Hair and beauty salons are still losing customers even though Singapore has reopened

In spite of the revival of tourism after the reopening of Singapore, local salon-related stores are facing the problem of losing customers who travel to Malaysia to enjoy the services or go abroad for fun.

By Cen Xiaohui, NowThat

Updated: 21 June 2022 08:28AM (SGT)

Since the pandemic, many stores in Singapore have been struggling to survive. From 2020 to present, nearly 80,000 local business entities have closed down. The salon-related industry, which is mainly served offline, has been hit even harder.

(PHOTO: FASHION SINA)

The government's new policy of opening up in April has provided business opportunities for salon-related stores. However, does restart mean higher performance?

Kristine, the owner of BeauDefine which is a popular beauty salon in Serangoon, said that the recovery of tourism after the opening has directly impacted the beauty industry.

Besides local beauty salons, some customers choose to spend their money in Malaysia or other countries, which has produced recent fluctuations in her store's performance.

She said, "After the reopening, many customers will choose to go to Malaysia for their beauty treatments.”

Her store does not need to sign packages and is based on single purchases, so many of her customers are from Malaysia.

Kristine was giving a spa treatment to a customer. (PHOTO: NOWTHAT NEWS/ LUO YEFENG)

She added that her store opened during the epidemic. Her old store closed at the height of the epidemic because of high rents and the new one was forced to be smaller.

However, since the old and new stores were not far from each other, the customer base remained virtually unchanged.

Kristine's customers have also seen a "wave of travel" since the border restrictions were lifted.

"Many customers are excited about traveling and have plans to travel abroad recently. This prevents them from patronage my store frequently. "

As someone who has been in the business for many years, she believes it has something to do with people's excitement and anticipation of opening up. People are eager to switch their lifestyles and meet their needs for leisure and entertainment.

"I think the loss of customers after these openings is temporary. It will return to normal when customers cool down." She said confidently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjQVFuG8Ot4

NOW THAT NEWS’ interview with her known that customer needs have also changed since the epidemic.

Many customers had skin problems with acne after the epidemic due to wearing masks for a long time. In response, she added relevant diverse deep cleansing programs to meet customers' new needs today.

Singapore merchants need to be aware of the external factors that cause customer turnover and are expected to take quick and proper action to find new strategies to transform or expand their business so that they can survive in the new environment.

Ms. Kristine admits that customers' demand for service has increased after the epidemic. “They expect new changes in the beauty industry."She said.

During this period when customers are declining, Kristine has no intention of stopping, but seeking a breakthrough moment.

Instead of rising prices, she plans to attract her customers with diverse programs, modern beauty equipment, new techniques.

Such a trend of innovation is not only strong in the beauty industry but also in the hairdressing industry.

Mr. Sean, the owner of Trendy3 hair studio which is a hair salon with a history of 16 years, considers the opening as an excellent opportunity to improve his business.

"Business has been flat since the epidemic. This made me want to find an operational strategy to elevate the store to a new level." Mr. Sean said.

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Sean was cutting hair for customers. (PHOTO: PROVIDED BY SEAN)

Mr. Sean is recently doing post-opening promotions to attract new customers. He has also recently opened the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu to promote the store in a more diversified way.

When NOW THAT NEWS asked about the store's prospects, he said the epidemic's arrival has made him more determined to continue focusing on technology and craftsmanship to serve customers with better techniques and affordable prices.

The reopening of Singapore is a reassurance for the local merchants. In a new node of the post-pandemic era, the salon industry's future is still full of expectations.