Gen Z is daydreaming about “how things used to be."
Gen Z is daydreaming about “how things used to be."
In the case of one survey, that means monogamy. ❤️
Good morning everyone. Hope you are all having a gorgeous autumn day. Today’s letter includes WSJ’s decision to interview a thinspo influencer, why med-spas need to turn injectors into salespeople, and penis injections.
A repo man in the BNPL cosmetic surgery sector could make a great horror movie.
Bloomberg reported that payment company Cherry is sounding out investors for, “a bond that would be tied to buy-now, pay-later loans for cosmetic surgery and other aesthetic treatments.” This isn’t the first BNPL company that has dabbled in this category – in April, Affirm (which is currently seeing 31% YoY growth) quietly started offering BNPL elective medical procedures, in a major push beyond its core e-commerce market. The concern here is obviously that people will begin to borrow more money – for veneers, medical devices, and Botox – than they can afford.
BNPL is a loan in search of a big ticket purchase to finance (appliances, jewelry, and vehicles, historically) but if you look at how some richer consumers are spending money now, some of the biggest ticket purchases are elective procedures on their bodies.
Meanwhile, med-spas are hemorrhaging cash. The problem? They’re running their practices like doctors offices instead of retail businesses – practitioners need to learn how to become salespeople. “The drivers for this business are retail sales and pre-booking your patients before they leave,” Bryan Durocher, founder of med-spa consulting firm Durocher Enterprises told Beauty Independent. “That way you guarantee your income in the future. You have to sell as many items as possible in memberships and packages because it creates cash flow and locks in your patient roster. Then, it’s about retention, which is critical.”
That means exactly what you think it does: pushing three-packs of Botox treatments, adding “baby” or “mini” to the beginning of treatment titles to people think it’s a beginner investment, and filling shelves with products to sell patients to add another $50-$100 to their bill. The opportunity in this space is still massive – only 1% of the US population has had any type of a neuromodulator (Botox, Dysport, etc.).
It also means that the future of aesthetics is going to involve a lot of marketing. What once happened behind clandestine dermatologist office doors is being turned into a coupon-crazy industry. Some providers are offering free treatments and discounts if patients allow them to use their before-and-after photos on social media.
Durocher said, “Having a YouTube channel and other social channels are important. People like to do business with people they know and trust, and people buy into solutions to challenges and into good feelings. So, I’m educating in a way I would talk to a friend instead of me trying to sell Morpheus8 treatments for $2,400. They don’t know what Morpheus8 is. You might want to talk about what radio frequency is and what it means to your skin. You might want to talk about microneedling and what that does.”
I think a med-spa with a big budget would be a dream consulting client for me. Thanks,
for tipping me off to this story!