advantage of the opportunity to help relieve people of
some of that stress. it also saw spas connecting more with
their local areas—an incredible 94 percent of spas in the
2011 iSPa u.S. Spa industry Study said they had done
something to help their community in the previous year,
such as donating products or services, holding ‘open
house’ events, or charitable giving. While this may not
directly grow revenues, community involvement can boost
a business’s profile and educate on the benefits of the spa
experience.
While inflation persisted at the time of the recession, the
average price of spa services fell. in part, this was due to
discounting and promotions offered by spas as a way of
incentivizing existing clients to spend more, as well as
attracting new customers. This aim comes through clearly
when looking at the data on the types of promotions
offered by spas at the time. almost two thirds of spas (64
percent) in the 2010 industry Study claimed to offer a
referral incentive program and 63 percent offered incen-
tives for first-time clients. Even though the average price
per service fell, many credit discounting for stimulating
demand and playing a part in the industry’s return to
profitability.
Like many industries, another big theme in improving
profitability was to exert greater control over labor costs—a
more brutal human aspect experienced by the industry
during the crisis. in 2010, more than half of spas (58 percent)
were estimated to have reduced either the number of hours
worked by employees, or the number of hours the spa
operated. in addition, exactly a third took the difficult
decision to reduce the number of employees. These
measures, while painful to take, gave spas greater flexibility
to ensure their labor requirements met the reduced demand
of the time, and allowed many to retain staff whose skills
PromotIonS ImPlemented In 2009
referrAl IncentIve
ProgrAm
64%
dIcoUntS or IncentIveS for
fIrSt-tIme clIentS
63%
cUStomer loYAltY
ProgrAm
60%
lASt-mInUte dIScoUntS offered
throUgh SocIAl medIA
54%
free gIft WIth
PUrchASe SPecIAlS
52%
SPecIAl offerS for locAl
memBerS of the commUnItY
51%
SPecIAl BonUS offerS I.e.
BUY one get one free
48%
gIft cArd
dIScoUntS
35%
free gIft cArd WIth PUrchASe
of A gIft cArd
29%
IntrodUced memBerShIP
ProgrAm
none of
the ABove
18%
4%
MAY
■
PULSE 2019
17