Custom plug-in for Chrome - automation of reporting process

Effective management of information and processes in beauty salons is key to remaining competitive in a rapidly growing market. Some companies use the Versum system on a daily basis and often encounter serious limitations of the tool. While the system offers many useful features, it lacks the ability to customize it for a specific industry.  This problem becomes especially apparent when the salon has to manually compile detailed reports on revenue, customer sources or handling installment payments, which is time-consuming and error-prone.

As SKM Group, we faced this challenge by developing a proprietary Google Chrome browser extension to streamline reporting and automation processes. The plug-in not only reduces the need for manual data retrieval to create reports, but also increases their accuracy, significantly improving overall operational efficiency. Through automation, the plug-in saves time and minimizes errors.

In this article, we will discuss the key features of the extension, the challenges encountered during its development, and show the specific benefits it brings to beauty salons that have decided to implement it.

Background of the problem

A certain brand's franchise network, like many other businesses in the service industry, has high requirements for accurate and timely reporting. Managing customer information and investigating revenue sources is essential for effective business planning and development.

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In practice, however, companies often struggle with problems arising from the use of various systems that, despite their often extensive functionality, do not offer sufficient flexibility and adaptation to the specific needs of this industry. One of these is Versum, one of the more popular systems used in the beauty industry.

Franchise requirements

The franchise requires individual salons to prepare detailed reports that include, among other things, sources of revenue and sources of clients. In addition, the requirements are checking for the completion of relevant information on each visit and client, including photos and descriptions of treatments. This data is essential for analyzing performance and planning marketing and operational strategies.

Description of challenges of report writing in depilation salon

• Manual processes: Data is entered into reports manually. This means that every piece of data - from customer personals to details of services performed - requires personal involvement by an employee.
• Time-consuming: Manual data entry and report creation consumes a significant amount of time that employees could otherwise use for customer service or other value-added tasks for the salon.
• Potential for errors: Manual data management carries a high risk of errors, especially with the large volumes of information that companies must process each day. These errors can lead to incorrect conclusions and business decisions.

What was the collection of data for the report like before the plug-in was introduced?

1. For each visit on a given day, the person working in the salon had to enter the details of the visit in question.

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2. Then, based on the tags and description of the visit, indicate the origin of the customer, add revenue and receipts from the source to the report

3. Further, the employee had to include additional information in the reports which is shown in the screenshot below:

4. The next step was to check(for each individual visit) that all the required information was in the system. Among other things, the checks included age, tel no., email, whether the client's source of origin, description and whether the client has scheduled appointments. As you can see, doing this manually is quite time-consuming, and by the amount of data to be checked, it is easy to make a mistake.

5. The last step was to verify that a photo had been added to a particular visit. This required going to another tab and manually checking the photo and description. An additional problem was the number of photos in the gallery (photos from all customer visits are displayed there).

Demand for an innovative solution

Limitations of the Versum system have impacted salons' day-to-day operations, limiting their efficiency and ability to effectively report and validate visits.

In response to these challenges, there was a need for a solution that could automate and streamline reporting and data management processes. Not only could automation significantly reduce the time required for reports and data entry, but it could also increase their accuracy and reliability.

The process of creating a plug-in

The development of the Chrome plug-in for Versum by the SKM Group team was a process that required deep analysis of user needs and technical challenges. Thanks to the involvement of experienced developers, it was possible to create a tool that effectively supports their daily work.

Through a joint collaboration between the hair removal salon owner, salon staff and developers, key areas that needed improvement were identified, such as the speed of report generation, data accuracy and the ability to quickly access client history and appointments. Recognizing these needs made it possible to pinpoint the functionality that the plug-in should include.

Difficulties detected during plug-in development

• Lack of access to the source code of the Versum system: One of the biggest challenges was to develop a plug-in without the ability to modify the Versum system itself, which also does not provide the API itself ( that is, the place from which data is normally retrieved ). This required the creation of an intermediary layer that could effectively communicate with the original system without interfering with its structure. Creating a plug-in turned out to be a great solution to this problem because it enables just these things.
• Integrating the plug-in with the existing system: Designing a plug-in that could work seamlessly with Versum required solving a number of compatibility and data security issues, in addition, it required various workarounds to allow the required information to be retrieved without having to open the sub-pages in question.

