Build a Beauty and Salon Booking App Like UrbanClap, Booksy & StyleSeat

The salon and beauty sector is growing rapidly and has become vital to the population. You’ve likely noticed the increasing number of salons offering beauty services across the country, accompanied by a growing number of patrons. To stand out from the competition and make their services unique, salons are now beginning to invest in beauty and salon app development.

Home and beauty apps have become a necessity in everyone’s daily life. Whether it’s scheduling appointments at salons and beauty shops or contacting professionals for home-based services, these applications are essential today.

Beauty salon app development like UrbanClap and Booksy, makes it possible for users to complete household tasks without having to leave home. These apps have become some of the most widely used tools, from keeping homes tidy to scheduling salon appointments and booking home beauty professionals.

The Canadian Beauty & Personal Care market is expected to generate CAD 12.90bn in revenue by 2025, with a projected annual growth rate of 2.31% (CAGR 2025-2030). Creating a salon app can revolutionize how beauty salons operate, offering a seamless experience for both clients and employees. This technology not only enhances customer convenience but also boosts business efficiency, positioning salons at the forefront of a rapidly evolving market.

Therefore, without further delay, let’s dive into the process of beauty and salon app development.

What is a Beauty Salon App?

A beauty and salon app is an application that allows users to access beauty salon services, schedule appointments, as well as easily make payments, all from the comfort of their home. These apps have gained popularity recently, providing clients with a wide range of services that are accessible 24/7. Additionally, they help businesses attract customers and maintain their reputation in the competitive marketplace.

Salon app development provides a reliable foundation by streamlining workflows. This enables businesses to focus on what’s most important, whether interacting with customers, managing staff, or engaging in outreach. There are many options available when it comes to beauty service apps. 

With the right development plan, you can enhance the app with various features. Given the increasing demand from customers, now is the perfect time to partner with a reputable development company to create a mobile app for beauty salons and capitalize on the potential profits.

Business Model of Salon Booking Mobile Apps

Creating a beauty and salon app may not be the hardest part of the process. The real challenge lies in conceptualizing and deciding on the finer details of the app. The business model also plays a very important role in the success of your appointment-booking mobile app. So, what are the most effective ways to market a mobile booking app for salons? Let’s find out.

Personal Branded Salon Booking App

If you own a salon business and wish to expand, this is a great option for you. Design your own appointment booking mobile app specifically for your salon. Through the beauty and salon app, you can showcase your customized treatments, packages, special offers, and more.

This is an excellent choice for customers to access the services you offer. It’s ideal for those who are already part of an existing salon chain or are planning to open one. Personal branding can make a significant impact when done right, helping customers connect with your brand.

Aggregator Beauty Services Business Model

Let’s assume you don’t own a brick-and-mortar salon but want to invest in the beauty and wellness industry. This business model can be a lucrative option for you. Known as an aggregator model, you build a marketplace beauty appointment app that connects salon owners with their clients. The mobile app offers tailored features for each type of user based on their profile.

Booksy is an example of an app based on the appointment-booking aggregator business model. The great thing about this model is that it doesn’t require you to build or lease a salon space. All you need is to create your own wellness and beauty service booking app, and you’re ready to go!

Advantages Of Beauty And Salon Booking App Development 

Over the past decade, various business industries have experienced remarkable growth due to technological investments. The salon industry is no exception, having also enjoyed immense success with on-demand salon apps and design solutions. Let’s explore how salon app development can be beneficial.

Extends Customer Reach

Salons are highly competitive, and attracting new clients while retaining existing ones isn’t easy. To stand out from the crowd, having a beauty and salon booking app like UrbanClap is an excellent way to do so. A strong presence on app marketplaces can draw clients in to make appointments. This can help you achieve your financial targets more quickly and increase your profit margins.

Centralized Management

Operating a beauty salon involves managing a lot of documents to track clients, appointments, payments, and other important details. This can be a time-consuming task with many challenges. On the other hand, a mobile app allows you to manage everything remotely, regardless of time or location. You can also monitor everything happening in your salon, which keeps customers satisfied and boosts profits.

Allows Social Media Promotion

Social media is an effective way to connect with prospective clients. With millions of active accounts on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, it’s essential to be visible to the public. Your beauty and salon app like Booksy can easily integrate with social media platforms, which allows you to promote your products/services efficiently.

Provides Real-Time Communication

Effective and prompt communication helps build strong relationships with clients. Salon apps enable clients to contact you more efficiently. They can very easily access details about your products and services, including discounts, special offers, available time slots, and more. With 24/7 availability, you can provide quick responses to any inquiries, improving customer satisfaction.

Loyalty Rewards to Gain Trust

One of the easiest ways to encourage more salon appointments is by offering an incentive program. Customers love rewards, which helps ensure repeat appointments. With a beauty and salon app, you can implement this marketing strategy to increase visibility. Offer special discounts to loyal customers, encouraging them to return and further solidifying their trust in your business.

