Aveda, The Art and Science of Pure Flower and Plant Essences, today announced the launch of Salon A-Commerce, an innovative new business solution available exclusively to its global network of salons. The new offering is a turn-key online platform that enables salons to increase their profitability by selling products online without any of the time, investment or inventory management traditionally associated with an ecommerce  presence.

Salon A-Commerce will make it easy for Aveda’s salon partners to service guests both in salons and online and grow their business in the process. While the customer-facing interface is salon-branded, Aveda handles the back end fulfillment and related costs for all orders placed through the platform, including shipping and handling (using environmentally-friendly packaging materials as much as possible), promotional offers and samples, inventory, credit card processing fees, diversion control, and providing loyalty points through the Pure Privilege program. Participating salons earn a flat commission rate on all sales to participating salons, as well as robust back end reporting on all purchases.

Salon A-Commerce operates through a white label-style interface which allows salon owners to easily set up an e-commerce webpage that seamlessly integrates with their existing website. The platform, which is accessed via a custom vanity URL or through the salon’s homepage, comes with a full suite of customizable modules including:

- Artist pages with bios, images and shoppable “stylists’ favorites”
- Embedded how-to videos that are easily interchangeable based on a trend or a season
- An Instagram feed, curated based on a hashtag, which also enables customers to “Shop this Look”
- Dedicated sections for salon offers and event listings

In an initial test of the platform with five salons of varying sizes across the country, Salon A-Commerce proved its power to grow incremental sales. On average, test market salons reported:
• 49% increase in online sales over previous year
• 73% increase in the total number of items purchased over previous year
• 50% increase in total number of guests making a retail purchase over previous year
• 75% of purchasing guests had not purchased in the last year

“We saw our online sales double during our test of the Salon A-Commerce platform in our Upper West Side salon,” said Scott Buchanan, owner of New York City-based Scott J Salon, which has five locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. “And these were incremental sales; they had no effect on in-salon purchases. After seeing the sales lift, we have encouraged all of our stylists to help drive their guests to our website to make online purchases in between visits.”

Aveda Global General Manager Barbara De Laere said, “Aveda salon owners have a strong and keen focus for offerring their guests the best experiences in and out of the salon chair. It is our duty to give them modern, innovative business tools so they can continue to run successful salons in an effortless fashion; Salon A-Commerce helps to do just this.”

Barbara added, “This platform was consciously designed using consumer insights and refined in partnership with dozens of salon owners, which makes it a powerful and effective tool for driving sales and guest satisfaction. Ultimately, it will enable everyone within the Aveda network to better serve our guests by making it easier for them to purchase Aveda products where, how and when they want.”

Set-up of the Salon A-Commerce online sales platform can be completed in as little as four steps following registration and was created with ease-of-use in mind. Step-by-step set-up tools and how-to videos can be accessed through a self-guided learning portal. To better help salons share the new e-commerce functionality with guests, Aveda is providing its salon network with a full suite of marketing materials that will be updated quarterly, including online digital ads and in salon printables.

Salon A-Commerce is rolling out across the global Aveda network over the next two years, beginning this summer with Aveda Lifestyle and Concept salons across North America. The introduction of Salon A-Commerce aligns with the launch of the brand’s significant “Know What You’re Made Of” advertising campaign – two major initiatives building up to the brand’s 40th anniversary celebration in October of this year. The platform and campaign are part of a series of exciting new changes for the brand, all of which will positively impact Aveda salons, artists, guests and employees. Further brand news will be announced before the end of 2018.
www.aveda.com