Specialty Businesses

Rosy Salon Software Review

by Ben Dwyer

The flagship offering from SalonRunner, Rosy software offers a suite of tools for salon businesses.

Rosy is cloud-based software, meaning you won’t install it locally on a computer. Instead, you’ll be able to access your information from almost any device. You can use it both for service-based functions, like booking appointments, and retail functions like selling products in the salon.

A number of features come as part of the “standard” package, while some features are available with the premium package. Other features, such as gift card programs and credit card processing capabilities, are considered add-ons to the other packages. First, the standard features.

Scheduling

An easy scheduling system is key for any salon. The Rosy appointment scheduling module allows you to book appointments, allow for double-booking, manage cancellations, or set up multiple appointments. Once you book a client, you’ll also be able to view past visit history, including color formulations, personal preferences, previous services, and product purchase history.

Rosy also offers online scheduling solutions to allow your clients to book appointments at their convenience. You can also configure the system to send appointment reminders to cut down on no-shows and eliminate the need to manually confirm client bookings.

Google Integration

Rosy offers an integration with Google’s Reserve with Google option, so you can fill chairs more easily. When customers search in Google for salons and find yours, they can choose to book right through Google for convenience.

Inventory Management

Keeping items in stock and identifying best sellers is easy with the Rosy inventory management option. You can add and sort product groups, list manufacturers, update prices, and set your on-hand quantities. You can also set parameters for the “target” quantities that you want to have available so the system can track and alert you when you’re running low.

Web App

Rosy’s mobile web app feature lets you create a custom mobile-friendly page for clients to book appointments, purchase products, and get information about your salon. There’s no software to install, and app updates are automatic. Note that the web app is separate from the website builder, which is a premium package feature.

Referral Program

Rosy’s website references a rewards / referrals program, saying it can be set up in under 10 minutes and increases visit frequency and spending. However, the company doesn’t provide a lot of details. It states that rewards incentivize client referrals, retail purchases, and online scheduling, but doesn’t offer information on what type of incentives are available. We’ve reached out to Rosy for more information.

The premium package, referred to as Client Connect, offers additional features (at additional cost) beyond what’s available with the standard package.

Premium Package

The Rosy Premium Package is an optional package of advanced features with an additional monthly fee. It includes automatic or mass email marketing, text confirmations for appointments, and an image library option with client image capabilities.

The automatic email marketing option lets you set up your system to automatically send out emails for particular events. You can send new clients a thank you email, schedule birthday wishes, or prompt clients who haven’t been to the salon lately to book an appointment.

Mass email marketing functions more like a newsletter, allowing you to customize messages to a larger group instead of an individual client. You’ll still have the ability to choose the audience, though, and can narrow down your client list by products they’ve purchased, services they’ve booked, appointment dates, or service provider. You can create a newsletter template or choose from pre-designed templates in the software.

Text confirmations are a great way to keep clients aware of their appointments. You can choose when confirmations are sent and when a client confirms through the text, their appointment will change color in your appointment schedule to indicate confirmation.

The image library with client image capabilities allows you to upload images of clients to document their hair color or styling. You can also maintain a library of salon images.

Add-Ons

Separate from the premium package, the add-ons for Rosy include gift cards and a website builder.

Gift Cards

The gift card program offers customizable electronic gift cards for redemption at your salon. Cards are full color (front and back) and feature a barcode on the back for easy scanning through the Rosy POS system.

There’s a minimum order of 250 cards, along with a $50 design/setup fee. (This fee will not apply if you reorder the same design for cards in the future.) Pricing starts at $1.25 per card for 250 cards, up to 32 cents per card for 5,000 cards.

You can also choose to purchase standard sleeves to hold cards. Those run 29 cents per sleeve for 250, up to 18 cents for 2,500. (For quantities over 2,500, you’ll need to contact Rosy for a quote.) If you’d prefer a custom sleeve, that’s an option for orders of 500 sleeves or more. Pricing starts at 75 cents per sleeve. (Prices subject to change.)

Website Builder

Business owners that aren’t comfortable with website building can try the website builder. The builder includes a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to easily create a custom branded website by choosing a template and then crafting it to your specifications. You can add pricing info, incorporate pictures or slideshows, add and maintain a blog, and more.

Rosy Pricing

Costs for Rosy software vary depending on the number of providers using the system. Pricing starts at $29/month for 1 provider and goes to $119 for 21 or more providers for the standard package. (Prices subject to change.)

Note that every rate after the sole provide rate states that it’s with a RosyPay discount and that the usual price for that package is higher. (For example, $249/month for 21+ providers.)

RosyPay is the integrated payment processing method. If you don’t use that, the monthly packages are more expensive on all plans except for the single user plan.

 

 

The standard plan includes online client scheduling, a mobile app, appointment scheduling, google integration for Reserve with Google, inventory management, point of sale software, text or email communication, reward / referral program, and reporting.

A premium package that offers more features is available for an additional monthly cost. The additional features are the ones discussed in the services sections earlier in this article, but include features like automated email marketing and enhanced communication.

The premium package add-on starts at $37/month for one provider and goes up to $212/month for 21 or more providers. Again, this is with the RosyPay discount – without the discount, the plan costs $342 per month.

Rosy also offers a 30-day trial.

POS Solution and Credit Card Processing with Rosy

In the past, Rosy had required taking credit cards through a company called CardConnect. These days, the company has its own integrated payment processing solution called RosyPay.While there’s a tab on its website dedicated to RosyPay, the company doesn’t provide very much information about the service. It appears to be flat rate credit card processing, with rates starting at 2.55% + 10 cents per transaction.

Flat rate processing can be inexpensive, but it often isn’t. However, a complicating factor here is that Rosy tries to discourage using other processing by charging more for its software if you use other processing. You’ll need to do the math to determine if the higher monthly fees eat into any savings from more competitive processing solutions.

Hardware and Accessories

Rosy doesn’t sell any POS hardware or accessories itself. In the past, the company partnered with POS Portal to offer bundles of equipment for credit card processing. However, there are no references to those bundle options on the current Rosy site. If you’re interested in using RosyPay, you’ll need to talk with the company about compatible equipment.

Reviews

Rosy includes testimonials on its own website, and there are a few hundred reviews available on third-party review sites. The company also has an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau website, though it is not accredited.

On its own website, the included testimonials praise the software for being both easy-to-use and robust, with helpful features that allow the salon owners to run their business efficiently.

On Capterra, Rosy currently has a 4.7-star rating (out of five) from 140+ reviews. As with the testimonials on the Rosy site, reviewers praise the software for its ease of use and great features. The few negative comments stated that the software is sometimes down and that there could be more flexibility in the features – for example, booking in 10-minute increments instead of 15 or enabling a discount across all products instead of requiring it be applied individually. Overall though, most reviewers seem pleased with the software, noting it’s cheaper than competitors and the easiest software to train staff on.

Have you used Rosy salon software? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Credit Card Processing exposed

Use the secrets that credit card processors don't want
you to know to drastically lower your credit card
processing fees.

Read Now!
 

You might also like…

View all articles..