Record Revenues Indicate Plenty of Disposable Income in the Economy According to the latest data from the International SPA Association (ISPA), 2015 was a record-breaking year for the industry, with revenues increasing 5.0% from 2014’s $15.5 billion to $16.3 billion. The Day Spa Association reported during mid-2016 that total industry revenues had increased another 5.0%, which would be approximately $17.1 billion on an annual basis. The ISPA data also revealed that spa visits increased 2.1%, to a total of 179 million during 2015; there were 360 more spa locations; revenues per visit increased 2.9%; and spa owners served more customers with fewer part-time and contract employees.

Wellness Is a Big Global Business Globally, spas represented $99 billion of the $3.7 trillion global wellness industry during 2015. North American was third in total revenues, at $20.6 billion, with Europe first, at $27.5 billion, and Asia-Pacific second, at $21.4 billion. Other major categories in the global wellness industry during 2015 were beauty and anti-aging, $999 billion; healthy eating, nutrition and weight loss, $648 billion; wellness tourism, $563 billion; and fitness and mind-body, $542 billion. North America was the #1 wellness tourism destination, with $215.7 billion in total 2015 expenditures; followed by Europe, $193.4 billion; and Asia-Pacific, $11.2 billion.

Untapped Revenues in Retail Sales, Gift Cards and Loyalty Programs Research from Day Spa Association’s (DSA) 2016 Spa and Wellness Snapshot found that those spas selling at a 0–20% retail-to-service ratio only experienced a 3% increase in retail sales from 2014 to 2015. Those spas with more than a 20% retail-to-service ratio, however, realized a 14% increase in retail sales from 2014 to 2015. The DSA research also revealed that spas selling more than $150,000 per year in gift cards experienced a 2% to 7% increase in total sales from 2014 to 2015. In addition, 67% of spas did not offer membership and loyalty programs.

Medical Spas and Massage Therapy as Health Treatments The American Med Spa Association (AmSpa) reported during July 2016 that the US medical spa industry had a 20% increase in memberships and a 32% increase in Website traffic since December 2015. According to the American Massage Therapy Association, industry revenues totaled $12.1 billion during 2015 and from July 2015 to July 2016, approximately 43.8 to 57.6 million US adults had a massage at least once. Of those millions of massages, 50% were for medical or health reasons, such as pain management, soreness/stiffness/spasms, injury rehabilitation or overall wellness. Another 28% had a massage for relaxation/stress reduction.

Staying Current with the Trends Is Challenging, but Rewarding DAYSPA magazine asked a number of industry leaders about 2017 trends and Julie Panky, managing partner, JMPankey Partners, listed cryotherapy, Himalayan salt therapy and Ayurveda as the biggest service trends. Dawn Nooney, owner/esthetician in West Springfield MA, reported that a recent poll of her clients found they want reiki, nutritional counseling, non-invasive body contouring, Botox, lash extensions and brow services. Lisa Starr, business consultant and educator, Wynn Business, emphasized the importance of having a person on staff who “can post on social media, monitor and respond to reviews, update your Website and handle e-mail blasts.”

Advertising Strategies Data from The Media Audit shows a strong correlation between “potential spa users, women, age 25–54, and with $75,000+ annual household income” and early morning news. Suggest an after-work promotion targeting these women to relieve the stress of the day. Recommend that medical spas place ads on the sports page of your station’s Website with a “weekend-warrior” promotion, targeting middle-aged and older adults with solutions to alleviate pain and soreness associated with being and continuing to be active. Since spas consider “marketing for new clients” one of their biggest business challenges, show them how important it is to use television to build brand awareness coordinated with a proactive social media presence.

New Media Strategies Using LinkedIn aggressively, spas have the opportunity to reach businesses and corporations to offer an onsite massage for stressed executives and managers and work with the HR department to create a custom program/package as an employment benefit. Spas should consider a quarterly poll or survey of its customers via email to fine tune their services and products. Provide a digital coupon for each customer that participates. Contributing to the local communities’ wellbeing is an excellent branding strategy and source of social media content. Volunteer to provide massages at a local fire or police station, promote a veterans’ wives day, etc. Shoot photos and videos to post online.