Hair salon technology has officially entered a new frontier with the announcement of a new partnership between Google and Shortcuts this week. The excitement was palpable when a team of 12 hairdressers and industry representatives was invited to celebrate the milestone with a visit to Google HQ in Sydney. Attendees learned about the latest industry trends from Google, which are set to change the way hairdressers attract new clients forever.

Over the past 20 years, Google has single-handedly transformed the way the world communicates. Having a thorough understanding of various business sectors is essential to their strategy, which is why they recently reached out to Shortcuts to discuss the growth potential of the hair and beauty industry. As Australia’s largest provider of hair, beauty and spa software, Shortcuts was able to provide Google with unique insights into the intricacies of our vertical market.

Google and Shortcuts have now been collaborating for several months to help salons build their online presence using tools such as Google Adwords and search engine optimisation techniques. This week, Google announced that Shortcuts is now an official Google Partner. To put it lightly, this is a big deal for all of us.

This partnership is designed to facilitate industry growth by connecting potential clients with salon, spa and barber businesses all over the world. Google is an essential driver of traffic to salons, with 76% of people who conduct a local search on their smartphone visiting a business within 24 hours.

During the partnership announcement Jo Burgess, Co-Founder and VP of Evolution at Shortcuts, provided a glimpse into what the salon of the future will look like. She described a cashless salon with no reception area, where technology is an almost invisible, yet absolutely essential part of a successful business.

“The key to seamless technology is to use it to provide a flawless guest experience and create business efficiencies,” she said. “It is also important that salons focus on growing their business by attracting new customers online and adapting fluidly to consumer trends.”

Google presented statistics that highlight the importance of mobile technology, including the fact that Australians spend an average of three hours a day on their mobile phones. The idea that we “live on” our phones is becoming increasingly true – we touch our phones 150 times a day, and 60% of all Google searches are from a mobile device.

More than 30 million people per quarter are searching for hair and beauty-related information on Google. On average, 430,000 users are looking for hairdressers or hair salons. Every quarter, the term ‘haircut near me’ is used 30,000 times, ‘barber’ and ‘barber shop’ combined are searched 300,000 times, ‘spa’ 85,000 times and ‘beauty’ 25,000 times. It’s validating to know consumers are trying to find you online!

Our industry is experiencing unprecedented growth, with Google revealing that hair salon and styling queries are up 23% compared with last year. With this increase in searches comes a 42% increase in clicks from search results and a 12% increase in clicks from Google Ads. The beauty industry and clinic market have shown similar trends. This ultimately means more consumers are using Google to find information relevant to hair and beauty.

So, how can salons apply all of this information to their business? Shortcuts is working closely with business owners to help them understand the many opportunities that are available to them through Google, including Google My Business, Google Adwords and search engine optimisation.

In partnership with Google, Shortcuts is also set to launch Reserve with Google for its customers in Australia in the coming months. These technologies are set to revolutionise salons, spas and barbers alike in the 21^st century.

With these two global technology brands as a driving force behind digital innovation in our industry, salons will be better informed about the digital world, consumer habits and trends that directly affect us all. And to think, it’s all in the palm of your hand.

To find out more visit www.shortcuts.com.au/google

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