Sole Distributor of Framesi in France, Romain Choron, is very confident about the future of the Italian family-owned brand. It supplies the French hairdressers with all the tools needed for a modern and successful business in the fast-evolving scenario of the international hair & beauty industry. Estetica Export discusses this and other matters with him.
Can you introduce your Company?
“I created my company in 2017, near Lyon. It’s a business for the distribution of several brands to hair salons. My first step was to open a store, then, in 2018 I started commercial distribution in the region and, at the same time, I founded a second company to provide furniture to hair salons and create a training organization. In this way I could support the hairdressers’ needs from A to Z.
In 2020, COVID slowed down our development. In 2021 we participated in MCB Paris and Beauté Sélection Lyon, and organized our 1st warehouse, hiring additional salesmen. In 2022, we once again exhibited at MCB Paris, Beauté Sélection Lyon and I set up a distributor in New Caledonia. 2023 has been a year of important changes – first, we improved our warehouse and logistics system and most importantly I signed a distribution contract with Framesi. Then we set up Framesi training in France and enlarged the distribution area adding a distributor in the North of France. Furthermore, we started working with hair influencers”.
What is your professional background and why did you choose to distribute Framesi?
“For 7 years, I worked for the CSP group to develop the wholesaler and distribution network in France (setting up a distributor network “DISTRI CLUB”) and then as a developer of the franchise. I chose Framesi because I was looking for a brand that is exclusively for hairdressers with high-quality products and fair
prices. My goal is to allow as many people as possible to raise their level of competence and bring new services and higher quality to customers. The fact that Framesi is a family-owned business and does not belong to an investment fund was also a criterion of choice because it helps engage in the long term with hairdressers. A brand that puts the hairdresser at the centre of its innovation makes a really important difference. It allows Framesi to release new products that help hairdressers create new services”.
How is your sales network organised?
“The sales network in France has a team in the field and a sales team on the phone which works through our website dedicated to professionals and social networks, as well as distributors”.
From your point of view, how is the hair & beauty sector in France doing?
“It has been in decline for years because of education. Since COVID, we have seen that many staff have decided to retrain in other professions, thus creating a worrying shortage of hairdressers. Looking on the bright side, although numbers are fewer, it does mean the ones we do have are much more passionate about this job than in the past. In France, many salons have not been profitable for years because their prices were not calculated in relation to their expenses. Many salons will close in the coming years to make room for those who have perfected, specialized, or who will bring a customer experience in line with current expectations. Indeed, today the active woman wants to pay for a more expensive service, but she expects a unique experience in return and impeccable professionalism from her hairdresser. In the coming years, we will see the openings of many more independent salons than franchises, following this need to customize the offer and the customer experience. Salons with 10 employees, as it had been in the past, will give way to smaller businesses with 2-3 employees. Nowadays the hair spa is flourishing and brings new services to a large number of salons. With the change in consumption, hairdressers need to train themselves and become better at their job to offer more professional services and adapt to the new needs and desires of today’s client. An evolution is taking place in France in the hairdressing market with more professional salons looking to work with better products. This is the challenge for brands like FRAMESI – to support this change by providing hairdressers with tools and solutions in line with the evolution of the market and customer expectations. This is why we need to have training as a central pillar of the brand in order to grow our customers and bring them to a higher technical and service level”.
What does it take for a brand to be successful in France?
“Today we see many brands blooming, but for longevity it is important to have a partner that has existed for a long time and that allows the hairdresser to offer all the services expected by the customer.
To succeed in its development in France, one must above all be sincere. Today, a brand must not only provide a product solution, but it must also accompany the hairdresser in his choices and his desire for evolution. The products must be of quality to really make the difference and bring the customer back to his hairdresser”.
Do you believe in trade exhibitions to develop your business?
“For several years we participated in the MCB Paris and the Beauté Sélection in Lyon which are the two most important events in France. Lately, these events have been less frequented by hairdresser bosses and more by students or employees who come to look for bargains at the level of purchases but don’t pay much attention to brands and product releases.
For me, the market has changed and today we no longer have any real interest in participating in these events which are expensive and mobilize staff over weekends, because the rise of social networks allows us to be closer to the hairdresser and to better target his clientele”.
How important are e-commerce and online activities for you?
E-commerce and the internet are very important today but very dangerous because a brand like Framesi must be present while remaining exclusive to professionals. The management of these new tools is complicated for all brands, but I think it is possible to set up a good development strategy on the Internet by having a good power of management on the published content. It is also necessary to know how to properly use influencer hairdressers today without falling into the purchase of simple videos but creating a real link with these professionals who are also looking for serious partners with good products to improve their images and keep a serious and long-term distribution to their communities”.
And you offer varying prices….
“Yes, today we have a bespoke discount systems for our customers in order to create serious and long-term partnerships with them. We do not value the amount of purchase from us but the seriousness of the partnership with our customers. A customer who orders several ranges from us will have more discount than a customer who buys a single product even in large quantities because it is better to work with a complete range of our brand than with a single product”.
How important is education?
“For me, it is the central pillar of Framesi’s presence in France. Hairdressers have been abandoned at the level of education and are in demand for improvement, so it is important to bring them more professionalism with serious and useful training for their salon. It is important to put the hairdresser back at the center of the service provided to the end customer with precise and quality services. The training is also essential for us because the hair colours numbering used by the other major brands is different from Framesi’s and the hairdresser needs the education to become a specialist in colorimetry and not only an applicator of colour. He must make mixtures to customize the colouring and the service provided to each client and this necessarily involves the correct learning of the Framesi colorimetry and its use”.
What are your plans for the future?
“Our short-term goal is to place FRAMESI in the top 10 brands used in hair salons in France and in the medium term in the top 5. Today the major hairdressers in France welcome the brand with great enthusiasm and I am sure that the Framesi community in France will grow even faster. What makes me happy is to see that our Framesi customers in France exchange a lot of information between them about techniques. They help each other a lot and have found a real caring family in which everyone does not hesitate to help the other. This really pulls hairdressers up, most of our salons have weeks-long waiting lists for their appointments and given the current situation in France, it is a source of real pride for us.
We will increase the communication with our hairdressers and we are preparing new things for our community that will make the market talk a lot about Framesi next year”.
