The beauty and wellness industry continues to grow at a rapid pace in the capital due to its people’s desire to look and feel healthy. The fierce competition in the beauty sector, has on the other hand, led several brand names to strive for creating and their own personality, and present it in a way that would leave a strong yet positive impact on their target audience. This has resulted to an upsurge in various hairdressing and beauty trends.
One of the main challenges that are tiding through the beauty segment in New Delhi is the lack of quality salons and spas. Many businesses are introducing salons without any real knowledge of the current wellness space. Furthermore, there is no foundation of professional education in this field as there is internationally. Moreover, lack of qualified personnel is also a serious issue here. The use of low-quality skin and hair products leads to health hazards such as hair thinning, redness of scalp, and excessive dandruff. In some cases, it can also result in visible ageing. In more serious cases, cosmetics can also cause chronic diseases like allergies and even cancer.
As a solution to this, we have launched India’s first-ever hairdressing academy where we scout for staff and train them. I feel that the real challenge is not about being the biggest salon out there, but being the best. Consistency plays a crucial role here. Several salon chains across the capital as well as in India have various operational branches spread out, however the brand name only stays on top if the quality of services is uniform throughout. And this takes a lot of time and effort.
I feel people in the industry should consider focus on providing quality services to the customers. A check should be kept on the quality of products used to avoid any harmful implications.
We have our set of loyal customers but we also observe new walk-ins on a daily basis requesting for services that they have seen internationally and on the Internet. Therefore, it is our imperative to hire learned staff that understands personalised requests from the customers. As opposed to the beauty scenario five years ago, the opportunities we witness now are endless.
Sonali Bhambri
Director, Toni&Guy Salons, North India