Pulse preview
Imust admit, I am not a retailer’ s favorite shopper. I am, by every definition, a discount-hunter. I scour stores for bargains, painstakingly search multiple travel websites for the cheapest flights and can“ sniff” a markdown sale like a police-trained Labrador retriever. And yes, I am not alone. In the spa industry for instance, discount-seeking consumers abound. In fact, according to the recently released Spa Consumer Snapshot Initiative( Vol. 2), 38 percent of spa-goers said they only go to a spa for a treatment if a discount is offered. More than half of the respondents claimed they
“ This may not be the data would travel more than 30 the spa industry wants to miles to a spa for a discount. hear, but the reality is, with
This may not be the data less discretionary income, the spa industry wants to consumers are becoming hear, but the reality is, with more savvy and proactive less discretionary income, consumers are becoming more when it comes to their savvy and proactive when it purchase-decisions.” comes to their purchasedecisions. Faced with this fact, there’ s more work cut out for spa owners and professionals when it comes to“ convincing” spa-goers to part with their hard-earned money for an hour of Swedish massage or a bottle of facial serum.
This“ Retail and Profit” issue of Pulse hopes to shed light on how to conquer the uphill retail battle and effectively sell to today’ s price-sensitive consumers. Features like“ Never Sell Anything Again”( page 40) by Professional Development Session( PDS) speaker Barry Moltz and“ Reimagining the Spa Retail Space”( page 42) takes a new look at old ways, whether it is the traditional concept of selling or the old design concepts of the retail space. PDS speakers Stephen Gomez and Charles Compton tackle the basics like front desk training( page 34) and retail inventory( page 46).
Of course, with discounting such a hot topic in the spa industry today, we can’ t run this issue without tackling the pros and cons of discounting( page 26). And since there’ s more to be said about this topic beyond this issue’ s pages, we invite you to weigh in: how are you meeting your customers’ need for value for their money?
Follow us on Twitter! @ ISPADoYou
WANT TO HAVE A CONVERSATION? Send me your thoughts at mae. manacap-johnson @ ispastaff. com.
Browse ISPA’ s Special Advertising Supplement( pages 49-56) to find product ideas for your retail area, plus get retail tips and tidbits.
PHOTO © TIFFANY BROWN
— MAE MAÑACAP-JOHNSON, EDITOR
8 PULSE ■ August 2012