Inside the Network: The Eight Technology Partners Behind The KIM Report

Every metric in The KIM Report begins as a transaction inside a salon's software. An appointment is booked, a bowl of color is mixed and weighed, a service ticket is rung up, and a retail product is sold. That activity, anonymized and aggregated, is what allows The KIM Report to show brands and distributors how salons are actually performing each month.

The report's credibility depends on the technology partners that make this data available. Today, eight salon software platforms contribute to The KIM Report, giving SalonInteractive access to roughly 70,000 salon businesses across the United States.

The Eight Technology Partners

Each partner serves a different part of the salon market, which is what gives The KIM Report its breadth across salon sizes and business models.

• Meevo: Salon and spa management software from Millennium Systems International, built for growing and multi-location businesses.
• Phorest: A salon software platform used by both large and small salons to manage the full client journey in one place, from online booking to the post-visit review. With salons on Phorest from coast to coast, it gives The KIM Report a nationwide view of the industry.
• Square: The payments and point-of-sale platform that many independent salons and booth renters use for booking and checkout.
• Vish: Color management software that weighs every bowl, giving salons exact data on color usage and back bar costs.
• Rosy Salon Software: Management software made for small and medium-sized salons and spas and independent operators, covering scheduling, checkout, and marketing.
• Inspire by STX: Business management software that runs scheduling, point of sale, and reporting for salons and spas.
• EnvisionNow: All-in-one salon and spa management software for single- and multi-location businesses.
• Aura Salonware: Salon management software that brings scheduling, point of sale, marketing, and team management together for salons and spas of every size.

Salon and client details remain anonymous throughout. The KIM Report never identifies an individual salon, stylist, or client. Only aggregated performance is reported.

From the KIM Universe to the KIM Panel

Not every salon connected through these partners is included in every report. The full set of connected businesses is referred to as the KIM universe. Within it, many salons record only basic transactions, without the retail detail or the distinction between color and other services that a complete benchmark requires.

The KIM panel is a more selective group. It includes more than 10,700 salons with complete, consistent transaction data, weighted to reflect the makeup of the U.S. salon population by size. This is the dataset behind the monthly report and its five salon size cohorts. The broader universe supports views where a larger sample is more useful, such as regional reporting.

What the Network Makes Possible

A larger and more varied partner network allows The KIM Report to go beyond a single national average. Three views in particular depend on it.

• KIM Panel: Monthly benchmarks by salon size, reported in both average and median views. The median view reflects the typical salon, which is especially useful in an industry where a small number of large businesses account for a significant share of revenue.
• KIM Leaders: The top 10% of salons in each cohort by revenue. For sales and education teams, this shows what is achievable for a salon of a given size, not only what is typical.
• KIM Regional: Performance across six U.S. regions, drawn from the broader KIM universe. Regional data allows brands and distributors to identify where a region is pulling ahead of or falling behind the national number and to direct field resources accordingly.

Why the Source of the Data Matters

For brands and distributors, the value of a benchmark depends on how closely it reflects real activity in the salon. Data drawn directly from salon software records what happened at the front desk and at the color bar, on a monthly cadence, without relying on recall or projection.

As more salon software providers join the network, The KIM Report gains a fuller picture of the industry, from booth renters and independent owners to large, multi-location salon groups. That breadth is what allows the report to serve as a consistent reference point for planning, sales conversations, and education.

Learn More

To see what The KIM Report shows about the salons your brand serves, visit TheKIMReport.com or book a discovery call with Alain Audet.