Uber pools resources with beauty tech firm for on-demand beauty services
The service will initially be rolled out in London, Paris and Dubai, and the joint venture has already secured deals with 15 salons, including Headmasters in central London.
“Connection at the push of a button”
Uber’s surprise move into the hairdressing game is designed to allow time-poor women to summon a professional stylist to their homes on short notice.
Ali Rafi, co-founder of bgX said, “It is a win-win scenario for customers and salons. The consumer gets the convenience of a beauty treatment on demand in the privacy of their own home, hotel or office.
“The salon will gain access to thousands of potential new customers in their vicinity who may want to use their services, but may not have known about their offering. We are excited to partner with Uber to make that connection happen at the push of a button,” he explained.
Co-founder Paria Ghorashi added that today, "We expect delivery of all kinds of high quality services immediately and transparently via our mobile phones – whether it be food delivery, transport, or parcels – and beauty is no different."
Premium service
The service will solely use premium salons, to ensure a ‘high threshold for competence, quality and professionalism’.
Luxury French company Balmain Paris Hair Couture has already come on board as a strategic and educational partner for the service.
Available for iOS and Android, there will be a rating service similar to the Uber car app so that customers can rate their stylist out of five.
Tech-beauty marriage
The joint venture is the latest in a line of beauty-tech hook ups. Google recently picked out digital beauty devices as one of four key trends for the industry to watch, using data for the most popular search terms globally.
And the trend looks set to continue: a recent market study ‘The Future of Beauty’ found a rising demand for connectivity and digital solutions among consumers.
