Insight Salon Software and Gloss Genius are both salon management software solutions designed to streamline and simplify the day-to-day operations of salon businesses.
Insight Salon Software offers a comprehensive suite of tools to manage salon bookings, client profiles, staff scheduling, and payment processing. It also allows salon owners to measure and track performance metrics to gain insights into their business operations.
Gloss Genius is a point-of-sale software specializing in product inventory, service sales, and client loyalty. It focuses on creating an easy-to-use POS system, helping businesses increase sales, increase customer engagement, and simplify salon management. Both platforms offer features such as reporting, automated marketing, and integration with third-party apps.
What should I look for in a salon software platform?
1. Easy-to-use Interface: Look for a platform that offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface, making it easy for salon staff to navigate and use.2. Booking & Scheduling: Make sure the platform you choose provides an efficient booking and scheduling system. It should allow customers to conveniently book appointments and salon staff to manage their calendars.
3. Client Profiles: Good salon software should allow you to keep track of customer information, including contact details, appointment history, and loyalty points.
4. Payment Processing: The software should provide secure and reliable payment processing services for customers
5. Reporting & Insights: Choose a platform that offers detailed reports and insights into your business performance, such as sales data, staff performance, and customer retention
6. Integrations: Many salon software platforms have integrations with third-party apps and services, such as accounting and payment processing, to reduce administrative time and costs.
Bookings
Appointment booking is essential for successful salons, and Insight Salon and Gloss Genius offer a variety of features to make it easy. These include cancellations and waiting lists, multi-appointment booking, instant confirmation emails and texts, long-term scheduling, detailed display options, pre-booking, real-time online booking, a client portal to book/cancel appointments, view purchase history, and update contact info, no-show protection, and credit card capture.
Insight Salon supports express booking that requires only four clicks from start to finish, while Gloss Genius allows for 8 steps - booking wizard.
Service Features
Gloss Genius permits the presentation of base prices for potential customers, while Insight Salon not only allows for base price listings, but also offers a feature to adjust prices for services, packages, and series by a specific percentage. In addition, Insight Salon necessitates a valid credit card for certain services.
Inventory
Both Gloss Genius and Insight Salon support order and inventory level tracking. Insight Salon gives the extra mile and helps track the use of retail products transferred to employee stations. The coolest part? Insight Salon Software can also print custom barcode and price tag labels, all within one platform.
Employee Management
Here, Insight Salon Software definitely shines. Gloss Genius allows for only one employee’s use, while Insight Salon offers the following services (among others!):
- Create work schedule templates for faster employee scheduling
- Password-protected and detailed system access templates
- Integrated time clock for hourly employees
- Detailed paystub automatically emailed to each employee
Tanning Salon Services
Gloss Genius, like many other salon software platforms, does not offer built-in interfaces that connect with tanning machines or timers.
On the other hand, Insight Salon Software connects with T-max manager/timers, tracks minute, session & unlimited tanning packages, allows clients to book tanning services online, and tracks tanning bed usage & bulb life hours. If your salon offers tanning services, Insight Salon is worth considering!
Marketing
Both Gloss Genius and Insight Salon Software offer personalized SMS templates with HTML links, advanced filter lists, and 2-way SMS texting. Insight Salon Software additionally provides personalized email marketing templates with pictures & client detail insertions, automated marketing campaigns, the ability to create & print client mailing labels, and options to export marketing data to Excel, text file, or CSV.
Walk-Ins
Gloss Genius doesn’t offer any specifics for Walk-Ins.
Insight Salon, however, extends each of the following features to its users:
- Track walk-ins on a first-come, first serve basis
- Online check-in feature available
- Group walk-ins by family & check out with one paying client
- Monitor & track wait times
- Serve walk-ins based on employee rotation & availability
Credit Card Integration
Insight Salon and Gloss Genuis both provide an efficient checkout process, as well as certified PCI-compliant processing gateways with EMV hardware options. These options make it easier for clients to pay at your salon, which encourages profit and efficiency.
Along with those benefits, Insight Salon also comes with a dedicated integration coach to answer all your credit card processing questions, to ensure flawless, stress-free integration.
Miscellaneous
Insight Salon Software has been in business for over 30 years, providing top-notch technical support for integrating the software platform into your salon workflow. On the other hand, Gloss Genius is a more recent platform, having opened its doors in 2016.
Pricing
Insight Salon Software comes in at $25 - $225 a month, while Gloss Genius costs $24 per month.
Conclusion
When you’re picking your salon management software, remember to take into account your specific needs and budget to help you streamline operations, increase customer engagement and improve performance metrics.
From our comparison, Insight Salon Software trumps Gloss Genius when it comes to features like integration with tanning machines, printing customized labels, and creating employer work schedule templates within the software to build your salon business.
For more information on what other features Insight Salon has to offer, check out our website, try out our software for free, or contact us today!
