It’s never been a better time to be a beauty entrepreneur. Figures suggest that the Global Beauty & Personal Care Products market is expected to grow from $432.7 billion in 2016 to $750 billion by 2024, according to Inkwood Research. Europe is expected to hold the largest market share, projected to be worth $225 billion in the next six years.
Yet, despite the advancements in revenue, the beauty industry is one of the few markets that has yet to embrace the potential of digital technologies. Many beauty entrepreneurs remain in the 20th century by relying on telephone, and pen and paper to organize customer bookings.
Disrupting the existing market
For online beauty booking platform JOLYY, it is proposing a solution through the blockchain technology that will have huge potential for the industry such as increasing efficiency and faster payments, and lowering the cost of commissions for salons and clients. Founded in 2016 as a way of improving business models for online beauty booking sites across Europe, JOLYY has already garnered popularity in the local market with the first version of its platform. Now, the online beauty platform intends to upgrade its system with the aid of the blockchain.
JOLYY’s mission is to disrupt the existing market for online beautys booking by providing an innovative and highly effective beauty booking system. This platform will be built on the Origin Protocol, which uses the ethereum blockchain, enabling buyers and sellers to interact with each other in an effective manner.
The new decentralized platform gives users the chance to book appointments 24/7, find the best prices for treatments, see the available days and hours, receive rewards, and pay in JOLYY’s native token, JOY for services or in the JOLYY store. Additionally, salon managers will be able to compare themselves with their competitors because of the blockchain’s transparency, receive feedback from customers, and arrange for cosmetic deliveries in an easy, fully automated, and cashless environment via smart contracts.
Keeping on trend with the latest styles
In a first for the beauty industry, the online beauty booking service is offering a social network platform, the JOLYY live. This will be a social area where beauticians can upload pictures and comments about what they do in a salon each day. Users can then follow their favorite experts, like comments, ask questions, upload and share videos of their own, and see the latest style trends both locally and worldwide.
JOLYY live will also permit advertising, paid with JOY, which, in turn, will produce more demand and increase the price of the token.
Connecting beauty experts and cosmetic manufacturers
Inkwood Research suggests that the top market players in global beauty and personal care products are L’Oréal, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, and Estee Lauder. Consequently, beauty salons are purchasing their cosmetic products from trade representatives at these companies.
Through the JOLYY store it intends to connect manufacturers with salons directly with relevant product promotions to target audiences with zero percent mistargeted advertisements. Additionally, those running smaller companies who may not necessarily be able to afford huge advertising campaigns will still be capable of reaching targeted audiences.
Payment for goods ordered through the JOLYY store will be processed via smart contract once they have been delivered. It will then automatically proceed to the JOLYY app on a pre-set agreed schedule before being sent to the manufacturers. They can then either convert their JOY tokens into fiat or keep them and use them for purchases such as advertising on JOLYY.
Cutting high commissions
The beauty industry is a booming market, particularly among the young population. Data from research firm NPD, suggests that millennials are using 25 percent more cosmetics than they did two years ago, and significantly more than baby boomers. Yet for each beauty appointment booked, existing platforms are charging 20 percent commission. For many salons this doesn’t make their business viable as they often have to wait weeks and months before receiving payments.
JOLYY aims to solve this issue. Upon its launch, the platform will allow salons and clients to make bookings free of charge. At a later stage when there is a fully developed ecosystem JOLYY intends to introduce a one percent commission charge per appointment.
Popularizing cryptocurrency among female clients
Despite measures at increasing the number of women using digital currencies, they still remain a minority, JOLYY says, adding that women make up 70 percent of household purchase decisions and are responsible for $20 trillion in yearly consumer spending. This figure is estimated to increase another 40 percent over the next five years.
Yet for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin to become widely accepted more women need to get on board. JOLYY is hoping to pioneer this change by introducing more women to the crypto world through the development of its platform, social networking, the JOLYY store, and its JOY token.
One of the key components of the platform launch is its native token, acting as the main payment choice across the platform. In total there will be 700 million JOY tokens allocated with 50 percent available for the pre-sale and public sale. The pre-ICO is currently ongoing. A total of 30 percent will be reserved for the community and developer funds; 15 percent will go toward the company reserve; and five percent will be left for advisers, strategic partners, and bounties. Tokens used for advertising payments will be burned.
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