Tell us about your most recent software update
Key add-ons within our latest releases include eCommerce, gift certificates, mobile check-in, digital marketing integration and extended business intelligence reporting. Our business intelligence tools provide detailed KPIs, income simulation and ‘what if’ analysis, all tailored to assist in improving a spa’s bottom line

What interesting projects are you working on?
We’re currently working with Canyon Ranch to deploy our solutions on board its 18 cruise line spas. The cruise line business is very interesting as it’s truly international, raising particular challenges. For example, we need the ability to change tax depending on where a ship is located.

Operating out in open sea poses unique challenges in itself, such as the ability to operate centrally with sporadic access to the internet. We’re therefore pioneering new database technologies with the ability to sync data from the ships to their land-based servers and vice versa.

What are the trends in spa software?
Customer-facing apps are increasingly in demand and consumers are generally requiring a more efficient spa experience. From a spa management perspective, customer recognition, system reliability and ease of use have been key for years and will continue to be a standard requirement.

How is business going?
Business has been remarkable in the last 18 months. We’ve secured a major contract for a top hotel spa operator with several hundred resorts (we can’t say which due to non-disclosure). Our software is now in nearly 70 countries, we’re developing our European markets and we’re seeing increased opportunities in South America. Meanwhile Dubai is flying and Asia and North America continue to expand rapidly for us.

Spa-kit.net keywords: Concept Software

What’s the newest piece of spa software you’ve launched?
Spa management is not a job that’s linked to only one locality or one computer. We recently introduced Sense onto the market. With this module, spa employees can access our software from all common browsers on smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop PC.

What’s been TAC's biggest news recently?
We bought HIS Solution, a big German spa software company, and have now reached a high of 1,200 customers in 54 countries. We’ve also made a huge step into the B2C-market since acquiring WellnessBooking.com – Germany’s top spa booking platform – in July 2015.

What trends are you spotting?
A seamless availability of spa offers is increasingly required by consumers. Digital signage is therefore as important as mobile access to last-minute offers. Spa software must adapt to this trend and set up corresponding interfaces.

We also believe that hands-on experience in using spa software is crucial. Some universities are offering our spa software course to their spa students, helping job seekers to get a smooth transition into the industry.

How are consumer trends shaping spa software?
We see great potential in booking platforms, as customers search for information relevant for making a booking online – if you’re not listed online, you’re non-existent. Our software automatically transfers all online bookings into the software, therefore preventing any double-bookings occurring online or on-site.

Spa-kit.net keyword: TAC

What are you doing that other spa software companies aren’t?
We work with hospitality software experts in our company who help us understand the spa as part of a puzzle, while we can focus on what spas need as standalone operations.

What’s your most recent piece of spa software?
TNG has just been extended with a face-recognition feature which allows spas to identify a guest with a camera instead of swiping a card or reading a bracelet.

In addition, we’re also currently releasing the browser-based version of our software which has a brand new design, making TNG accessible on a tablet and mobile, as well as PC.

What’s the key to making spa software user friendly?
The most important thing is to combine real customer feedback with software expertise. We actively ask our customers about their individual needs and practices, while creating a universal solution that’s a benefit to all our clients.

What have been the biggest changes in spa software recently?
It seems that the gap between simple, downloadable, low-cost solutions and our enterprise type of locally implemented solutions is becoming smaller. We want to appear simpler, lighter with extended features, but customisation will always remain a clear differentiator.

What consumer trends are you noticing?
Everybody wants everything at their fingertips: to book online anytime, close all transactions without a call or personal contact, but not all spas are ready. As a software company we need to stay one step ahead, use the newest technology without forgetting that between the consumer trends and our software lies the actual spa which has to decide which way to go.

Spa-kit.net keyword: TNG

What are you doing that’s different?
We solve three problems facing spa owners: filling short notice white space; the complexity of dealing with bookings; and meeting the slow and resource-hungry communication between clients and front of house.

Booking systems are good at managing what’s booked, but they don’t market what’s not been booked. That’s why more spas use Gappt, in addition to their current processes, to make clients aware of late notice availability and let them easily express interest in a specific time or package. Spas receive, and can quickly reply to, booking requests with text messages straight to clients’ phones.

What spas are you working on?
UK destination spa Ragdale Hall approached Gappt to provide a solution to fill its spa day and spa break spaces while improving communication with new and existing clients. It wanted to advertise short notice availability and high value packages efficiently to maximise profits. Since launching at the beginning of January, Ragdale Hall has realised Gappt’s impact – Tracy Lawrence, internet marketing manager says: “We were astonished that we received our first request for a weekend spa package within a few minutes of going live! And requests have been flying in ever since.”

What consumer trends are you noticing?
We see three: busy lifestyles, convenience, mobile. Making an enquiry with one click and receiving a short and concise reply direct to your mobile phone will soon become industry standard. A big shift towards user-friendly software, will allow spas to market their services actively and in real time, catering to the ‘fire away and forget’ immediacy mind-set that drives high-value consumers.

Spa-kit.net keyword: Gappt

What are you doing that other spa software companies aren’t?
Zenoti is a cloud platform and we decided early on to invest heavily in best-of-class infrastructure to ensure our service is always fast and reliable.

We also built our platform top-down and this is what makes Zenoti such a strong software for multi-location business. We’re able to provide extensive support for corporate staff at headquarters while also supporting centre level operations at the same time.

What’s your most recent piece of spa software?
We recently launched Zenoti Dashboards, a customisable reporting and analytics platform. Our users can track daily metrics as well as performance against monthly goals. We’re investing heavily in making the entire reporting system straightforward and personalised for each user.

What challenging projects are you working on currently?
We’re in the process of transitioning a number of large, multi-location spa chains onto the Zenoti platform.

Moving a large network of spas raises interesting challenges as there’s a need to strike a balance between retaining best practices that work, while helping to support newer, more efficient processes where they make sense. We have a number of tools and processes in place to train a large, distributed group of staff, managing a timely transition for the entire network and providing personalised support during the first few weeks after switch-over.

What have been the biggest changes in spa software?
With spas moving to cloud software, they can expect so much more from their software. One of the biggest changes is in the adoption of mobile technology, transforming how a spa is run and how staff and customers interact with the business.

Spa-kit.net keyword: Zenoti