Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/753030
34 S C T / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 A s many a business owner will attest, the most successful commercial strategy may often be the simplest. Hair salon chain Great Clips seems to bee keep things as simple as possible with the 100 million haircuts it provides annually. And here, simply put, is how the chain does that: by offering moderately priced, good-value cuts at convenient locations. No appointments are needed or made, and the salons are open nights and weekends. Customers can check in from their smartphones or computers, securing their place in line before they arrive. The stylists access a digital database called Clip Notes to review technical information about a customer's previous visits and preferences, so customers get exactly what they want, every time — regardless of location or stylist. These technology developments are boosting sales. Since online check-in was implemented in 2011, the app has been downloaded some 5 million times; today roughly 30 percent of the haircuts at Great Clips begin with online check- in. Clip Notes was introduced two years later, and it, too, has been contributing Precision cut Great Clips leverages technology and good locations to serve its consumers better By Jennifer Tomshack to the company's 48 consecutive quarters of comparable-salon sales increases, according to Steve Hockett, the company's president. "Great Clips' front door is the smartphone, and it's in the pockets and purses of our customers," Hockett said. "That means it's also the front door of our shopping centers and co-tenants." Great Clips salons, which typically measure about 1,000 to 1,200 square feet, are among the higher-traffic businesses in shopping centers, often being second only to grocery stores. "Our salons post stable, growing customer counts, and they tend to bring in people who live and work close by in the neighborhood," Hockett said. Great Clips has a lot more actual front doors too: This year the world's largest salon brand opened its 4,000th salon. Steady, moderate growth in the U.S. and Canada is the company's goal, and the company aims to have 5,000 salons operating by 2021. Great Clips, which got its start in 1982 in Minneapolis and is now based in nearby Bloomington, locates salons "in any area that's convenient to anyone willing to pay for a haircut," according to Hockett. Surely, that is casting a wide net, and Hockett says the salons do well with every demographic. "Sometimes we say that we're actually a data brand that does haircuts," Hockett said. Great Clips began collecting customer data through point-of-sale systems in the 1990s. Once it had several years of numbers on individual cut cycles and patterns, the company began studying the data in the 2000s, building metrics and identifying trends. "The repeat customer is key to our business," he said. "Our tech innovations enable us to better understand our customer and how to keep them coming back." Crunching all those numbers, ironically, creates service that is more personalized, not less. "Getting your hair cut is a very personal, hands-on service," Hockett said. Because it affects one's very appearance, the need for customer confidence is high. In the case of most mom-and-pop salons, customers are loyal to their stylist, who knows them personally, and can recall their haircut history and preferences from memory. But Great Clips wants its customers to be loyal to the brand rather than the stylist, since they see no particular stylist regularly — and may in fact go to other Great Clips salons when they travel or after a move. Clip Notes ensures that their unique customer profile follows them: the style or type of haircut, the amount taken off, the length of hair, the shape of sideburns and the like. Thus, the customer can avoid the hassle of having to explain such details, something he or she may not even possess the technical vocabulary to do easily. As any chain grows, consistency of product and service becomes paramount. Great Clips' ability to ensure satisfaction enables the customers to comfortably visit more and more of its increasing numbers of salons. n No more waiting in line at Great Clips. Technology allows customers to set appointments by smartphone S T O R E F R O N T S