GlamourSeat is Structuring the Unstructured Segment of Beauty Industry

 

GlamourSeat is Structuring the Unstructured Segment of Beauty Industry 

Avi Kapoor founder of Glamourseat shares his entrepreneurial journey where he talks about structuring an unstructured part of the beauty segment that no one pays heed to. He is helping small businesses to sustain the pandemic and grow stronger out of it.

The pandemic has been a draconian period for all businesses, but the beauty segment (salons, spas, wellness centers) is one of the major sectors to bear the brunt. On the one hand, the world witnessed the shutting down of small businesses; on the other, we were preparing for their resurgence. GlamourSeat is a platform that small and mid-level beauty salons, spas and wellness centres can use to sustain while the pandemic is over, says Avi Kapoor, Founder and CEO of GlamourSeat.

Why was GlamourSeat started?

We started GlamourSeat with the goal of helping local businesses and entrepreneurs grow. GlamourSeat offers digital tools to businesses (salons/spas/wellness centers) to help them tap into the potential of the web and reach customers at the very moment they're looking to discover a service, learn about a new service or book something. 

WHY GLAMOURSEAT IS IMPORTANT FOR SALONS, SPAS and WELLNESS CENTERS OF INDIA?

For any small business, success hinges on the ability to reach and connect with customers. Mid-sized salons, spas & wellness centers in India still rely on traditional methods for advertising their business. But in today's world small businesses must have digital tools to help them scale.

That's why GlamourSeat's vision is to empower millions of businesses in the beauty segment to grow and for us to become a go-to platform for anyone looking to discover & book ultimate beauty destinations at the time of their choosing.

Small business owners have a special dedication and passion for what they do, as well as a deep understanding for the economics of their business. We've seen what small business owners can accomplish when they combine those strengths with the power of digital tools. That's why we're more committed than ever to helping small businesses in the beauty service sector succeed. Because when they do, it creates a positive ripple effect that helps all of us.

How did the Inception of the idea happened?

GlamourSeat is a specifically designed tech product for local beauty businesses and connects them to the clients in their vicinity.   The inception of the idea for GlamourSeat dates back to February 2020, when we conducted market research around the concept. We were lucky enough to finish the market research just in time before the lockdown. After completing the survey, we found a huge potential in this small to mid-level beauty businesses segment. We conducted a market research in the Bangalore and Delhi region. 

GlamourSeat is helping beauty businesses by reducing their downtime by filling the unoccupied seats by making them discoverable and allowing them to accept bookings 24/7.

While talking to businesses, we understood many of these business owners & managers lacked tools to market their businesses. The primary way these people marketed was through offline flyer distribution and now through Instagram and Facebook.

In turn, we understood that many customers didn’t know about the salon that existed in their vicinity. Usually, people visit the same salons they have been going to for a long time.  Nonetheless, another fact is the movable population of the metropolitan cities that don’t prefer these services. Therefore, such a platform can help them find a salon, spa, and wellness centre in their current location and make an informed decision while booking an appointment.

90% of the Salons, Spas & Wellness centres usually operate at 40% to 50% of their capacity, which results in lower revenue for their business. In contrast, the salons have available real estate to grow 2x but do not have technology platforms to scale & reach targeted audiences.

How is the market response so far?

So, after we finished our market research, we spent time building our product till October 2020. It was in December that we launched our app for businesses. Our app was launched for customers in January 2021. So far, we have 50 salon partners and 500 customers (till the second lockdown happened in April).

We were constantly in touch with the salon owners for their feedback about the app and conducted customer surveys. GlamourSeat took its time optimising the app without missing out on any essential parameters. The parameters like fixtures, price menus, salon pictures, facilities available, seating, and availability were our significant concerns.

We are a bootstrapped venture that has managed its finances by itself. However, we are looking for seed investment by diluting some equity, but we are very proud that we are a bootstrapped venture to date without any debts. On the same lines, we are fervently looking for dynamic people to join our team at GlamourSeat. We have bigger aspirations, and we want to achieve them with ambitious people in our group.  

We have set long term milestones for GlamourSeat. We are going to make it a renowned brand, Pan India. Currently, we are operational in Bangalore and the next five years, we are going to work on plans to expand in 50 major cities. Intense market research, team, attitude, and optimism will positively cross all our milestones.

Founder of Yerite Services and GlamourSeat

Avi’s stronghold on his market research and his belief in the product will take him places. GlamourSeat is an apt example of innovation in a crisis that caters to the unstructured beauty segment, which; otherwise is neglected in the crowd.

Company Website: www.glamourseat.com

Email: info@glamourseat.com

App download link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glamourseatcustomer