Sunless Tanning

For the past seven years, the sunless segment has been a popular add-on to salon services. The sunless boom began in 1999 and took off in 2000 as a way for salon operators to reach new generations of tanners and open doors the doors to an emerging market. By 2006, salons reported that sunless sessions continued to be popular, but session prices were dropping due to increased competition.

According to results from LOOKING FIT’s 2008 Top 250 Salons survey, 35 percent of U.S. tanning salons offer at least one automatic sunless booth and 10 percent offer sunless airbrush or HVLP/turbine tanning. This number was down from 2006, but it should be viewed in terms of sunless unit sales versus sunless session sales.

Sunless equipment manufacturers reported continued interest and steady sales as many salons added sunless. They also noted that many chains and franchises added sunless to their business models. In terms of sunless session sales, salons reported around the same number or higher as last season. Many cited that sunless sales, once again, helped salvage a flat year.

On the negative side, many salons were slashing prices or using scare tactics to increase sunless sales. This only hurts the industry, as we are now fighting for mass-market sunless dollars. We are battling a huge anti-tanning coalition that now includes the cosmetic giants and medical associations. We must market these services as a compliment to UV tanning or an alternative to tanning for those individuals who cannot or should not tan indoors or outdoors.

Like any service in any industry, sunless is enjoying the fruits of improved technology and healthy competition. The benefits are clear to salon operators as well as consumers.

In the past, salons needed a hefty chunk of change—at least $30,000—to purchase a sunless stand-up spray booth. It was quite an investment, especially for a previously unproven ancillary service. Now, times have changed.

Manufacturers have had years to refine their products, and they know salon owners are shopping around for the best units at competitive prices.

Today’s sunless stand-up equipment can still be bought for $30,000 or more, but those machines contain state-of-the-art components to deliver more bang for the buck. Plus, sunless is a bona-fide winner for countless salons, making the investment worthwhile.

However, the biggest window of opportunity has come at the lower end of the price range. High-quality booths selling for as low as $12,000 allows more salons to be able to enter the sunless market.

Finally, handheld sunless units are priced as low as just a few hundred dollars. Other costs associated with sunless, such as solution, are dropping as well. Any salon that wants to can afford to offer sunless.

Besides the lowering entry cost for sunless, the ease of setup always is a major appeal to salon owners. Many of today’s stand-up units are self-contained or require very little extra plumbing or electrical.

The allure of sunless also is increasing from the customer’s perspective. There is a greater variety of retail sunless products with new-age ingredients that yield natural-looking, long-lasting tans. Also, session prices for booth and handheld applications are dropping, and the steadily improving technology of the solution is leading to more realistic results.