Pamper now, pay later | Beauty pays for skin and beauty clinic

JUVENIL ESSENCE

Established in 2015, Juvenil Essence was founded by mother and daughter team, Estelle and Alex Kelly. With over 20 years combined nursing experience between them, Juvenil Essence offers a premium service specialising in cosmetic aesthetics. Both are qualified Registered Nurses – Estelle is an experienced medical and surgical nurse and Alex has experience in surgical and emergency nursing within an acute hospital setting. Estelle and Alex have a passion for cosmetic nursing and bring their knowledge and skills within their specialised fields to ensure best practice is provided to all of their clients.

CHALLENGE

In the beginning, Juvenil Essence started out by renting rooms and travelling around to various clinics and salons to operate out of, before deciding to build a council-approved home clinic. Ramping up on social media and posting before and after images of their work upped the ante for the business, with Juvenil Essence introducing new techniques of injecting. The business however did not attain the results it anticipated and identified that many clients need to plan and budget for such services. This was the lightbulb moment when Estelle and Alex realised it was time to offer an alternative payment option for clients to help with budgeting for premium treatments and large cosmetic aesthetic packages.

With price points ranging from $500 for core services and up to $3,000 for packages, Juvenil Essence required a financing option for its clients. Estelle and Alex were aware of an industry-specific buy now, pay later payment provider available for beauty salons and clinics and signed up to the program. However, the provider did not offer payment plans for all of the services Juvenil Essence offers therefore the business had to take on the debt and clients had to make instalment payments to Juvenil Essence directly. This lead to an overall negative experience with some clients not making payments on-time, or at all, and Estelle and Alex found themselves having to regularly chase late or missed payments from clients which was detrimental to the business.

STRATEGY

Going back to the drawing board, Estelle and Alex recalled a time when they were operating Juvenil Essence out of another beauty salon and remembered a clinician using Payright for cosmetic tattooing treatments, which cost between $500 – $750. After researching buy now pay later providers, Payright was the one that positively stood out over other services available in the market. In particular, for packages that include multiple treatments which can exceed $1,000, Payright provides a buy now, pay later flexible payment option that spreads costs over time with longer terms that vary from two months to 36 months.

For Juvenil Essence, Estelle and Alex knew that Payright would be the right solution to get clients over the line with premium treatments and large cosmetic aesthetic packages, in turn helping to bring in more revenue and improve cashflow for the business. Estelle said buy now, pay later resonated with consumers and was a popular choice of payment, particularly for higher priced purchases.

“Being able to offer buy now, pay later empowers our clients to get the best results possible because we can offer them the choice to pay in instalments, which can optimise treatments and clients can reach their desired outcomes while staying on top of their budget. Payright also allows us to create treatment plans for clients for the future which helps with repeat business,” Estelle explained.

Alex echoed Estelle’s comments and added, “Most clients feel really comfortable and reassured, and they pride themselves especially when they see great results. To be able to create a relaxed environment for clients where they can enjoy a luxurious experience without the money stress is important for us to maintain our reputation, especially in this business.”

OUTCOME

More and more clients are enquiring about Juvenil Essence services with flexible payment options and since Juvenil Essence integrated Payright, it has resulted in a significant increase in their client base to nearly 1,600. Estelle and Alex have observed clients increasingly opting to use Payright to pay for treatments costing from $500 to over $1,000 – currently on average, nearly 20 per cent of Juvenil Essence clients use Payright for services from this price point and upwards.

Estelle and Alex have seen the many benefits Payright offers and said that it has been a game-changer for the business on a number of levels. By having Payright available, there has been a boost in average sales, as there is more opportunity to offer higher-priced packages and getting clients over the line. Moreover, when Juvenil Essence first started offering Payright to clients, an increase in sales was noted almost immediately.

“Payright has given us a safety net – we know we will get paid and not have to chase clients for payment. Being able to receive payments in full directly from Payright has considerably improved our cashflow. This is extremely important for our operations as it helps to ensure we have quality products readily available to perform our treatments and continue our excellence in service,” said Alex.

Estelle continued, “We work in an expensive industry which requires a lot of training with new procedures – there are lots of different advanced techniques and new things coming out all the time and we need to keep current. Staying up to date with innovations and new technologies is crucial in our industry – and they cost money as well.”

Payright is well suited for Juvenil Essence as it makes services more affordable for their clients by spreading the cost over time with regular lower instalment payments, rather than a hit to the hip pocket with a large one-off payment. It also enables cross-selling and upselling which adds value to the client’s purchase while also bringing in much-needed revenue.

How easy it is was also a no-brainer – Estelle and Alex have found the application process very simple to complete on clients’ behalf and with the detailed and prompt pre-approval process, clients feel at ease knowing they have the finance to make the appointment and receive their treatment. Juvenil Essence clients have responded positively to the Payright offering and feedback has shown a high level of trust in the service.

Juvenil Essence clients are predominantly female, though their male customer base is growing. The most popular services that clients use Payright for include anti-wrinkle treatments, dermal fillers, particularly lips, and facial contouring. Today, Juvenil Essence operates its skin clinic on the Mornington Peninsula and the future is looking bright with the possibility of opening up in more locations.