Spa Executive June 2021

Here are five trends shaking up the spa industry:
1Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS platforms have entered the spa
world in full force. It’s becoming rare
to come across a luxury retreat or spa
within well-known hotels and resorts
that don’t have a platform in the cloud
to operationalize business efficiencies.
Spa owners, and directors are looking for
something that will centralize their CRM,
payment solutions, scheduling, booking
and reporting in one place. Furthermore,
there’s an appetite for software that has
a number of integrations primarily with
hotel reservation platforms like Opera or
payment gateways to make their lives
simpler.
Gone are the days of using multiple
paper diaries to track appointments,
guest names, and technician availability.
Much like you’re turning to this article
online vs. a printed copy in a delivered
newspaper, the old paper method in
life is becoming obsolete, let alone
businesses. Forward-thinking directors
and managers are shaping this change
and building a sustainable future for their
spas by implementing solutions that will
allow them to grow and check the boxes
mentioned above.
2
Business Intelligence (BI)
We’ve all heard this word before and
can often bucket it to just mean “fancy
reporting”. However, when I mention BI,
I’m talking about insight vs. data. All
spa directors, managers and owners will
always have access to their data. However,
the true advantage is having the means
to analyze it and help make intelligent
and informed business decisions. For
example, one may ask: Which one
of my spas is performing the best in
terms of number of couples treatments
booked? Granted, you can probably
tally up your appointment numbers and
run a comparison in Excel, but when
you manage multiple locations or are
comparing multiple variables, there’s a
dire need for business intelligence. The
basic reporting features and functionality
aren’t enough to truly realize how your
business can thrive during an unforeseen
situation (like the COVID-19 Pandemic).
You can find ways of optimizing spend,
technician utilization and more through
the use of business intelligence.
June 2021 Issue • p. 30