Understanding the Data with Alain Audet, the KIM Report

Alain Audet of SalonInteractive recently joined Gordon Miller on The Connector podcast to discuss the mission and initial findings from The KIM Report (Key Industry Metrics). For an industry built on independent businesses, gaining reliable, comprehensive data has long been a challenge. The KIM Report is designed to provide clarity through agnostic transactional data, helping salon owners set informed performance goals.

Here are some key takeaways from the conversation that provide valuable context for business strategy and growth on the salon side of the industry.

The Importance of Accurate Transactional Data

Achieving proper industry insights requires looking closely at transactional data. The KIM Report collects anonymized, privacy-protected information based on what clients actually pay for services and retail, aggregated monthly from leading tech partners.

A crucial element of The KIM Report's analysis is its focus on the number of service providers, moving beyond traditional, and often outdated, metrics like the number of chairs to provide a clearer view of actual productivity and business volume.

The current all-salon average generally reflects a business with roughly 3 service providers. However, for larger, team-based salons, excluding the 1-2 provider "solo" cohorts reveals an average of 6.1 service providers per door, offering a more focused benchmark for scaling businesses.

New Benchmarks for Aspirational Goal Setting

As Audet noted, relying solely on data from coaching groups or specific software platforms can offer a fragmented view. The KIM Report's agnostic approach allows salons to benchmark their performance with greater perspective within their size cohort (e.g., 10-19 service providers).

To provide richer context for strategic goal-setting, The KIM Report has incorporated two powerful new metrics:

• Median: This metric represents the middle value of a sorted list of salons, providing a stable measure that limits the distorting effect of extreme outliers compared to the average.
• Top 10%: Set to be released soon, this data will highlight the performance of the top 10% within each cohort.

For instance, if the average revenue in a category is $5,500 and the top 10% achieve $6,500, this data point offers a compelling new goal that has been proven achievable within the industry.

Insights into the January "Danger Zone" Trend

It's a known pattern that the first quarter (January, February, and March) is consistently the slowest for the salon industry. The latest data, however, reveals a persistent trend that warrants attention.

In January 2026, average revenue increased by 0.5%. This growth was largely driven by price adjustments, with the service ticket price increasing by almost 4% compared to the previous January.

However, The KIM Report's data for other critical metrics showed a downturn, including a decrease in the number of customers, services in general, and color services, and overall color revenue. This pattern reaffirms a trend identified in 2025: many salons are experiencing more money, but with fewer clients, less color, and fewer visits.

Leveraging Data for Strategic Management

This industry trend highlights the importance of salons considering crucial strategic questions: How can we best increase revenue? Does the focus shift to adding more clients and services, or maximizing revenue per client?

While The KIM Report provides crucial industry benchmarks, Audet stressed that this data complements, but does not replace, the need for robust internal business management. Salons are encouraged to continue leveraging their own software for deeper insights, tracking individual business metrics such as:

• First-time retention
• Color weight of business
• Service provider working hours
• Productivity (billable hours vs. downtime)

Optimizing service times—for example, evaluating if a 1-hour haircut appointment could be booked every 45 minutes—can be an effective way to help unlock new revenue on the calendar. Furthermore, annual price increases are often a necessary business practice, but should always be thoughtfully tailored to the local economy and P&L reality.

Learn More: The Full Q1 Report is Coming Soon

Alain Audet will unveil the full Q1 report results, including the debut of the Top 10% metric, as a keynote presenter at Intercoiffure's Spring Gathering in Montreal, May 2nd through 4th.

To listen to the full podcast, click here: Understanding the Data with Alain Audet, the KIM Report

If you are interested in receiving The KIM Report, inquire here.