O
ften when people want or need a massage, they need it the same day: when their back hurts or when they have
a free hour. Sometimes they want a mas- sage after traditional spas have closed, or want to find a licensed therapist who can travel to their location. Or they may have children, or health/mobility issues, which make scheduling and travel difficult. The premise of Zeel is to bring high-
quality massage therapy to customers where and when they want it. Times are as early as 8am and as late at 10.30pm, 365/7. Instead of competing with spas, Zeel is
expanding the massage market – helping people to get last-minute appointments or services when facilities are closed. There are millions of missing massages in the industry – between therapists with gaps in their schedules and customers who seek massages at the last minute or in-home but haven’t had (before Zeel) the ability to get those services. We think there’s room for both spas and Zeel. Zeel offers fair market pricing in
each city based on the comparable cost
Samer Hamadeh Founder & CEO, Zeel
of a massage at a high-quality spa. In addition, we have an annual membership programme. Zeelots pay US$99 (€91, £64) a month (plus tax and tip) for one massage credit per month, with additional massages discounted by 15-20 per cent. We recruit and retain therapists by
offering significant benefits. Our 3,500- plus therapists take home 70-75 per cent of the cost of each massage, earning two to three times as much per hour as at a traditional spa. They can work at any time and as much or as little as they want. Because therapists can choose when they want to take appointments, we find many of them work both at spas and with Zeel. Key to our model is ensuring the
security of customers and therapists. We select and vet therapists and confirm that each has a valid license and at least
US$1m of professional liability insurance. On the customer side, we require valid ID verification through Experian and Jumio. Zeel is the only on-demand company that takes this extra security step instead of skipping ID checks or resorting to social media profiles, which can be faked. We’ve seen tremendous success since
launching in 2012 and have expanded to South Florida, Southern California, and the San Francisco Bay Area. We’re seeing month-over-month double-digit growth in both the number of massages booked and the number of customers overall.
A Stanford University graduate, Hamadeh founded Zeel in New York in late 2012. It was the fi rst company of its kind and holds a registered trademark for Massage On Demand®. Details:
www.zeel.com
The potential for loss of staff and an increasing challenge to fi nd qualifi ed therapists could become reality for the traditional spa industry if our workers start choosing this model for employment
M
arket disrupters have aff ected and challenged all industries. Zipcar dynami- cally changed the car
rental market, Uber is doing it in the taxi industry and Airbnb in hospitality. In all cases, innovative, out-of-the-box thinking impacts a sector on a macro level. . In the spa arena, Soothe and Zeel are
like Uber for massage. Their on-demand apps provide instant access to massage sometimes in less than an hour. The potential for loss of staff and an increasing challenge to find qualified therapists could become reality for the traditional spa industry if our workers start choosing this model for employment. How the spa sector will change due
to the arrival of massage-on-demand businesses remains to be seen. If demand for these companies takes off – or goes wild like Uber – we should expect to see more customers coming into the industry, which is a good thing. Balance that with staffing
Michael Tompkins CEO, Hilton Head Health; chair, ISPA
challenges and competition [for business] and all of a sudden we have disruption across all types of spas and segments of the industry. Imagine hotels not having to build a spa but partnering with a massage- on-demand company instead. Surely someone has already thought of that? Food delivery didn’t kill the restaurant
business. Not panicking and taking a proactive stance while remaining flexible will be key for traditional spa facilities. A sense of place has a lot to do with the spa experience and this is something traditional spas have over massage-on- demand. The important thing is that individual companies convey uniqueness within their own brand to set them apart.
At Hilton Head Health, we’ll continue
with our weight loss programme and expand into areas within spa, nutrition, healthy cooking, meals and fitness. It’s an exciting time for us. Our possibilities are endless. I often think it’s good to see what’s going on out there, but never copy someone else. Innovation comes from your own team. Be a trendsetter, encourage and develop those who work for you.
As well as his role at Hilton Head Health – the US weight-loss resort brand – Tompkins is the chair of the International Spa Association (ISPA). Details:
www.hhhealth.com and
www.experienceispa.com
©CYBERTREK 2015
spabusiness.com issue 3 2015 71
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