Here are six inventory strategies that make a material difference to salons, spas, and medical spas — with key insights from R. Sankara Narayanan, manager of product management at Zenoti.
Ready to take stock? Let’s dive in.
1. End-to-end traceability of retail and consumables
Nobody likes throwing money in the trash, but that’s exactly what happens when products expire on the shelf. Worse yet is the nightmare scenario of a product recall where you can’t trace which client purchased each product.
Zenoti now supports granular tracking for batches.
Track not only retail inventory but also batch-managed consumables (backbar items) used during services. Each batch-managed product can be traced back to the exact service or sale and all the way down to the customer invoice.
From backbar to invoice: Know exactly what was used
With Zenoti inventory management, you can keep track of two types of products:
RETAIL ITEMS sold directly to customers (like shampoos or medical-grade skincare serums they buy to take home)
SERVICE PRODUCTS used during treatments (like the hair dye for a color service, the serum applied during a facial, or the specific vial of neurotoxin for an injection appointment)
For products used during services, you can even track each specific batch. As an example, if you use a particular bottle or tube during someone’s appointment, you can later look up:
– Which exact product batch was used
– Which customer received it
– On which date
– Their specific invoice
If there’s ever a problem with a product batch (like a recall or allergic reaction), you can quickly identify which customers were affected.
2. Product expiration alerts
Set up automatic notifications for your inventory manager when products are about to expire. You choose how much in advance you want the notification (30 days, 60 days, and so on). Your team can then use products before they go bad, throw away less, and stay prepared for any compliance inspections.
With an end-of-January rollout planned, this feature is especially valuable to medspas requiring higher levels of compliance and traceability.
Going beyond compliance, this feature helps you stay proactive. You can easily identify stock that is nearing expiration and run a promotion to move it before it becomes a loss.
3. Average ticket boosts with service-aware retail prompts
Your front desk team is busy. Expecting them to remember the perfect product pairing for every single service is a tall order. Zenoti takes the guesswork out of the equation right at the point of sale.
The system uses service-aware intelligence to prompt your staff during checkout. If a client just had a color service, the POS screen automatically suggests the relevant color-safe shampoo or conditioner to sell. This subtle, smart nudge helps your staff make recommendations with confidence, increasing your average ticket size without feeling pushy.
4. Capture of pre-visit retail intent through webstore service + product bundles
Why wait until the client is in the chair to add value? You can capture retail interest before they even walk through your door.
The Zenoti webstore supports “bundles,” allowing you to group services and products together online. A guest might book a Summer Glow package that includes a facial and a specific sunscreen. When that guest arrives for their appointment, your front desk is alerted that they’ve already expressed interest (and intent!) in that retail product. The conversation shifts from a cold pitch to a warm fulfillment of their needs.
5. Terminology to match internal nomenclature
Every business has its own internal dictionary. Maybe you refer to consumables as backbar items or service products, or perhaps you have regional terms your staff are used to.
Zenoti allows you to customize inventory terminology to match your internal nomenclature. If your team in London calls it one thing and your team in New York calls it another, the system can reflect that. Using regional references reduces confusion during training and onboarding, making the software feel like it was built specifically for your operations.
6. Real-time visibility and automated controls across locations
If you manage multiple locations, you know the pain of disjointed data. You shouldn’t have to call three different managers to find out where the last of the expensive serum went.
Zenoti provides real-time visibility across all your locations. You get a single, accurate view of inventory levels, allowing you to transfer stock between stores efficiently. Goodbye, over-ordering. Automated controls help prevent shrinkage and ensure that what the system says you have matches what is actually on the shelf.
Ready to turn inventory from a headache into a profit center?
Explore the power of the Zenoti platform for inventory management – see how smart tracking can drive real growth.
