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Management mistakes that could be creating issues at your spa
Elizabeth Donat RetailIf you are managing a spa or medical spa, then you know that it is a position that requires many skill sets. You likely wear many hats, including go-to human resources person, scheduler, client dispute handler, event coordinator, interviewer, premise supervisor, bookkeeper and the boss' go-to person, just to name a few. However, it's crucial to recognize if you are making some mistakes that could be hurting your bottom line and your staff. Read my expert tips and see if you are making any of these common spa management blunders.
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Pulse check: Are you losing business because of a bad website?
Emma Fitzpatrick MarketingHow much time do you think you spend each day driving people to your website? Contemplate all the planning, writing, editing and posting you do for your email marketing, social media posts, search engine optimization/marketing, content marketing, and…you get the point. But for the average business, nearly 70 percent of shoppers leave the website because of a basic problem with your website’s design or functionality, found a new study from Corra. In order for your marketing efforts to pay off, you need to make sure your website isn’t getting in your way.
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Apple Pay, NFC services face competitors that could disrupt payment processing
Bill Becken RetailApple reached a milestone recently when it became the world’s first trillion-dollar company. It helped that, during its more than 40-year history, it has introduced some incredible innovations and products, most cannily directed at and designed for the end user. But a somewhat recent one, Apple Pay, also took aim at the retail and commercial markets, this time through mobile phone payments. There is no doubt mobile payments will continue to find more users in a retail context. But despite all the innovation in this area, smartphone payments, it seems, remain in their infancy.
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Specialty sodas are disrupting the beverage market
Bambi Majumdar Food & BeverageConsumer habits are changing. We are more health-conscious than we have ever been before. Clean eating, ethics-driven diets, and healthier beverages are replacing our meal choices of yesteryear. The beverage industry is undergoing some significant shifts, and those changes offer an interesting picture of future meals to come. One such exciting feature is the advent of specialty sodas. They came in quietly but are growing fast, so much so that experts are calling them the next big disruptors in the field.
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How to support your spa clients in the age of synthetic beauty
Elizabeth Donat RetailIf you follow fashion industry trends, you may have heard of two new models that have huge followings on social media and pose for beauty and luxury clothing brands alike: Shudu and Lil Miquela. These models are different because they are not actually made of skin and bones — they are completely digital. Virtual models are "just the beginning of the avatar revolution," according to Cameron-James Wilson, a 29-year-old photographer based in London and the creator of Shudu.
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McDonald’s flagship: An example of newly renovated space
Linchi Kwok Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementThe advance of technology has transformed the way restaurants and hotels operate their businesses. When almost everything, from reservations, productions, and service delivery, to the collection of payments, can be performed by machines, restaurants and hotels must also reconsider how they may better utilize the space for smooth operations. McDonald’s, for example, recently revealed a flagship store that looks like an Apple Store in Chicago, roughly two months after the company opened a brand-new, $250 million headquarters in an up-and-coming Windy City neighborhood known for its trendy restaurants.
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Negotiating commercial leases: Renewal term allowances
Dale Willerton and Jeff Grandfield RetailFor many commercial tenants, negotiating a good lease or lease renewal against an experienced agent or landlord can be a challenge. While an entrepreneur focuses on marketing and managing, savvy real estate agents and brokers are specialized salespeople. Their job is to sell tenants on leasing their location at the highest possible rental rate. Whether you are leasing a new location for the first time or negotiating a lease renewal for your business, here are two money-saving tips.
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Everything-as-a-service subscriptions are everywhere
Scott E. Rupp RetailIt seems everything is available "as-a-service" in our current age. We can subscribe to lighting, software, cars, offices and much more. As-a-service subscriptions are on the rise primarily because technology is now capable of supporting a variety services, solutions and the ability to perform tasks from a range of locales with few barriers, and because individuals and businesses want what they want when they want it. Additionally, such services are agile and require little more than a monthly fee and little commitment on the user’s behalf.
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Restaurants create social buzz, opportunity for hotel marketers
Bambi Majumdar Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementThe recent 2018 Global Digital Report from We Are Social and Hootsuite revealed that a million new social media users are "born" every day. This is an incredible opportunity for hotel marketers. The 2018 CMO Survey showed that companies are spending 12 percent of their marketing budgets on social media. This percentage will accelerate in the coming years. Before they allocate budgets, it is essential that hotel marketers understand what kind of social posts work for them. A generic plan will not work.
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Fast food trends shift as consumers seek healthy offerings
Bambi Majumdar Food & BeverageA Deloitte survey showed that over 75 percent of Americans self-reported having healthy eating habits. Eighty-three percent say traditional fast food is unhealthy. The history of American fast food is fascinating. It was a boon for double-income households when time to cook became sparse. But fast food chains have also been epitomized as the unhealthy food for decades. Now, American consumers want healthy fast food. No, it's not an oxymoron. It's happening.
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