Many Salons are embarrassed by a broken online shop connected to their websites which they cannot access to update pricing, product images and descriptions or even run basic promotions. They have been deserted by the web designer, often after being charged high fees. Salon Websites with broken shops negatively impact the salon brand and reduce its earning potential.
These are typically online shops poorly constructed as part of bigger website development, by developers who are not specialists in online salon shops and are trying to build from scratch a capability that is offered free on rival platforms. Salon owners that cannot update or access their online shops miss opportunities to drive revenue by offering discounts and sales and seasonal gift sets at critical times in the year see our blog How to Make More Money for Your Salon By Increasing retail sales
What can you do about a broken online shop? The answer is to change it for another more effective solution. No Salon should have to put up with poor-quality work and if this has been your experience then the information contained in this blog will help you.
Can You fix it? Yes, We can!
Unfortunately, all these issues are very familiar to us at Solution Solutions and we encounter them frequently. We are no longer surprised at how badly the Salon Industry has been served by some web developers who at best do not understand the requirements of the salon industry and at worst have taken advantage of the lack of technical expertise and skills of their customers. However, the good news is that It is easy and relatively inexpensive to fix.
In most cases, the shop was built by a web design agency that was identified either through a Google search or perhaps as a referral by someone and is not a specialist in building Salon websites and online shops. These are typically small businesses that build websites for a variety of different companies operating in different industries, all with very different needs. Each design agency will favour a particular template and technology, usually “WordPress”, which they will use to build websites and online shops. The problem is that you should not use the same technology for your online shop as you do your website, and here is why.
They will build your online shop from scratch using the design components available to them. This is time-consuming, expensive and not necessary because there are numerous “online shop” platforms that will offer more capabilities, far cheaper than they will ever be able to design and build from scratch.
So why don’t they offer these solutions?
Because they do not know or care about the alternatives preferring to stay in their comfort zone doing what they have always done. They are not motivated to learn about other platforms and solutions that can be configured quickly and already have all the key functionality you could want because they can earn more money building your Salon’s shop from scratch!
For a modest monthly charge, online shop platforms, once properly configured will enable you to fully manage your shop from your phone. These technologies have been years in the making and offer robust “always on” easy-to-use service, with automatic security and upgrades, no more going back to your web designer because some "plug-in” needs to be updated.
Some of the capabilities you will be able to do yourself without ever needing to ask, or pay for again:
How do I swap out my salon's broken shop for a new one?
Find a web design company that is a specialist in creating Websites and Online shops for Salons. They understand the industry and what you need your shop to look like and the capabilities it needs to deliver. Importantly they already have all the brand images, descriptions and prices for the ranges you stock which means they can usually deliver your shop pre-filled, with minimal effort from you. Ensure they are going to build your online shop using one of the leading online shop platforms.
Once they have built your shop it will be hosted on the provider platform where they will maintain and support it. The web link to access it is then customised for your salon business, usually the same name as your existing website e.g shop."the-name-of-your-salon".com This disguises the fact the shop is being hosted elsewhere. Finally, your website support will replace or swap out the old shop link with the link to your new shop.
When your clients go to your website and select your salon shop they will be seamlessly taken to your new shop. That's it! The whole process from start to finish should not take more than 2 days.
The Design and build of your Salon's online shop is an investment in time and money that you do not want to repeat. For this reason, you need to select a provider who is a specialist in online shops for the salons that can provide a solution that will adapt to your business as it grows delivering new functionality as it becomes available in the future. An online shop is crucial to a salon's success and will generate for you incremental revenue at a higher profit. You don’t have to put up with an online shop that lets you and your business down. So Swap it out for something better today! Check out our comprehensive blog “The Best Online Shops For Salons” and find out how to pick the right designer to build your new online shop.
Upgrading and replacing a broken shop is within the parameters of the local Authority's online voucher scheme. Remember the government will pay up to 50% of the cost find out more in our blog "Free money - A Salons Guide to the Trading Online Voucher scheme"