Automation of report preparation

• Number of customers from each source: The chrome plug-in automatically aggregates customer origin data, allowing the salon to better understand which marketing channels are most effective.
• Revenue from each source: Analyzing revenue from each customer source helps optimize pricing and promotional strategy.
• Number of customers purchasing services/packages: Automatic tracking, earnings from packages and services, or monitoring earnings from installments enables better planning of offerings.
• Number of customers served and earnings per employee: The plug-in counts the number of customers served by each employee and generates reports on the earnings generated by the employee. This enables better monitoring of staff performance and supports human resource management by helping to identify the most effective employees and areas for improvement.

Visit validation functions

• ‍Checking scheduled appointments: the plug-in allows you to monitor scheduled appointments on an ongoing basis, which helps to ensure continuity of customer service and optimize the salon's schedule.‍
• Verification of customer data completeness: Each visit is automatically checked for data completeness, which significantly reduces the risk of errors and enables better personalization of services.‍
• Validation of added images: This function verifies that pre- and post-treatment photos have been added to each visit, which is crucial for documenting the progress of aesthetic treatment.

Results of plug-in implementation

The implementation of the SKM Group plug-in into Versum has brought a number of measurable benefits that have significantly impacted the speed and accuracy of reporting.

Thanks to the plug-in created by SKM Group, the problems excerpted in the earlier part of the article have disappeared all data is calculated and generated with the press of a single button. Below are screen shots showing how the plug-in works.

Automated reporting: The plug-in automatically counts all the data you mentioned earlier and displays it in the side panel, it also allows you to simply copy the data to the clipboard so that you can paste it later in the report table in excel. As you can see, this simplifies reporting to a significant degree.

Visit validation: the plug-in also allows you to validate visits, and shows which data is missing and with which customer, it also allows you to display the customer in a new tab or preview the photo gallery ( in the form of a pop-up ) on the calendar view for simpler addition of missing photos or to validate which photo is missing.

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Saving employees' time

The automation of reporting and data validation has significantly reduced the time required for employees to manually enter information. Now they can focus on direct customer service and other high-value tasks, resulting in better time management and increased productivity.

Reducing data errors

Thanks to automatic validation functions, errors in customer data and reports have been significantly reduced. This not only improves the quality of service, but also provides more reliable data for analysis and business decisions.

The main benefits of implementing the plugin

SKM Group's implementation of a Chrome plugin for hair removal salon franchises has brought tangible benefits, optimizing and automating reporting and visit validation processes. With our plugin, salons can now easily generate detailed financial and customer reports, which previously required time-consuming and error-prone manual processes.

The main benefits of implementing the plugin:

• Reporting automation: The plug-in automatically counts the number of customers from various sources, calculates financial receipts, and monitors sales of services and passes.
• Visit validation: The system verifies that each visit contains the required information, including photos, description, customer contact information and scheduled follow-up visits.
• Time savings: Automating the reporting and data validation processes significantly reduces the time required for employees to manually enter data, allowing them to focus on customer service and other important tasks.
• Reduction of errors: With automated validation functions, errors in reports and customer data have been significantly reduced, providing more reliable data for analysis and business decisions.

The plug-in not only improved the operational efficiency of the showrooms, but also demonstrated how custom software development can deliver solutions that are perfectly tailored to specific business needs. SKM Group, through the development of this plug-in, has demonstrated its commitment to providing innovative and effective technology solutions that support our clients' business growth.

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Thanks to our plug-in, companies can now benefit from more efficient, accurate and less time-consuming reporting processes, resulting in better resource management and increased customer satisfaction. This is a perfect example of how technology can revolutionize daily business operations, bringing real, measurable benefits.
SKM Group always strives to create solutions that not only meet, but exceed our customers' expectations, helping them succeed in a dynamic market.