It's a bold new world, where anything can be ordered by an app thanks to our on-demand lifestyle. From Uber supplying cars to Deliveroo giving food, what is the need physically go and shop? Now joining the lineup of app delivery is wait for it, a new hairdo.
Fiona McIntosh, former editor of Elle magazine, along with co-founder investor Dharmesh Mistry launched the Blow app which provides on-demand hair and beauty services to her customers who want to be pampered in their choice of place.
50-year-old McIntosh got the idea of the app after she opened the first Blow salon three years ago in Covent Garden with another branch in Canary Wharf. Her clients began requesting a stylist or therapist to be sent to their homes, hotel and workplaces. “With the arrival of Uber, we wondered what it was worth looking at entering the on-demand culture,” Macintosh says.
In six months the app did more business than the flagship branch. The pace of growth for the app has caught the eye of high-profile investors. In June 2016, Blow got £500,000 from Unilever Ventures and raised another £500,000 from private investors and a separate crowdfunding campaign.
Today Blow has signed up over 3000 beauty professionals with 200 of them active. They carry out over 4000 jobs a month and take 40% of the price, with the therapist keeping the rest.
With the advent of the on-demand economy and the success of Uber and Deliveroo has given consumers confidence to make instant bookings with a single tap of their mobiles. There are apps for babysitters, cleaners and handymen, along with on-demand beers and coffee.