Builds Brand Identity

With an on-demand salon app, your salon business can grow faster than you expect. Your salon’s logo will be seen by users multiple times a day, making it crucial to have an appealing and distinctive logo that instantly grabs attention. This will help establish your salon’s brand identity.

Key Features To Include Your Beauty and Salon App

A well-designed beauty and salon booking application should include a variety of key features to provide a smooth user experience for both clients and salon staff.

Appointment Booking and Scheduling

This feature allows clients to browse available services, select stylists, and book appointments with just a few clicks. Flexible scheduling options, including automatic reminders, rescheduling, and automated notifications, help reduce no-shows and keep the salon’s appointment schedule well-organized.

User Profiles and Client Management

Customers can create profiles to track their booking history, preferred services, and stylists. Salon staff, having access to client data, can offer a more personalized experience, which helps build customer loyalty.

Smart Service Search & Sorting Options

If you’re developing a beauty service mobile app with multiple service providers, it’s a good idea to include a feature that helps users find the best service providers. The smart sorting feature allows users to find services that best meet their needs.

In-App Payment and Billing

Integrated payment options enable customers to make payments directly through the beauty and salon app like StyleSeat, offering a convenient and secure transaction experience. This feature may also include options for tipping, memberships, and support for multiple payment methods, helping to reduce wait times at salons.

Push Notifications and Reminders

Appointment reminders, promotions, and customized offers keep customers engaged and reduce the likelihood of missed appointments. Notifications also inform clients of upcoming events and exclusive deals.

Calendar Integration

The intelligent, user-friendly calendar integration lets users select the time and date for their appointments. It also shows available time slots for the service provider, making it easy for clients to choose an optimal appointment time.

Loyalty Programs and Rewards

Rewarding repeat customers with points, discounts, or special deals can increase retention and boost engagement levels. Clients can track their loyalty rewards within the app, encouraging them to return for future visits.

Gift Cards

The beauty and self-care are essential aspects of our lives, and they make wonderful gifts for loved ones. Offering gift cards is a great way for users to share a self-care experience with those they care about.

Reviews & Ratings

After visiting a salon, clients can leave reviews about the quality of service and post evaluations on the salon’s page. These reviews as well as ratings are displayed on the salon’s profile, allowing other customers to consider them when deciding when to visit next.

Analytics and Reporting

Customer behavior data, popular services, and revenue trends help salon managers make informed decisions. Analytics can identify areas for improvement, guiding actions that can lead to increased sales growth.

Marketing Tools

Marketing tools are incredibly useful for beauty and wellness services. By using these tools, salons can enhance their company profiles and present their services more attractively. Additionally, they can promote their profile to frequently appear in customers’ personalized suggestions.

Advanced Features To Have In Your Salon Booking App

Naturally, no one wants to create beauty and salon app that users don’t want to download. If you’re planning to develop an app like Glamsquad, Styleseat, or Booksy, it’s essential to be aware of the most advanced features and latest trends.

Take a look at these amazing features that will allow you to run your salon’s operations smoothly and efficiently:

AI-Powered Recommendations

What if you could anticipate the needs of your users and present them with exactly what they want? With AI technology integrated into your app, you can. Recommendation engines can understand customers’ preferences based on their frequent use of services, products, search history, and more. These features help display relevant options at the right moment, offering the right products to the right customers.

Augmented Reality (AR)

You may be wondering what role augmented reality (AR) can play in salon apps. AR is beneficial for customers who want to explore new hairstyles, nail colors, tattoos, makeup, and more. They can virtually try out different looks, much like how AR works in eCommerce. It allows customers to experience a virtual trial of their desired appearance before booking an appointment.

Smart Appointment Scheduling

During salon app development services, adding intelligent appointment scheduling is a must. This feature makes it easy for clients to find available time slots and book appointments with their preferred professionals. Users can also reschedule, change, or cancel their appointments at any time, offering more flexibility.

Offline Mode

It can be frustrating when you lose internet connectivity while browsing salon services. However, this doesn’t mean users can’t access the app. Offering offline mode ensures that users can still interact with your app even when they’re not connected to the internet. Location-based apps like Google Maps and Uber use this feature, and it’s a great way to prevent interruptions in the user experience.

Multi-Platform Integration

The term “cross-platform,” or multi-platform, ensures that your app functions on various devices such as PCs, laptops, and other operating systems. This broadens your reach, while also helps you attract more users, increasing the number of people who can download and use your app.

Live Streaming and Tutorials

Live streaming allows your clients to learn more about your services and offerings in real-time. This feature can positively impact your business by allowing you to showcase your most popular services and products. You can even involve your stylists and technicians, boosting brand engagement. The more eyes you attract, the more successful your sales will be.

Multi-Language Support

To become a recognized brand, it’s crucial to serve a global audience. Your beauty and salon app should be compatible with multiple languages, enabling you to cater to clients in the language they’re most comfortable with. This improves customer satisfaction while also helps increase customer retention and attract new clients.

Steps To Create a Beauty & Salon App

How do you create a beauty and salon app? Here’s a step-by-step guide for developing a salon booking application.

