Our Top Platform Releases of 2021

Contactless payments, smart integrations, and booking enhancements, oh my!

It’s official: 2021 is history. For many in the salon and spa industries, it was a year of bouncing back from the challenges of 2020 while adapting to the new normal in the ongoing pandemic reality. Here at Boulevard, we spent the year helping our partners embrace this new reality with intuitive platform updates, powerful integrations, and numerous enhancements, all while continuing to embrace diversity and inclusivity. We’re looking forward to seeing what 2022 has to offer, but before taking another step forward, here’s a look back at our top platform releases of 2021.

Boulevard Payments™ enhancements

There are so many ways to pay for services these days: credit cards, smartphone payments, the list goes on. To meet client expectations, we’ve released some payment enhancements that make it easy for salons to accept just about any electronic payment format.

Boulevard Duo (and Duo app!) make contactless payments easy & stylish

In July, we released the Boulevard Duo, a handy little device that syncs to your existing Boulevard POS and processes payments at lightning speed while reducing chargebacks. There’s also an accompanying app that can be used to upgrade your clients’ front desk experience! Peace out, clunky old card swipers.

Process payments seamlessly with mobile checkout

Also making things easier on clients and staff are various mobile checkout options. With Mobile Checkout, salons and spas can offer multiple ways to pay while empowering upsells and applying discounts. Your stylists and managers can process payments from anywhere — no need to hover at the front desk.

Spa upgrades

In 2021, we released several product updates specifically for our spa and medspa partners. These features address some of the specific business challenges that spa owners and managers face.

Track and charge for products used in each treatment

Medspa pricing can be tricky, so we’ve made it easier with usage-based pricing for spa owners. This allows you to keep track of products used in each session, like Botox units, and modify the service price as needed.

Multi-service vouchers encourage memberships and repeat visits

Instead of offering vouchers for a single service, multi-service vouchers let spa owners get creative. This allows flexibility to create memberships and special package deals while clients are encouraged to keep coming back.

Smart integrations

“Integrations” might sound like a buzzword, but when they’re done right, they can be a real boon to your business. Here’s how we integrated some of the other tools you use to run your business with the Boulevard platform.

Harness the power of social media with Facebook and Instagram booking

We all know that social media is a critical tool for salon owners, so our platform now lets you take that one step further. With Facebook and Instagram integrations, your clients can book right from those apps with a simple tap of the “Book Now” button.

Sell online with Shopify

Boulevard’s Shopify integration allows you to sync products and gift cards between your POS and your Shopify storefront, making it easier than ever to sell online. This unlocks new revenue streams while creating a consistent client experience.

Zapier: There’s a Zap for that

Creating automatic workflows saves your team time and reduces tedious admin work. By teaming up with Zapier, our partners can use this integration to move information between thousands of web apps and create custom workflows that suit your business. 

Reduce salon color waste with Vish

We’ve integrated with the industry-leading color management experts at Vish to help salon owners more efficiently manage their inventory. With Vish, your front desk always has an accurate picture of the colors you have in stock.

Online booking enhancements

We’ve improved upon our intuitive online booking system to make things even smarter! You’re welcome.

Set a scheduling order for services to manage stylists’ time wisely

Because it’s critical that client services are booked in the order they should be performed, we’ve made it easier to reorder how services appear. Previously, reordering the way services appeared in your menu affected the scheduling order — not anymore! You can now set your online service menu order as well as the scheduling order separately to ensure that appointments with multiple services are scheduled correctly.

Inclusivity

Creating a more inclusive beauty industry is built into our DNA, so we’re especially proud to have further advanced this initiative in 2021.

Client and staff pronouns create a more inclusive environment

Sometimes the simplest changes can have the biggest impact. During the June 2021 Pride celebration, we rolled out a new feature that makes it easier to acknowledge the pronouns of both clients and staff.

We’d like to thank our partners for another wonderful year together. In addition to all the product updates our team rolled out, we also grew our partner network to 2,000 salons and spas over 2021. We saw record growth, and we owe it all to you. Here’s to a happy, healthy, and productive 2022!