New mobile beauty booking platform Vivify has secured £700k ahead of its market debut.
According to the company, demand for at-home and mobile beauty service searches online have increased almost 40% year-on-year, and could continue on this upward trajectory due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The site will allow UK consumers to book mobile treatments, such as nail services, hairdressers and barbers services, at convenient locations and times to suit them, rivalling pre-existing booking platforms including Blow, Ruuby and My Beauty Squad.
“When you currently search online for mobile hair or nails, or any other beauty and wellness treatment all you get is a confusing mass of individual Facebook pages and yell business listings,” said Kirstie Looms, Vivify’s co-founder and CMO.
“It can be an unnecessary, difficult process for anyone looking to find someone locally and easily book online, and unless a freelance beauty and wellness practitioner wants to invest thousands in advertising, it can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to be seen.”
Mick Tilley, the brand’s co-founder said: “At Vivify, we focus on two things: bringing new customers to our Vivify pros and making sure they come back.
“We take care of the advertising, promotion and payments, so our Vivify pros can focus on the things they do best, rather than worrying about the admin.
“We are currently in phase one of launch, recruiting beauty and wellness practitioners all over the UK, before launching to the consumer market later this summer.”
'Establish new habits'
Analysis:
By Becky Bargh
Senior News and Social Media Reporter
The coronavirus pandemic has and will continue to change how beauty consumers engage with beauty.
While consumers are establishing new habits, business owners are also rethinking how they engage with their customers, in order to deliver cosmetics products and services – such as mobile beauty treatments – in the ‘new normal’.
The reality is that people are spending more time at home, and may continue to do so, and with online shopping becoming increasingly popular, consumers might be more likely to opt to have services carried out in their homes.
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This is something beauty companies need to bear in mind and should think about as they branch out of the traditional realms of in-store services that have proved so popular in recent years.
Similarly, as layoffs loom across the UK, platforms such as Vivify, Blow and their rivals could provide a new avenue for beauty therapists to weather what Avon recently labelled the ‘pink-collar recession’.