The Salon Data Revolution: What Every Salon Owner Needs to Know About The KIM Report

For years, the professional beauty industry has relied on guesswork, hearsay, and fragmented sales reports to measure performance. But all of that is about to change.

Why Data Has Been a Problem (Until Now)

The sheer complexity of the industry is the reason real data has been so elusive. Fragmentation plays a significant role, as there are hundreds of thousands of business units ranging from solo booth renters to salons with 20 or more chairs, each operating under different models. This diversity leads to a lack of standardization; with over 300,000 documented names for services, such as color services being labeled in countless ways, normalizing the data has proven nearly impossible. In addition, many business decisions have been based on hearsay, often relying on anecdotal evidence or biased reports from various entities, which complicates the situation even more.

The KIM Report solves the challenges of data collection and standardization in the salon industry by collaborating with seven major salon software platforms to pool data from a statistically representative cohort of over 10,000 U.S. salons, excluding outliers to ensure accuracy.

Top Takeaways: YTD 2025 Industry Trends

As of year-to-date 2025, the industry trends for salon owners reveal some noteworthy insights. Total revenue has remained essentially flat, with a slight increase of 0.3%. However, the growth discrepancies by salon size are significant; larger salons with 20 or more stylists have experienced a revenue growth of 4.14%, contrasting with a decline of 2.69% in solo and small salons that have one to two stylists. Service revenue is up by 2.63%, a positive change observed across all salon sizes, likely attributed to price increases necessary to keep up with inflation. 

On the other hand, retail revenue has declined by 3.63%, indicating that the industry as a whole is selling fewer retail units, with most groups experiencing negative growth. The sole exception to this trend is small salons with three to four stylists, which have grown their retail revenue by 2.29%. Notably, color revenue has remained almost flat, with a minimal increase of just 0.01%. This highlights a crucial insight: the increase in service revenue is primarily driven by non-color services such as cuts, blow-dries, and treatments, rather than from rising color service prices.

Year-to-Date (2025) Industry Trends

• Total Revenue
  
  • Essentially Flat (+0.3% year-over-year)
  • Larger salons are seeing growth: 
  • 20+ stylists: growing at +4.14%

• Service Revenue
  
  • Increasing (+2.63%)
  • Growth is consistent across all salon sizes, indicating price increases to keep pace with inflation.

• Retail Revenue
  
  • Decreasing (-3.63%)
  • Most cohorts are experiencing declines due to fewer units sold, except for 3-4 stylist salons, which are growing at +2.29%.

• Color Revenue
  
  • Almost Flat (+0.01%)
  • The increase in overall Service Revenue likely comes from non-color services (e.g., treatments, cuts, blow-dries) rather than from color price increases.

The Importance of Benchmarks

The KIM Report data allows salon owners to stop operating in a vacuum and start making informed decisions:

• Regulating Emotions: Accurate data helps salon owners compare their performance to the rest of the industry, preventing unnecessary worry during a slow month if the industry as a whole is down more.
• Informed Planning: The data enables salon owners to create realistic growth plans, set targets relative to the industry average, and aim for the performance of the top 10% in their specific cohort and region (regional benchmarks are planned for the following year).
• Long-Term Goal: The vision is to dig deeper into the data to help the industry activate on trends faster, shorten the decision-making time, and raise the baseline of business knowledge for everyone.
• Access to Data: The data was initially for manufacturers and distributors, but the goal for 2026 is to make relevant information accessible to salon operators, likely through the PBA, allowing them to look up their cohort's average and benchmarks.

"Knowing your number is one thing, but knowing how you fare versus the rest of the industry and especially comparable businesses, it's very important..." - Alain Audet, Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Partnerships

🎧 Listen Now!

If this conversation got you thinking about your own salon's numbers, this episode is a must-listen. You will learn exactly what you should be measuring to create an effective growth plan and make smarter business decisions based on facts, not guesswork.

‍Listen to the full In a recent episode of The Salon Scoop, host Scott Moon sat down with SalonInteractive’s Alain Audet to discuss the company’s groundbreaking data project: The KIM Report. This initiative provides the first-ever reliable, aggregated, and anonymized performance benchmarks for the U.S. salon industry.  podcast episode with Alain Audet to hear all the details and in-depth analysis.