Instead preferring to focus on fitting in as much precious Netflix viewing time as possible within the limited hours of recreation earned after a laborious week of work, the last thing anyone wants to do with their days off is wait in line to get their hair cut.
For a truly lazy, the whole ten minute trip it takes to even reach a decent hairdresser seems barely worth it, especially when you already have plans to sit in your pajamas all day.
To align Australia’s access to beauty services with the modern ‘Uber generation’, startup Glamazon is allowing its users to connect with on-demand beauty services and salons through a mobile app.
Functioning similarly to on-demand car services such as Uber and GoCatch, Glamazon users are able to find freelance stylists and arrange for them to come to their location for a specific beauty service.
Cofounded by Lauren Silvers and Lisa Maree, Glamazon is available across Australia, currently offering nine different categories of services including hair, face, makeup, hair removal, massage, and nails.
Subcategories exist within each section, enabling the user to specify exactly what beauty service they’re after. Within ‘face’, for example, a user to able to pick between services for facials, brows and lashes.
After downloading the app, a user will register an account and then pick a beauty service they need. After this, the app then functions similar to the on-demand car services we’re used to; using a map interface, the user is presented with an indication of available beauticians nearby. The app will then send out a ping to any stylists in the area who are using the app.
“The first stylist to select a booking gets the job, otherwise the user can specifically select an artist themselves. The user then gets details about their portfolio of the stylist, as well as all the Uber-like details showing cost, and time to destination,” said Maree.
Although many stylists are based in metropolitan areas, Maree said Glamazon has also seen a notable amount servicing regional areas; Glamazon currently has over 300 stylists on its service.
Stylists can apply either through the app or the Glamazon’s website to get on board. Candidates then follow through a secure screening procedure, involving a criminal history check and a check of their quality of work, as well as submitting the expected portfolio and resume.
Taking a cut of each transaction, Glamazon sets the cost for each beauty service, the only pricing differential occurring between the tiers of service.
“There are two tiers of prices, GlamX who are experts, then GlamBlack who are elite level stylists, where you pay a little bit more for a veteran-type stylist,” said Maree.
“We did a lot of research in setting the prices to make sure that they appeal to the masses, while balancing this with supporting the stylists,” Silvers added.
Once a user is serviced, they’re able to rate their stylist and will soon be able to add them to a ‘favourites’ list. To ensure the startup’s stylists offer consistent quality, Glamazon holds a two-strike policy against them earning a rating of three stars or below, and will investigate low ratings.
Extending beyond the on-demand feature, Glamazon is gearing up to launch its secondary front as a a booking platform, whereby users can look up and book appointments across the app’s nine different beauty categories
”We have 500 partnered salons to be live very shortly, and we’re aiming to get on board 5,100 salons by the end of this year,” said Maree, adding that each partnered salon will be able to set their own price.
The convergence of the on-demand and booking features occurred after both Maree and Silvers, who previously founded their own beauty startups, merged together in August last year under Silvers’ Glamazon banner.
“I started Glamazon a couple of years ago as a salon booking app, and in August last year I connected with Lisa who’d launched GlamCrew, a freelance stylist app, where users were able to bring these stylists to their home, work, or hotel,” explained Silvers.
Maree developed GlamCrew’s platform last year after sensing an opportunity for an on-demand beauty model in Australia, following the success of on-demand beauty services in the US.
Silvers, who was looking for a “faster route” to onboard freelancers into the Glamazon platform, researched the Australian market and came across GlamCrew.
The merging of the two helps Glamazon compete in what is becoming an increasingly crowded space, where a number of services are trying to corner one aspect of the market.
Sydney app LUXit allows users to connect with an individual stylist for service within the hour or book ahead of time, while Melbourne’s Beauro allows consumers to find a booking at a salon last minute. Vaniday, yet another service, focuses on salon bookings.
Following re-development to accommodate both the on-demand and salon services, Silvers and Maree said Glamazon has had over 10,000 users register since launch.
Merging reaped other benefits for the business too, as the cofounders, who had each bootstrapped their individual startups, felt confident in approaching investors looking to raise capital. Reaching out to a VC in Melbourne, the startup was able to connect with investors to raise $500,000 in seed funding.
The funding will contribute towards marketing the business across Australia, as the cofounders hope to expand upon the current user base and increase the number of salon partnerships around the country.
Glamazon is also looking to add a feature allowing users to request an Uber driver to take them from their address to a partnered salon.
Image: Lisa Maree & Lauren Silvers. Source: Supplied.
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