Wholesale beauty retail giant SalonCentric has expanded its relationship with business development platform SalonInteractive in a partnership that will further support beauty businesses and solopreneurs, the companies have announced.
SalonCentric, a subsidiary of L'Oreal, has made a minority investment in the tech platform, with whom it previously had a commercial agreement.
SalonInteractive is an Application Programming Interface (API)-based platform, which enables applications to connect and communicate. Its main functions are:
- An auto-replenishment salon inventory management system;
- An e-commerce boutique in which business owners can conduct retail sales;
- Customer relationship management (CRM) software that facilitates client communications and marketing of new products and services; and
- Comprehensive data functions to help measure the success of business activities.
SalonInteractive will remain connected to its existing distributor partners, and has signed agreements with seven major salon management software companies — EnvisionNow, Inspire by STX, Meevo, Phorest Salon Software, Rosy Salon Software, Square, and Vish — while others are in discussions.
SalonCentric will provide comprehensive support to its stylists and salon owners who integrate the SalonInteractive platform into their beauty businesses.
The partnership "provides independent stylists, suite owners, and traditional salons with a variety of business solutions that help them run and grow their businesses,” says Bertrand Fontaine, president of SalonCentric North America.
"As SalonCentric’s ambition is to be the one-stop destination for products, education, and business support services, this partnership with SalonInteractive is an essential piece of this new ecosystem."
Jim Bower, president of SalonInteractive, says, "When we have both technology and the supply chain working together, everyone benefits — and the SalonCentric partnership is critical to our success.
"Salons want all the brands they carry to also be available in their online stores. We are working together to truly build the future of the salon industry.”