The problem
A nail salon runs out of the popular gel shade or builder gel mid-week and someone drives to the wholesaler. Counting stock on paper takes about 45 minutes a week, and 2 emergency trips a month take an hour each: about 5.2 hours a month in all.
What the AI does
Fresha lists retail and inventory tools on both plans: products sold at checkout, stock levels kept in sync between the salon and its online store, and purchase orders created and sent to suppliers to restock. Add the products you sell and the gels and consumables you use, with stock counts and supplier details. Ring retail sales through the Fresha till, update counts for salon-use stock when you open new bottles, and raise a purchase order from the stock list instead of writing an order by hand.
A worked example
A four-tech nail salon in Wakefield already books through Fresha Team. The owner adds 60 products: retail cuticle oils and hand creams, plus the gels, builder gels and files the techs use, with the wholesaler on each. Each Monday they update counts and raise one purchase order.
Before
About 45 minutes a week counting on paper, plus 2 emergency wholesaler trips a month
After
One weekly count and purchase order in about 20 minutes, and no emergency trips, saving about 3.8 hours a month
What it's worth
About $90£68€81A$131C$128 a month in time saved: 25 minutes a week saved on counting and ordering (about 1.8 hours a month) plus 2 emergency trips of an hour each, about 3.8 hours, worth $90£68€81A$131C$128 at $24£18€21A$35C$34 an hour. If you already use Fresha this costs nothing extra; otherwise Team is €9.95 (about $12£9€11A$17C$17) per tech, about $45£34€40A$65C$64 a month for 4, shown in local currency.
How to set it up
- Add each product you sell and each gel or consumable you use, with stock count, cost and supplier.
- Ring every retail sale through the Fresha till so counts drop automatically.
- Set one day a week to update salon-use stock counts.
- Raise purchase orders from the stock list and send them to suppliers.
- Mark stock as received when deliveries arrive so counts stay right.
What goes wrong
- Salon-use gels don't sell through the till, so their counts only stay right if someone updates them every week.
- Check each product's shelf life after opening and use older stock first; the stock list won't do that for you.
- Keep safety data sheets for gels and acrylic products where staff can find them, separately from the stock list.