Imagine this scenario: You’re the owner of a busy hair salon, and midway through the day, you realize you’re running low on the hair color you need for one of your most loyal clients.
Or maybe it’s a Saturday morning in your barbershop, and you’ve just emptied the last of the clipper oil. You’re fully booked for the rest of the day. As the stress rises and another customer arrives, you chastise yourself for missing the basics.
From hiring that talented new stylist and keeping your team trained on the latest products and techniques, there’s always so much to do when running a salon. It’s no surprise that things can slip through the cracks from time to time. But the truth is, if you’re not on top of your inventory, your business can’t thrive — no matter how talented you and your team are.
Let’s explore how you can consider implementing salon inventory strategies within your business, boost your profitability, cut waste, and avoid disappointing customers.
Why Salon Inventory Matters
Supplies are the foundation of the services you offer in your business, but managing inventory can be challenging. Overstocking certain products can burn up much-needed cash and waste products if they expire, while understocking can lead to disgruntled customers.
Ensuring you get this balance right is especially important for smaller businesses, which often have tighter budgets and prioritize efficiency. To find out more, I spoke to small business owner Dana Fiore, owner of the Hair House salon in New York.
Fiore shared that one of the biggest challenges she finds in running her business is inconsistency in the availability of essentials, including hair color, shampoos, conditioners, and treatments.
“When a specific shade or toner is out of stock, it can disrupt color services and force us to improvise with substitutions that may not always be a perfect match,” she says. “Everyday necessities, like disposable gloves, foils, and disinfectants, can also run short. And they’re critical to daily operations.”
Fiore added that if a regularly purchased item is out of stock, they may need to buy a higher-priced equivalent instead. Maintaining good retail stock can also be difficult because popular products, like leave-in treatments and styling sprays, often sell out quickly, and restocking delays can mean missed sales opportunities.
Core Strategies for Smarter Inventory
How can you stay on top of your stock inventory and make sure you have enough product at all times without over-ordering and wasting money? Here are a few strategies that can help:
Regular audits.
Make sure there’s someone within your team who’s responsible for conducting regular product audits of stock and reporting back to you on a weekly basis. This job should be factored into your salon or barbershop scheduling so they have dedicated time for audits, even when it’s busy.
You should also train your stylists or barbers to track their own product usage and flag shortages where necessary. For example, stylists may run low on heat protection spray and shampoo, while barbers rely on blades, pomades, and clipper oil. This teamwork will help you avoid unpleasant surprises, such as completely running out of any particular products.
Organization systems.
A successful salon is an organized salon. Make sure all of your stock is neatly stored in labeled bins and shelves. This will allow team members to find products quickly and easily during appointments. Plus, they can finish restocking and other tasks more efficiently.
You should also make digital lists instead of just relying on pen and paper. This can help you predict supply issues ahead of time and see trends in certain products.
Supplier relationships.
Your relationships with your stock suppliers are integral to running a smooth business. They can help you maintain timely deliveries and favorable terms.
For instance, Fiore told me that having a good relationship with suppliers often means she gets priority when stock is limited as well as advance notice of shortages and sometimes even alternative solutions.
“Clear communication allows us to plan ahead and make informed decisions rather than react in crisis mode,” Fiore says.
“In some instances, suppliers may have trade-in or buy-back options for unopened, unused products, as well,” she continues. “This helps us get stock that isn’t moving, like uncommon hair colors or low-demand retail items, off of our shelves, and we can swap them out for better sellers. Anything that’s just sitting around unused for a long period of time is like throwing money down the drain.”
Leveraging Technology
One of the easiest and most efficient ways to stay on top of stock inventory is by using affordable AI software with point-of-sale (POS) integration. This technology often comes with many handy features, such as alerting you when stock is low, automatically reordering popular products, and tracking your usage. Clever tech like this can help small businesses run smoothly without the overhead of extra staff.
Fiore says she uses software to manage all retail items as they’re scanned at checkout. “Most POS systems have an inventory tracker that lists how many of each item is in stock and how many are sold,” she says. “Plus, they often have an alert option for low stock or out-of-stock items.”
Fiore admits, however, that supply inventory is a little trickier to track digitally. “Our colorists, stylists, and assistants move quickly during the day, and because so many supplies are used, we can’t expect them to mark every item off as they go. Normally, for back-bar inventory, we have a designated day of the week where we make lists of low stock items and place orders as needed.”
Financial Impact, Risk, and Insurance
Aside from disappointing your customers, poor inventory can be very costly and lead to wasted money and stock. In a small business, every penny counts. By getting this right, you can help increase your profit and reduce your losses.
Don’t overlook the risk of damages caused by fire, theft, weather, or similar events that could wipe out all of your supplies. That’s why you should consider an up-to-date Business Owner’s Policy, which can help protect you against unexpected losses. While accidents may seem unlikely, an unexpected incident could be the difference between your business surviving or not.
The Path to Salon Success
With the right software and management, keeping on top of your inventory doesn’t have to be complicated. By getting this part of your business right, appointments with clients will run smoothly, they’ll leave happy, and your profits may slowly increase. No more wasted or expired stock or mid-morning panics when you realize you’re low on essentials.
If you’re aware that your current systems aren’t up to scratch, make time this week to review them and try implementing at least one new improvement.