Skinovatio is a med spa franchise based in Chicago, IL, with 6 locations across Illinois, Michigan, and Texas. The franchise plans to continue expanding throughout the country over the next few years. Skinovatio offers injectables, laser hair removal, body sculpting, skin tightening, and more. This case study focuses on Skinovatio’s Gold Coast and Barrington, Illinois locations, managed by Ashley Steeley.
The Challenge
Ashley Steeley opened her Gold Coast and Barrington, Illinois Skinovatio franchise locations in January 2020, right before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
Two months later, in March, she had to shut down.
When she reopened in June, she had no issue getting patients in the door. She had an influx of patients eager for aesthetics treatments after months of lockdowns.
But after two busy months, appointment bookings dropped.
“We said, ‘Okay, how can we get these people back in? And what can we do to keep them?’” recounts Ashley.
She started searching for a solution and came across RepeatMD.
The Solution
Ashley and her team brought on RepeatMD that summer and experimented with different ways to use the app to motivate patients to return after their first appointment.
“We started reflecting on what we were doing and how we could change things,” said Ashley.
Skinavatio tried a few different promotions over the first few months. They settled on 50 dollars off your next treatment for downloading the app.
Then, they integrated the app into their check-in process.
“It really started off at the front desk,” Ashley said. “The front started having the conversation, saying, ‘This is our app. If you sign up, you get a reward. As soon as you sign up, you get a discount on your next treatment.’”
The Numbers
$12,500
Average Monthly Recurring Revenue from Memberships
350%
Total revenue increase within the first year
The Results
Within a few weeks of integrating the app into their check-in process, Skinovatio saw repeat customers and revenue increase dramatically.
According to Ashley, “We started noticing that our patients were coming back. A lot of patients that we hadn’t seen in a while were coming back to use that 50 dollars off. We started to see revenue come in, and I would say it was at least a 20% spike in sales.”
After revamping the check-in process, Ashley began setting up packages and memberships in the app and promoting financing with Affirm. Affirm has been especially helpful for patients who want to purchase packages but can’t justify the upfront cost.
“We noticed that our patients have shifted from using Care Credit to using Affirm. They love being able to pay month-to-month and it's just automatic for them. They don't have to call in, we don't have to do it ourselves. It makes it so easy for the patient experience and it's less work for us internally. Everything's just on the app, so it's more streamlined,” Ashley said.
Today, patients aren’t just returning after their first visit, they’re joining Skinovatio’s membership program. The membership program currently brings in between $10,000-15,000 of recurring revenue every month. With that money coming in, Ashley was able to purchase a new machine and is even planning to open a new location.
“We had no idea how to create memberships before,” said Ashley. “You guys actually did all that for us, and that in itself was huge because we wouldn't have recurring revenue today at all without you guys. You always have something enticing for our patients to want to come back.”
