Who owns the customer?

Long story short, the marketplace does.

Ask yourself the following question: “Are loyal clients important?”

If the answer is yes, we have some news: marketplaces do not like clients being loyal to a specific salon.

Why?

The marketplace exists and survives by advertising other salons to your once faithful clients. These spaces were created having one goal in mind: optimize commissions and maximize earnings.

Deal hunter clients

“There are many customers on marketplaces…”

Yes, but not always the ones you wish for. Think about food delivery or car services, where people look for what's cheap and quick. The same applies here.

The marketplace becomes a deal hunters' paradise. With never-ending options, savvy shoppers look for the best deals or discounts available without being interested in who provides them. After taking advantage of the initial promotion, they rarely return.

“But a customer is a customer…”

Yes…and no. Motivated only by cost, while your business is featured on listings, you'll have to keep lowering your prices to maintain their interest. Your offer gets in direct competition with lower-cost alternatives regardless of quality, making differentiation almost impossible.

Profitability

On top of that, some marketplaces charge a “one-time fee” that “only” applies to the first booking. As a result, you'll never receive your full payment. They'll constantly promote other salons in search of that fee.

Commission costs

Cutting into your profits, most platforms charge commissions, transaction fees, and listing fees with paid visibility options.

Marketplaces use algorithms that prioritize earning commissions for the platform. As a result, they are incentivised to direct clients to different salons each time, maximising that commission.

Customer communication

Many marketplaces don't share customer data, which limits your ability to control the experience and messaging. This makes it hard to build authentic relationships or upsell your services, a problem you won't face if you use a non-marketplace salon online booking system that allows direct communication with your customers.

Unreliability

Being a space owned by someone else, you have no control over the rules, changes, fee increases, or algorithm updates. As a small business, your visibility and profitability could be impacted while larger vendors are favoured.

Branding

Imposing rigid templates for listings and using reviews as the only distinction makes it almost impossible for your vision and skills to stand out. That's why our all in one salon software offers free website building for salons and customization.

How TimeTailor is different

Instead of promoting the image of a salon marketplace, we focus on helping you create loyal customers based on merit.

This means your own website, your own google business listing, and your own salon booking software. All promoting YOUR own brand!