Online beauty and hair bookings company JOLYY is building a blockchain platform intended to lower commissions for bookings to 1%, compared to rates of over 20% currently in the industry.
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The company plans to introduce smart contracts and instant payments in an industry where salon managers are still largely reliant on pen and paper to manage appointments.
“While many other businesses are totally digitalized, this sector is still in the 20th century […]”, the company COO Ognian Genev says. “The inefficiencies this brings are already generating losses”.
Alongside the inconveniences however, such inefficiencies have the potential for huge opportunities.
The beauty industry is growing at a rate of over 7% per year, according to a report by Inkwood Research. The report also states that the global market size of the beauty industry is projected to increase from $432.7 billion in 2016 to $750 billion by 2024. Online channels, social media and e-commerce are playing an increasingly important role for the market’s growth.
One-stop shop
JOLYY’s mission is to invigorate the existing market by building a secure and efficient platform, which will act as a one-stop shop for clients, salons and cosmetics manufacturers.
The platform will be based on the Origin Protocol. It is a large-scale, distributed network on the Ethereum blockchain, which helps buyers and sellers transact in an open, decentralized environment bypassing traditional intermediaries.
At its launch, the new platform will offer free bookings, with commissions going up to 1% once the network reaches a certain level of capacity.
Beauty salon clients will be able to book their preferred providers 24/7. They will have the option to pay either using the network’s native tokens, or fiat currencies. They will receive tokens as rewards for writing reviews and comments, adding salons or referring new customers. A dedicated social network module, called JOLYY Live, will enable them to interact and engage with their favorite experts. They can follow and ask questions, read relevant content, etc. The company hopes to turn the social network into the go-to place for the beauty industry with users uploading and sharing content, following experts, find deals, etc. Salons and vendors will be able to advertise their products.
Salon managers will be able to manage their bookings effectively and efficiently, receiving instant payments. They can list their store in the network and get insights about their rating and related searches on the platform. Detailed analytics will help them improve their listing and move up the search results.
The company plans to launch a native token, called JOY, based on the Ethereum blockchain. This token will act as the main payment method across the network. Ad space will also be available for sale in exchange for tokens. By attributing an advertising value to tokens, the company hopes to increase the intrinsic value of the currency, long term. Tokens used for buying ad space will get burned, reducing the total supply.
JOLYY store
The network will serve also cosmetic products manufacturers, giving them access to a direct marketing channel called the “JOLYY Store”. It will allow them to reach thousands of salons, filtering their search by geography, size and other criteria. Vendors will promote their products to beauty experts through precisely targeted ads. Once a sale is complete, they will arrange cosmetics deliveries through cashless payments and a smart contract, saving time and money, the company says.
JOLYY was founded in 2016 and operates out of Bulgaria.
The JOY token is scheduled for release in the second quarter of 2018.
