Flying Out of the Fog: Key Data and Insights from the Kim Report

In a recent episode of the Qnity Lightbulb Moments podcast, host Tom Kuhn sat down with Alain Audet, representing The Kim Report (Key Industry Metrics) for SalonInteractive, for a deep dive into the state of the professional beauty industry. For decades, the industry has felt like a "plane flying in the fog," relying on anecdotal data. The Kim Report is changing that, providing concrete, transactional data to help salons and brands make informed decisions.

Here is a summary of the key takeaways and "lightbulb moments" shared during the conversation:

The Genesis of the Data Coalition

The Kim Report was born out of SalonInteractive's recognition that the professional beauty sector—unlike mass-market industries with access to metrics from companies like NielsenIQ—was too fragmented to generate reliable, comprehensive data. A single salon software platform can only provide a skewed view, as each one naturally has a sweet spot (solos, mid-size, chains).

The solution was a coalition of Point of Sale (POS) software companies (including Rosy, Square, Phorest, Envision, Aura, Inspire, Vish, and the newly added Meevo) that agreed to anonymize and share their transactional data. This collaboration allows The Kim Report to analyze a statistically sound "panel" of 10,875 independent salon businesses in the U.S. that have at least 24 months of history.

The 2025 State of the 10-Plus Salon

The discussion featured fresh, full-year 2025 data, with a focus on the higher-volume cohort: salons with 10 or more service providers.

The Price Increase vs. Volume Question

Audet pointed out one of the most critical insights: with a nearly 3% increase in revenue and service ticketsbut flat client visits, the majority of the salon industry's growth is coming from price increases or adjustments, rather than from increases in the number of clients or services provided.

The Challenge of Staffing

The data also revealed a warning for larger salons: the average staffing increased by roughly a third of a person, but this additional headcount generated very little extra income. Audet noted this highlights a major challenge for 2026: "Adding one staff member does not necessarily always mean that you're adding income. Sometimes you're just splitting the income, or you're splitting the clients between another person." Recruitment must now be paired with effective client acquisition and retention to drive true growth.

The True Weight of Color

A surprising data point shared was the actual weight of the color business across the industry:

• 10+ Salons: 43.9% of revenue
• Industry as a whole: 38.6% of revenue
• 10-19 Salons: 45.6% (the highest cohort)

This hard data corrects the "industry belief" that color accounts for 40-45% across the board, providing more nuanced benchmarks by salon size.

Looking Ahead: More Data, Less Fog

Audet offered a powerful analogy: "Data is like a bag of chips. You can't just look at one number; you need to finish the bag." The Kim Report’s roadmap includes new features to allow subscribers to dig deeper, specifically:

1. Regionalization: Breaking down national numbers into six geographical regions to see how the Midwest compares to the Northeast, for example.
2. Product Taxonomy and Service Categorization: This feature will help identify the specific services driving growth in "non-color services," such as whether the increase is due to the trending popularity of scalp treatments or add-ons.

Ultimately, the goal is to give the industry the full instrument panel it needs to navigate business decisions and "not be flying in the fog."

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Listen to the full podcast here.

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