SINGAPORE \u2013 Lower prices have long drawn Singapore customers to beauty salons across the Causeway, and this is only set to increase when the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System <\/span><\/a>(RTS) Link opens in 2027<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n With the journey between Woodlands North and Bukit Chagar taking just minutes, the new service could lead to Singapore consumers making 51% more round trips to JB a year, with beauty services listed as one of the top spending categories,\u00a0a study released in July found.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n In anticipation of this, some salons in Singapore have opted to improve their in-store experience and take their services directly to clients\u2019 homes, betting that convenience and service quality will help them retain customers.<\/p>\n One example is Singapore facial salon Peachy Skin Bar, which offers facial treatments priced between $180 and $500.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of competing purely based on price, I\u2019m finding ways to differentiate my facial business from other competitors in Singapore and Johor Bahru,\u201d said owner Crystal Lee.<\/p>\n Her salon in Queen Street, founded in 2019, was recently renovated with pink walls and an open lounge area where customers can enjoy a free drink.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lounge is so that customers won\u2019t feel trapped in a small room. I wanted my salon to resemble a summer destination where people can come to unwind,\u201d said Lee, adding that her business is focusing on the overall customer experience rather than just the service itself.<\/p>\n As a value-add, she has also trained her staff to give customers a shoulder massage between the stages of a facial, rather than leave them alone while waiting for the next step.<\/p>\n She noted that even before the RTS came into the picture, competition from JB had always existed, and that building good relationships with her customers has kept them coming back to her salon despite the higher price.<\/p>\n Asked if she would consider opening an outlet in JB, Lee said that she prefers to observe the market first.<\/p>\n \u201cOpening an outlet in JB would require a lot of money and logistics. I\u2019m not a hasty person, so I prefer to focus on my Singapore outlet for now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Still, she noted that customers are now more price sensitive and unpredictable.<\/p>\n \u201cThe RTS intensifies the convenience factor, but we can\u2019t predict how they will behave once it opens. We can only brace ourselves,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Other local beauty businesses are also upping their game by doubling down on the Singapore market.<\/p>\n Eyelash salon Perky Lash, which has four salons in Singapore, has operated an outlet in Johor Bahru City Square mall since 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cPrices at our JB outlet are 20 to 30 per cent lower than our Singapore outlets,\u201d said founder Jasmin Tay, adding that 80% of its customers are Singaporeans.<\/p>\n But rather than opening a second outlet in JB, Perky Lash plans to give its customers here less reason to make the trip across the Causeway.<\/p>\n In April, it launched a home visit service here, where staff offer lash services in homes, offices and even hospitals.<\/p>\n Jasmin Tay, CEO of Perky Lash, has launched a home visit service in Singapore, where staff offer eye-lash services in homes, offices and even hospitals.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u201cSingaporean customers are very time-starved. Even by opening more outlets, our reach to customers who may not have time to travel to us is limited. With home visits, we hope to broaden our customer base,\u201d said Tay.<\/p>\n She added that lashes are a regular-maintenance beauty service rather than a one-off service.<\/p>\n \u201cCustomers tend to stick to the lash artists they already know and trust,\u201d said Tay. \u201cThey value trust and consistency, rather than just the price.\u201d<\/p>\n Shiyun Teo, founder of Picasso Hair Studio, which opened in 2014, said that as competition from across the Causeway intensifies, businesses here must give customers compelling reasons beyond price to choose them.<\/p>\n Shiyun Teo, founder of Picasso Hair Studio, reckons that convenience and time will play an important role in attracting customers.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: GIN TAY<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have any immediate plans to open in Johor Bahru, although I wouldn\u2019t completely rule it out in the future,\u201d said Teo.<\/p>\n Like Tay, she reckons that convenience and time will play an important role in attracting customers.<\/p>\n \u201cOur Novena outlet, for example, is surrounded by condominiums and tuition centres. We have parents who drop their children off for tuition and use that time to get their hair done,\u201d Teo said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor these customers, maximising their time can sometimes be more important than saving money.<\/p>\n \u201cEven with the RTS making JB more accessible, there is still travelling time involved, so I don\u2019t think the decision to cross the Causeway will be purely about comparing prices.\u201d<\/p>\n Teo said that choosing a local hair studio gives customers the assurance that their salon and stylist are nearby should any adjustments be needed, saving them another trip across the border.<\/p>\n \u201cI do expect the RTS to create more competition, but I also think it pushes Singapore businesses to be clearer about what value they provide beyond being the cheapest option,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n \u201cFor us, that value is in the quality of the work, the design, the relationship with our customers, and the assurance we provide after the service.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n SINGAPORE \u2013 Lower prices have long drawn Singapore customers to beauty salons across the Causeway, and this is only set to increase when the Johor…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=92235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/92236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=92235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=92235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=92235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/picture><\/div>
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