Define The Concept and Target Audience

The first step in creating an app like UrbanClap, is defining the concept and target audience. This covers determining the purpose of the app and deciding what specific services you want to offer. With a crystal clear understanding of your target audience’s needs and preferences, you can easily tailor your app to meet their requirements.

For example, if you want to build an app for home services like UrbanClap, the idea would be to create a platform where clients can find and book experts for services such as electrical work, plumbing, or cleaning.

To identify your target audience, first research their preferences, demographics, and pain points. This will help you design the app’s features and user experience to ensure a seamless and satisfying experience for your users.

Conduct Market Research

A thorough market analysis should be the next step in creating an app like UrbanClap. Conducting market research is also important to understand your users’ needs, your target market, and the competitive landscape. With this knowledge, you can make better decisions, identify opportunities, and create an app that meets the demands of your target audience.

Market research is very important as it provides valuable insights that guide the development process and increase the chances of a successful launch. By analyzing market trends or preferences, you can validate your business idea, understand how users engage with similar apps, and make informed choices. Understanding your target market and competitors allows you to differentiate your app and design features that offer a unique advantage.

Choose The App Features

When you start developing your beauty and salon app like Booksy, selecting the right features is the first step. This involves identifying the key elements that will drive the development of your app and meet the needs of your audience. By choosing the right features, you can enhance the user experience, differentiate your app, and increase its value for both users and service providers.

The most important step in creating an app like UrbanClap is deciding on the right features. Focus on elements that align with your app’s concept and address the demands of your target audience. By selecting the appropriate features, you can improve user experience, stand out from competitors, and add value for both users and service providers.

App Designing

Many experts agree that UX/UI design plays a vital and invaluable role in the success of your salon app. The goal should be to make your application visually appealing and user-friendly. It’s important to test your concepts through multiple levels of wireframes, which will help guide the decision-making process.

It’s not just about making the app visually pleasing; it’s also about driving user engagement and increasing satisfaction. In this case, developing MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) is not required but can certainly be beneficial.

Develop The App

After you’ve compiled the blueprint for your app, including all of the design and features, it is now time to build the application. At this point, the functional and design specifications become codes, and features that make the app work are included. This includes back-end, front-end and integration with third-party services and ensures a great experience for users throughout the application.

Front-end developers utilize the coding language of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to Build a Beauty and Salon Booking App Like UrbanClap. Following the design concepts and principles, they design user interfaces, navigation and interactions with users.

Back-end developers create server-side functions, such as user security, service provider authentication, service request handling, and payment processing. They also manage database administration.

Test, Launch, and Improve The App

The next thing to do is test the application. Before releasing the app to the marketplace, test it with a limited number of customers to ensure you get the best results. As you develop your app, it is possible to add essential features that allow the user to sign up and log in, browse for services, or book. However, once your app is launched in the marketplace, you may want to add more advanced features to help it stand out from competitors.

What Is The Cost Of Building Beauty And Salon Booking App?

If we consider the availability of salons and beauty services over the last three or five years, users’ behavior has changed. Nowadays, consumers seek an efficient solution or a service by booking appointments at establishments with the aid of the app used by salons that offer a variety of beauty services. Due to the drastic change in the behavior of users this has led to the development of beauty and salon apps on the move within the industry of beauty.

Numerous beauty companies are increasingly adopting apps to help them grow their businesses. No matter what size you run, your company having an app is a great way to affect the growth of your business. All important tasks, including managing clients with multiple accounts, managing beauticians, scheduling appointments as well as keeping track of employee profiles, is achievable by using an application.

The beauty industry has embraced the public’s preference for mobile devices and primarily focuses on designing apps for mobile phones to be used by spas and beauty salons. One of the main concerns is the cost of developing a booking app.

There’s no exact amount we can provide about the development cost. On average, prices range between CAD 45,000 and CAD 400,000. When discussing the price of a salon appointment application, several factors should be taken into account. This is because the cost depends on various aspects, such as:

• Mobile app designing
• Mobile app complexity
• Primary purpose
• Advanced feature
• Environment of technology (Android, IOS, or both)
• Experience and skills of the developer

When you are building an application you must take into consideration the above factors so that you’re ready to start building your application. In addition, hiring a salon app development company team comprising testers, programmers, designers, or developers, can also affect the total price of the app.  It will all depend on the country where you are based and their hourly rates, so costs can vary. Moreover, the choice of application platforms can increase project development costs.

In Conclusion

The wellness and beauty industry is expanding at an incredible rate. This is the perfect time to start your own health and beauty appointment-booking mobile application, similar to Booksy. Your company can benefit from the lack of competition in the market and continue growing. People are always looking to expand their possibilities. Therefore, this is an ideal time to explore your options.

Salon and beauty apps are among the trendiest applications set to dominate the on-demand app market, as they address modern beauty needs. It is essential to understand how creating a Salon app can bring more benefits to your Salon business. Through thorough market research, the addition of key elements, and appropriate marketing, you could create the app that will be next in line to become a market leader.