2023
Beauty and Wellness
Trends

Square Appointments takes a look at beauty and wellness trends from before and after the pandemic to see how consumer and merchant behavior has changed.

The solo stylist glow up

Between 2020 and 2022 there was an increase in sole proprietors in the beauty and wellness space that earned over $250K in annual revenue, the equivalent of businesses with multiple employees. The most successful entrepreneurs were barbers, nail stylists, spa owners, skin aestheticians, and practitioners at med spas, given that growth within these professions grew five percent since 2019. Nine percent of businesses that started in 2020 as a sole proprietorship on Square Appointments actually grew into a business with multiple employees by the end of 2022.

579

Average number of days for a sole proprietor to add their first employee to their payroll

5.5x

Approximate increase in annual revenue for businesses that grew to multiple staff compared to those that remained sole-proprietors

“It’s inspiring to see more and more beauty professionals build something of their own and to see how Square Appointments empowers their entrepreneurial journeys.”

— Willem Ave, GM, Square Appointments

Wellness is the new beauty

There was a 54% increase in wellness centers using Square from 2020 to 2022, compared to before the pandemic. Below are the largest and smallest cities in the US where wellness centers grew the most the 3 years following the pandemic.

Large cities with the greatest increase in wellness centers

San Antonio, TX grew 72%

Houston, TX grew 64%

St. Louis, MO grew 65%

Seattle, WA grew 63%

Small cities with the greatest increase in wellness centers

Augusta, GA grew 89%

Fort Wayne, IN grew 83%

Akron, OH grew 82%

Most popular wellness services

Wellness services have taken off in popularity, especially after the pandemic, as consumers invest more in self care and mental and physical wellness. Crystal healing massage services were the only service types to double their booking rates in 2021, only to return back to their pre-pandemic levels by 2022.

13x

Increase in float therapy bookings from 2019 to 2020

80%

Increase in sound bath bookings from 2021 to 2022

$522

Average cost for radiofrequency treatments, which was the most expensive wellness service, offered from 2019 to 2022

Med spas are on the rise

There was a 70% increase in med spas using Square from 2020 to 2022, compared to before the pandemic. Below are the largest and smallest cities in the US where med spas grew the most the 3 years following the pandemic.

Large cities with the greatest increase in med spa businesses

Virginia Beach, VA grew 86%

Orlando, FL grew 82%

Baltimore, MD grew 80%

Indianapolis, IN grew 84%

Small cities with more than 10 med spa businesses

Jackson, MI grew 93%

Madison, WI grew 90%

Springfield, MO grew 84%

Post-pandemic booking behavior

Before the pandemic, from 2018 to 2019, clients would book their salon, barber, med spa, and spa appointments on average seven days in advance, and 20% of clients booked within 24 hours of their appointments. Booking behavior has changed since the pandemic. In 2022, clients prefer to book their beauty and wellness appointments more in advance, compared to before. Clients also want to book appointments when it’s most convenient for them.

9

The average number of days clients book in advance in 2022

17%

Of clients book within 24 h of their appointment in 2022

46%

Of clients book outside the 9-to-5 working hour window, which stayed the same before and after 2020

Diverse income streams

The pandemic forced beauty and wellness businesses to embrace new income streams and to adopt omnichannel selling to drive incremental revenue.

11%

Of businesses that only sold products in-store in their first year with Square Appointments now also sell online

33%

Of businesses that only sold services in their first year on Square Appointments, started to sell products by the end of 2022

4

The percentage point increase from 2020 to 2022 of retail businesses using Square Appointments to sell services

Some trends from the pandemic that just didn’t stick, and one that did.

DIY kits

The number of businesses that sell DIY kits grew from 0.6% to 2.5% from 2020 to 2021, then dropped again to 0.9% in 2022

Branded products

30% of businesses sold their own homemade and branded products in 2020, which dropped to 11% by 2022

Loyalty programs

Beauty businesses that used Square Loyalty increased 38% from 2020 to 2021, and increased another 30% from 2021 to 2022

Gender-neutral services

Businesses across the U.S. are going gender neutral. Since 2020 there has been a 9% increase in gender-neutral services offered on Square Appointments.

Cities with the most salons that offer gender-neutral pricing

1 Modesto, CA

2 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA

3 Rochester, NY

4 Eugene, OR

5 Brownsville-Harlingen, TX

This is just the beginning.

Download the trend report ->

Methodology:
All data presented are unaudited and subject to adjustment.

The 2023 Beauty and Wellness Trends report analyzed transactions, services, and booking behaviors across beauty businesses using Square Appointments primarily from January 2019 to December 2022. All monetary metrics are displayed in USD.

2023 Beauty and Wellness Trends