Who hasn’t experienced one of those moments? You know the kind – you want to go and get something done, but you’ve got no idea where. Find somewhere and risk it, or…well, that’s about it.
Introducing Honee, a new discovery, booking and engagement platform for wellness, beauty and fitness services that’s only available in Melbourne (for now!). Besides its obvious appeal to beauty-seeking customers, becoming a business member could catapult your salon to one of the most-visited in your area.
“I want to help beauty and wellness businesses grow and also make the customer experience more seamless,” says Matt Jones, CEO and Founder of Honee.
“These business owners in Melbourne don’t have an adequate way to show off their brands online. Each store is unique and so many of the thousands of owners we’ve met with in Melbourne need our help to show off what makes them special.”
Honee’s concept is simple. The platform is solely dedicated to making quality beauty and wellness experiences easier to find and book. Customers will find a description of the business, GPS coordinates, opening hours, a suite of photographs and a service and price list.
“Overwhelmingly consumers use search engines for information (despite many small businesses having a limited online presence), make a phone call to enquire about pricing and to book, and then arrive to either a good or bad experience,” explains Matt.
“Honee simplifies the process, ensuring customers can locate all the options in their desired area and transact with the best choice for them.”
Matt used his experience from previous roles at Zomato, Delivery Hero and Quandoo to mold Honee’s structures and processes on.
“I have seen first-hand how businesses like Urbanspoon changed consumer behaviour towards eating out, where Australians spend 8 percent of their disposable income on out of home dining,” he tells PB.
“Compare that to the beauty and wellness sector where Aussie households are spending up to 38 percent of their disposable income and we have a very exciting opportunity for Honee.”
The inspiration, however, came from something much more banal. Jones had just arrived back in Melbourne after two years abroad and needed to get his hair cut. Having no idea about local salons he Googled without luck but eventually found a top-notch subterranean salon. At the urging of the owner to create a way for customers to find his business, Matt created Honee.
“We’ve had such a positive response from beauty and wellness business owners,” says Matt. “We have over 4,000 businesses on board in Melbourne, spanning hair and nail salons, beauty, massage/day spas and fitness and training studios.”
While signing up these businesses, Matt discovered that 61 percent of them didn’t have an online presence, making their partnership with Honee even more essential than it originally was.
Besides providing visibility, Honee is also an excellent way to show off your salon’s achievements, whether that’s its years-long history, a heavily booked schedule or testimonials from happy customers.
“Differentiation seems hard in small business until you meet with them,” says Matt. “Many of them have customers that have been visiting them for a decade, several of our clients are booked out for at least a month, but they don’t get visibility for this fact online.”
Matt’s assured us here at PB that in 2017 Honee will be launching in Sydney, not to mention Bali and South East Asia within the next two years.
What’s fantastic about the beauty industry is the owners I deal with on a day to day basis are passionate, qualified, artistic and obsessed with making people feel good. It’s a great industry to be in and it needs support from a tech perspective, which is what my team and I can deliver.
Click here to check out Honee
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