Coronavirus pandemic powers luxury on-demand beauty business spike
'Right now, people are putting no price on the service'
Beauty is priceless in the age of the coronavirus pandemic.
On-demand services that specialize in hair, makeup, nails and grooming services at a premium rate have seen unprecedented demand with consumers still hesitant about booking appointments at public hair and nail salons with COVID-19 cases spiking across the country.
New York City-based MySpa2Go, is a luxury on-demand beauty service that lets guests book private manicures, pedicures, waxing, massages and a number of other treatments straight from their home or office.
It has had an influx of clients willing to shell out $125 for an on-demand manicure-pedicure summon its mobile salon in wealthy summer enclaves such Nantucket, Massachusetts and the Hamptons in Long Island, New York. (To compare, the average manicure-pedicure at a salon costs around $30).
All MySpa2Go employees are equipped with masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment to safeguard against the spread of the virus during beauty services. And guests have been booking socially-distanced group treatments to exceed the company's $95 minimum.
“We have customers telling us they’ll literally pay anything. It’d be great to take that offer, but it’s not how we work. Right now, people are putting no price on the service,” founder Lori Traub told FOX Business.
The service has gotten so much traction with calls from people in places like Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta that Traub is considering franchising the business, explaining profits have at least doubled this summer compared with a year earlier.
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We have customers telling us they’ll literally pay anything.
Similar on-demand grooming services have also seen a boost. Shortcut, a men’s barber service that charges $50 on average per cut, operates in 25 cities like New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Boston and has seen 600 percent growth this year between February and May.
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The company allows clients to book barbers for a trim at home and has added more than 1,100 new clients since it was able to reopen for business in May.