A revamped digital experience at heritage beauty and skincare business Ella Baché has reportedly tripled online bookings for the chain’s franchisees.

Over the past 12 months, the skincare franchise has launched a new website, a revamped booking experience and an intuitive new mobile app to help bolster franchisee sales. The proactive approach has been successful so far, with the chain reporting an uptake in studio attendance and consumer retention.

Katherine Eleyce, Ella Baché communications and content manager said that new initiatives were developed with strong consultation for the franchisee network.

“Our initial goals were to streamline the customer experience as they move from digital to the in-salon experience and to streamline the day to day workflow of our salons,” Eleyce told Inside Franchise Business.

“We are focused on continuously improving the customer experience and are constantly implementing both back end and consumer facing initiatives in order to do so.”

The Ella Baché digital approach

Dealing with a rapidly digitising consumer climate is a challenge for a number of retail and service industries in 2019. As customers transition to solely online booking, quoting and service options, convenience becomes more important than ever, Eleyce said.

“Customers want to be able to move between the online experience and the in-salon experience seamlessly. They want to book their treatments easily, 24/7, with a few clicks from their mobile, we see this with restaurants, airlines, banks etc,” she said.

“In the eye of the consumer, the distinction between these two worlds is fading thanks to the advances of mobile devices, so it’s more important than ever that brands are meeting and exceeding customer expectations of digital and real-life experiences.”

Merging the Ella Baché in-store and online experiences has been no mean feat, however. A breadth of new technology and systems were introduced across the network, aimed at improving efficiency and down time for franchise partners.

New systems

As part of the new Ella Baché multi-channel strategy, the skincare franchise worked to automate the online system, integrating a ‘set and forget’ email marketing template for franchisees.

Additionally, the brand also introduced more powerful client data capturing platforms to save time, costs and resources.

“Salons have less manual administrative work to do, saving time and money on the items that should be automated, instead have more time to focus on delivering exceptional experiences to their customers,” Eleyce said.

While the Ella Baché digital revamp is still in its infancy, Eleyce revealed that franchisees are already reaping the rewards of proactive integration.

“The treatment bookings as a result have tripled YOY for the franchisees, especially with customers looking for availability within 24 hours,” she said.

“The monthly marketing assets we supply to our salons such as printed collateral, social media posts, eDM templates and shopping centre marketing assets also work to streamline their administrative marketing tasks so that they can focus on their customers.”

The future of digitisation

Moving forward, Eleyce believes content will be key. The chain is already developing a video series that highlights the latest trends in skincare, positioning franchisees as experts in their field.

“We are utilising our digital channels to highlight what’s new in-salon as well as sharing the knowledge, tips and tricks of our therapists across our digital channels in order to deliver constant content that educates and entertains our audiences.”

“As the digital world continues to evolve, so do the expectations of consumers, so we are working with our development team to further enhance and improve this experience.”