Gaining repeat customers for your salon business can feel as elusive as finding unicorns—even a fantastic service experience isn’t always enough to ensure they return. Fortunately, salon owners can turn happy clients into faithful repeat customers with a handy business strategy: the loyalty program.
A 2024 survey reports loyalty programs influence buying decisions for nearly eight in 10 US consumers. These programs are an effective, easy way to reward loyal clients, giving them all the more reason to set foot into your salon again (and again). Here’s what a salon loyalty program is, the benefits of creating one, and different types to consider.
What is a salon loyalty program?
A salon loyalty program is a marketing strategy salon and spa owners use to retain valuable clients by rewarding them with discounts and rewards. Loyalty program members can gain perks through specific actions like booking and attending services, buying products, completing referrals, leaving reviews, or following and interacting with the salon’s social media channels and email newsletter.
Benefits of creating a salon loyalty program
Building a well-crafted loyalty program is a win-win for you and your customers. Your salon gets repeat business and purchases, and your customers get discounts, freebies, and rewards.
Here are a few advantages of implementing a loyalty program in your salon:
Helps retain customers
When existing customers consider their next haircut, color appointment, manicure, massage, or eyebrow wax, you want to be the first business they think of. A salon loyalty program gives satisfied clients enticing reasons to return and often creates a platform for other proven retention strategies, like email marketing. Strong client retention builds up your overall brand loyalty—and a 5% increase in customer loyalty can increase profits by 25% up to 95%.
Works across channels
A loyalty program can expand beyond your salon. Even when customers aren’t receiving services in person, loyalty programs can build brand salience by encouraging clients to stay connected with you across platforms. For example, with a points system, customers could gain rewards by shopping for products, bundles, and merchandise on your website or by sharing referral codes online. Some loyalty programs can extend to social media and newsletters, incentivizing customers to sign up, share, or stay in touch.
Encourages referrals
Referrals and word-of-mouth marketing can have a massive impact on your business, with 86% of Gen Z consumers trusting reviews from family and friends over other forms of advertising. According to Gartner, value-enhancing service interactions, like a customer loyalty program, can increase the chance of positive word-of-mouth referrals and discussions to an impressive 97%.
Increases revenue
Loyalty programs, particularly points-based and tiered systems, equate money spent with rewards, making it valuable for members to book more services, buy more products, or select add-ons. These extras pay off: According to Deloitte, 70% of customers spend more money and time interacting with brands they have loyalty accounts with. According to McKinsey, when consumers sign up for a paid loyalty program, they are 62% more likely to spend more.
Types of salon loyalty programs
There’s more than one type of salon loyalty program out there, and each has its specific benefits and purpose. Here are some of the most common options and the situations they’re best for:
Punch card
A digital or physical punch card loyalty program is one of the simplest to execute. You give customers a card, and after every service, add one stamp or punch to it. After clients collect a set number of punches, they can exchange the card for a discounted or free service, product, or add-on. You can set your own parameters for what’s worthy of a stamp and the associated reward.
Physical punch cards are easy to hand out and validate, but customers can easily misplace them, and it’s hard to create differentiated systems. For example, is a full punch card worth a free eyebrow wax or facial? Does it depend on the service you got before? Digital punch cards allow clients easy access (using their email or phone number) and you can use them to create a more tiered system. But this will usually require you to set up associated software. Shopify users can easily integrate digital punch cards with App Store options like ShopHub or Appy.
Best for: Ease of use at salons that offer a few types of services.
Points
Points loyalty programs are one of the more widely used systems in salons and beauty brands—and they’re relatively easy to run. Usually, companies reward a point for every dollar spent, and customers can cash in points for rewards once they reach a certain number. You can also entice clients by offering other ways to rack up points beyond spending money, like asking them to sign up for your newsletter or write a review.
For example, haircare brand R+Co encourages customers to book appointments at local salons carrying R+Co products.
It built R+Co Rewards—which is free to sign up for—and gives customers points for a variety of actions:
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Supporting a local salon earns 100 points
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Following on TikTok and Pinterest grants 25 points
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Completed referral earns 1,000 points
Customers can redeem these points for products, coupons, and accessories.
Best for: Simple reward systems, offering clients various ways to earn tailored rewards.
Referral
People want to hear about good services from people they trust, making referral programs beneficial to all parties. Your salon gets new clients and validation of a job well done, your existing client gets rewarded for referring (whether with a discount or free service), and your new client has fulfilled a need. Referrals are great for salons interested in building an influencer program, as content creators often have many followers, which can lead to more customers.
Best for: Creating brand advocates, improving word-of-mouth marketing, getting new clients
Tiered
Tiered salon or spa loyalty programs make clients feel appreciated by recognizing their constant support of your business. There are usually two or more tiers, and the higher a customer sits within the program, the more they’ve spent or used your services.
For example, IGK Hair uses a unique mix of programs. It has a points-based system (every dollar spent earns one point), conducts product giveaways through its social platforms, and has a tiered approach.
Clients can work their way up through the three tiers depending on how much they spend:
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No Limit
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First Class for spending over $150
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Best Life for spending over $250
The higher the tier, the more points customers get for purchases and the more early access they have to new product drops and events.
Best for: Repeat visits, status, and incentivizing loyal customers.
Membership
A membership or subscription loyalty program gives customers discounts if they sign up for a recurring service. For salons, this could be a monthly manicure, spray tan, or waxing membership, a bi-monthly haircut service, or a subscription box full of products from your in-house line.
For example, beauty brand Chillhouse has an in-person salon that offers manicures, pedicures, massages, and facials, but it also sells merchandise online—from press-on nails to skin care tools. It created Club Chill, a monthly subscription with service discounts, to maintain a loyal client base. Its two membership options give customers access to member-only prices, product discounts, and exclusive in-store event invites.
Best for: Upselling, encouraging repeat clients and bookings.
Salon loyalty program FAQ
What are salon loyalty programs?
A salon loyalty program is a marketing tactic to gain repeat clients by rewarding them with discounts, free products or services, or exclusive benefits. These programs drive more revenue, retain existing clients, and bring in new customers. On the customer side, they make your clients feel appreciated and rewarded.
What is the most popular loyalty program?
A points-based loyalty program is one of the most popular options. Clients earn points after spending a certain number of dollars. These points can then turn into free services, gifts, or discounts. In the beauty industry, Ulta and Sephora offer extremely popular points loyalty programs, with a combined 78 million members signed up.
What are the different types of salon loyalty programs?
There are several salon loyalty programs, including points-based systems, referrals, tiered systems, birthday rewards, social media rewards, and punch cards. Each loyalty program type has unique perks, but they’re all made to retain clients and boost sales.
