Clients Bring Their Favorite Nail Polishes with Them to the Salon, Says Kline

Kline & Company industry manager for consumer products Nancy Mills recently wrote a blog posted titled “Out of the Mouths of Nail Technicians,” which looks at client behavior when it comes to nail salon visits as described by salon owners.

Mills writes, “At least 30% of women visiting nail salons bring in their own polish, according to Kline’s preliminary research conducted in New York/New Jersey area nail salons in preparation for Kline’s new report, Nail Technician Insights. There are three main reasons for this: polish touch-ups at home save time and money, the customers often like their color better than what the salon carries, and some women have hygiene concerns about the same brush and product being used on other women’s nails.”

She also notes that, “Some other trends spotted include UV lights at every manicure station, special smaller chairs for the increasing amount of mother/daughter nail salon outings, and sparkly effects on nails. All of these trends point to opportunities for nail polish marketers.”

Discussing client behavior with salon owners, Mills found “there is a clear difference between demographic groups as to colors preferred, nail art used (in terms of percent of women using nail art, as well as the number of fingers to be painted), and brands of choice. In addition, nail salon owners rarely order supplies online for the first purchase, but often do use the Internet for follow-up purchases. They rarely see sales reps in salons and prefer to go to the distributors to see the products (especially colors) in person before purchasing for the first time.”

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