Parlor Buzz: One-stop solution for all our pampering needs

Creative minds of Pakistan’s first-ever online web portal of beauty salons on what all you can look forward to

KARACHI:

You no longer need to explore every fifth salon on your street to find a great service as Parlor Buzz, an online web portal, plans to give you the best beauty option. Parlor Buzz is the brainchild of three friends and lifestyle enthusiasts Ayesha Safeer, (Buzz Evangelist), Anum Zahid (Buzz Ninja) and Shafaq Iqtedar (Buzz Geek). Speaking to The Express Tribune, the girls revealed what all you can look forward to at www.parlorbuzz.com

Talking about their latest venture, Ayesha revealed, “It’s Pakistan’s first online portal of beauty salons. It’s a web-based application that focuses on serving as a single platform where women [as well as men] can find all sort of information relevant to beauty salons in seven major cities of Pakistan.”



“It let users rate and review as well as search and view parlours in their location. All reviews and ratings are unbiased and won’t face any intervention from the salon owners. Moreover, the platform is built to help local makeup artists feature their business, place ads, showcase their services, enhance their portfolio and market their competitive advantages to the right audience; in a nutshell, increase their online presence, exposure and visibility,” she added.

The girls believe in redefining the search for beauty in Pakistan. “We decided to launch this service as soon as the idea clicked in our minds back in January. We started working on the execution right away and launched it on May 23,” Ayesha said.

Revealing the need for such a platform, Anum said, “The beauty parlor business has been in action for many years and they can be seen in every nook and corner of the country. As there is no dedicated platform for salons, the only way to decide on where to go would depend on word of mouth.”

But is the opinion going to be worth the money and will the services live up to expectations? “Until now, there was no such platform where we could check reviews, ratings and listings of popular salons. As soon as we decided to work on this idea, we realised how its absence has affected makeup artists and beauty enthusiasts alike,” she added.

Ayesha added that being beauty conscious is something that comes naturally to a woman. She believes beauty isn’t just ‘how you look’ but more about your confidence and how you carry yourself; so, whether we talk about teens, working women, housewives, mothers; all of them no matter what their profession, status or location is, want to look and feel good and they have every right to.



On a question about what inspired them to come up with this idea, Shafaq revealed, “We realised that a search engine such as Yelp can be really helpful. It’s simple and straightforward for users who are searching for particular services as well as business owners who want to promote their businesses. Similarly, we wanted to create a user-friendly service, tapping the niche of beauty salons.”

Since it is a relatively new concept, the competitive advantage of Parlor Buzz is that it’s the first review-based beauty salon platform, with around 300 beauty salons, got more than 12,000 page-views within the first few weeks of its launch.

“Users are browsing through portfolios of salons and making informed decisions within seconds. We plan to expand and tap every detail in the niche by offering information on salon services, pricing and deals, options to book appointments, advertise make-up classes, market beauty products, update users with latest beauty trends and much more,” Shafaq said. Parlor Buzz seems be a perfect place for the market leaders or new entrants to cater to the right audience and make this a medium to connect with their clientele.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th,  2015.

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