Why do salon clients buy their products cheaper online?
Because the recommendation happens at the chair and the purchase happens on a phone, hours later, next to a price comparison.
You tell her what to use. She agrees and means it. Then she goes home, searches for the name of the product and buys it from whoever is cheapest. Nobody did anything wrong. The sale just had nowhere to land.
What is going on in the market
Inside Industry’s State of Professional Beauty report (H1 2026) forecasts that 36% of beauty sales in Australia and New Zealand will be online in 2026.
IBISWorld’s report on cosmetics wholesaling in Australia says value seeking shoppers have moved towards discount pharmacies and online stores, and that online retailers selling discounted parallel imports are eating into wholesaler margins.
The same report says wholesalers now stock salon style haircare for the mass market, designed to compete with products that used to be sold only through salons.
Inside Industry puts the average share of salon and clinic revenue from retail at around 6 to 7%. Top performing clinics reach 20% or more.
In the US, three in four beauty shoppers have recently used an AI assistant to research beauty products, and a quarter call it their main source (BCG/WWD, 2026, cited in Inside Industry’s 2027 Trend Report). She arrives at the chair already researched, and leaves able to buy anywhere.
So a salon’s recommendation is competing with a very large and very cheap shelf. The recommendation is still worth something. The question is whether the client can act on it before she forgets or finds a cheaper link.
Why discounting at the chair does not fix it
You will not out discount a national online retailer. Inside Industry says the same thing to salon owners: you can out diagnose them, not out price them. A prescriptive recommendation tied to the service result, with a reminder when the product runs low, is where the 6 to 7% starts to move.
Inside Industry’s 2027 Trend Report puts the professional channel’s edge simply: the client wants to hold her result at home, and the trained person who tells her which product, how often and for which skin is what the internet cannot copy. Their phrase for it is “continuity is the sale”.
What actually helps
Make buying easy straight after the appointment. The client should be able to buy the exact products you recommended from her phone, before she opens a search tab.
Close the price gap, not all of it. If your price is close to what she would find elsewhere, the convenience and the trust tip it your way. You set a limit you are happy with.
Remind her when the product runs low. Most clients do not reorder because they forget, not because they have decided to shop around.
How Selling Salons does this
Selling Salons is an app for Australian hair and beauty salons and skin clinics. After the appointment, your client gets a text with up to five products you recommended. She buys from a checkout that looks like your salon. We match prices against Australian online stores and you set the maximum discount. She can pick up from your salon for free, or have it delivered.
It is $49 a month after a free first month. No contract. Setup takes about 15 minutes.
Questions owners ask
If your shelves are fuller than your wages, have a look.
Sources
Inside Industry, The State of Professional Beauty, H1 2026 (Australia and New Zealand, June 2026). Online share is a forecast.
Inside Industry, The 2027 Professional Beauty and Aesthetic Industry Trend Report (Australia and New Zealand, November 2026). AI research figure is US data from BCG/WWD, 2026.
IBISWorld, Cosmetics and Toiletry Wholesaling in Australia and Hairdressing and Beauty Services in Australia (2025-26).