail products are also on the rise, and thanks to influencers, more and more people are trying them than ever before.

So how do you use this information to increase your business? You guessed it, SUNLESS. We’re not saying you should do away with your UV beds, quite the contrary. Sunless can be a fantastic bridge to gain new tanners. Especially in the younger population who tend to have many misconceptions about the benefits of UV.

Our point is, go all in. Offer every kind of tan imaginable because not everyone likes snakes and sparklers.