BIR Feature Shines a Light on The KIM Report

The professional beauty industry has long grappled with a lack of reliable, centralized performance data. For too long, key business decisions were based on anecdotes, surveys, or guesswork. That era is over. The latest feature from Beauty Industry Report (BIR), an in-depth interview with SalonInteractive leadership and industry partners, confirms what our subscribers already know: The KIM Report (Key Industry Metrics) is delivering the real, trustworthy data the industry has been waiting for.

Built on Facts, Not Forecasts

As Jim Bower, CEO and founder of SalonInteractive, shared with BIR, the goal of The KIM Report (KIM) was "simple—to give the professional beauty industry access to real, trustworthy data it has never had before." The incredible response from brands, distributors, and salons proves the KIM Report is meeting a vital need.

Unlike traditional market reports, KIM is powered by actual, anonymized transactional data from a growing, representative panel of U.S. salons. This foundation of factual data is what makes our report an indispensable resource.

What the Report Delivers

The KIM Report provides a clear, consistent picture of the marketplace, including:

• Monthly Performance Insights: Each report covers key metrics for all salons, segmented by five size cohorts (1-2, 3-4, 5-9, 10-19, and 20+ stylist chairs). Subscribers receive year-over-year and month-over-month comparisons, along with expert commentary to interpret emerging trends.
• Quarterly Deep Dives: Quarterly insights offer a deeper analysis of service revenue, retail revenue, client visits, and category shifts, providing actionable takeaways for businesses.
• Historical Data: A downloadable Excel file includes 24 months of historical data for comprehensive trend analysis.

As an example, Alain Audet, VP of Business Development & Corporate Partnerships, cited a Q2 2025 insight: "large salons (10+ stylists) achieved 7.2% YoY revenue growth, driven primarily by color services and high-value treatments." This is the kind of detail that turns guessing into knowing.

Driving Action with OBM

The value of the data extends beyond reporting. Our intelligent feedback loop with On Behalf Marketing (OBM) transforms insights into action. As Audet noted, "KIM provides valuable insights, while OBM takes those insights and turns them into actionable campaigns." OBM delivers personalized, brand-created campaigns directly to a salon's clients, appearing to come from the trusted salon or stylist. Daniel Mason Jones, owner of Muse Salon and Spa, highlighted its impact: "After one service-focused campaign, we saw a 15% lift in bookings for treatments we rarely promoted."

The Future is Data-Driven

The road ahead is exciting. As Jim Bower stated, with upcoming features, "KIM is evolving from a reporting tool into an industry GPS."

• Regionalization will allow brands to see performance at the national, state, and regional levels.
• Brand penetration metrics will provide even more granular performance data.
• Predictive analytics are on the horizon, leveraging historical and current data to forecast future trends, helping the entire ecosystem make proactive, data-driven decisions.

The SalonInteractive team is also dedicated to bringing these benefits to the heart of the industry. Paul Tate, consultant to SalonInteractive, announced the launch of KIM for Salons in 2026—a benchmarking tool that will enable participating salons to compare their performance against similar-sized salons within their state or region, identifying growth opportunities.

The integrity of The KIM Report is secured by strong technology partnerships with providers like Phorest, Rosy, and Envision, with plans to integrate Meevo, Zenoti, and Vagaro to expand the panel to over 15,000 salons by mid-2026. This commitment to accurate, secure data ensures KIM remains the most comprehensive dataset in the professional beauty industry.

Read the BIR article, click here.

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