Ezliving_Jim

Is the sunless market as big as the manufacturers claim?

In my opinion, it is not.

The sunless market is, maybe, 10% of the size of the whole tanning market. That's smaller than small.

How many sunless booths, all manufacturers combined, are installed in the US?

Of the estimated 25,000 tanning salons in the US, how many have a sunless booth? Of those salons with a sunless booth, what percentage of them are actually doing well with the catagory?

Of the individuals clients who have tried a sunless booth at least once, what percentage of them are regular sunless users (more than, say, 6 sessions total)?

Sunless proponents speak loudly. The real numbers, I believe, would tell a different story. The untold story.

Tanfaker

Jim:

While I can't give you specific numbers or answers to your questions, I can tell you what my perception of the market is and will be...Which may not be worth much, but here goes:

Walk down the aisle at any major big box store, WalMart, Target, etc., and check out the sunless products offered there. Over the last five years, they have increased steadily to include many, many more than what QT once had a corner on the market. ****, they WERE the market. Companies don't go out on a limb before producing and promoting a new product line without doing their research. If they didn't feel public interest was there, they wouldn't go for it. Even high end cosmetic companies are getting into the game, such as Clarin's, Clinique, Philosophy, etc. It's kind of an "everyone's doing it" attitude it seems.

As far as regular users or clients, really, it's kind of a lot for people to get a spray tan on a weekly basis at $25 a pop. It is for me, anyway~ I personally have tried to keep my pricing slightly lower than that, at $22 per session, and yes, I do have regular, weekly clients within that price range. My packages are even lower. I'm not about not charging for the service, don't get me wrong, but I decided early on that I wanted to make this service as accessible as possible to the average person and still make a decent living. My clients are mostly female, who also take part in pedicures, manicures, facials, massages, etc. But a pedicure lasts longer than 7-10 days, you know? It's all in perception of value, really. So competition wise, I'm very competitive, yet am still able to make decent money.

Also, like anything else, repeat business is key. I have worked very hard to establish a good reputation for quality goods and services regarding sunless. It's not unlike some UV tanning salons who don't change their bulbs on time or whatever...They will not see people return because someone else in town will give their business the attention it needs. Here, for instance, there's a place that does airbrush tanning, and while I don't know how much research they did before hopping on the bandwagon, it apparently couldn't have been much, as they are constantly doing poor work. No one is going to return and pay $30 to look ridiculous.

I realize I'm talking about airbrushing here, and not sunless booths, as you have specified in your post, but I think the sunless industry as a whole is definitely a larger part of the market than we all think. Again, check out the lotion section at the big box stores, the sunless products far outweigh the tanning lotions.

Thanks~

Jen
www.abtan.com
US Distributor for Vani-t Products

Neon Beach

Sunless has a market, no doubt, but from a salon owners stand-point, the profit from this is dropping faster than the rise in the cost of gas.

Not more than a year ago, you could command $40 per single session in a $36,000 US booth! Now? You are stilling paying upwards of $28,000 US for that same booth, and having to give it away for $15 a pop with the sudden emergence of "unlimited" sunless. Locally, the one and only Mystic is seldom heard of anymore, glad I didn't jump on the $50,000+ Canadian Mystic bandwagon.

Tanfaker

Neon, I agree completely. I really cannot believe how expensive these booths are...I know how much they were when they first came to market, too! I mean, I know they aren't cheap to produce, install, maintain, etc., but geez! I can't imagine trying to recoup my investment on one of those babies!

Jen
www.abtan.com
US Distributor of Vani-T Products

Neon Beach

I agree. If you have the right market, then go for it, but be careful how you determine what that market is. I get, estimated, 1 call a month asking about sunless, and I always ask them WHY??

Tanfaker

Well, if it's done correctly, it can make all the difference to some people.

Neon Beach

If done correctly? That is such a cop out! Everytime a promotion fails, it's you didn't do it correctly??

Here, the Mystic was someones $50,000 mistake!! There is no market for it!! simple as that!!

No one in the Arctic is making a killing on lawn spriklers in November, despite marketing. Hello????? McFly??

Tanfaker

I'm not trying to cop out. I wasn't referring specifically to the spray booths, I personally think the results from them are crap. I was speaking of other sunless applications, because you said you get one phone call a month asking for sunless, I thought that's what you meant...Not specific to the booth.

With the addition of hand held spray tanning systems, I agree the only market is for those who want to add it to their services and not worry about labor.

Neon Beach

Sorry. I didn't mean to suggest you were copping out.

Miss Vani-T

I can't comment on the US market however in Australia UV free is very swiftly taking over the UV tanning market. Sure, there will always be people who want to tan that way but over and over again we see tanning salons introducing UV free options and many, many beauty salons selling off their sunbeds in favour of implementing spray tanning . Insurance for UV tanning has gone through the roof here and many salons realise that the Australian consumer wants UV free . The market is HUGE, HUGE, HUGE!!!!!

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Miss Vani-T
Liquid Sun - Absolutely Flawless...Seriously Addictive![ This Message was edited by: Miss Vani-T on 2005-07-21 01:38 ]