It's really hard to crack the code on customization, so when a company does it well, really well, with a secret sauce? That’s when you have to take a close look at what and how they’ve done it. Most direct to consumer brands claim to be tech-enabled. But are limited to e-commerce. And eSalon really has a true technology component from the way they’ve developed to hardware to consumer experience. They are taking on the next wave in ecommerce to scale their business. Graham Jones, the COO of this company who creates custom-made hair colors in customized packaging, joins Karen Moon on location at Shoptalk, in Las Vegas.
In this episode:
What inspired the idea of eSalon to solve a big gap in market, and how Graham joined about 4 years after it was founded
Existing between boxed hair color and salon experience
Salon results via an at-home solution
Get results personalized delivered to your home in 2-3 days
How the company is more of a tech play
Looking at whether the customer reordered that same shade again. And learn from analysis of what shades get enough reorders
PriceGrabber and aggregating many prices and offers from retailers
Seeing eSalon in 150 stores now, aiming for 600 stores
Operations are key to the success
How personalization impacts other aspects of business
How it is an average of 6 weeks before reordering, more often for older customers
It all comes down to the cost of acquisition
Customer touchpoint
Reorder rates and a d-to-c feedback loop tell a lot and result in change
Can move faster than regular brands
A very accessible price point, but how it is twice as much for a custom color than boxed color, but some are trading down with the same approximate color
Learning how to work with many types of people as a businesses scale
Building a culture of collaboration
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