Online hair and beauty bookings system JOLYY plans to build a Blockchain-powered platform, in a bid to increase its efficiency and lower costs for salons and clients alike.

The company believes that the beauty industry is one of the noticeable few markets yet to tap into the enormous potential of digital technologies. Many professionals still rely on a telephone, pen and paper for bookings and customer management.

“Many of the existing beauty booking platforms aren’t taking full advantage of the abundant technological capabilities. Most charge high commissions of over 20 percent or are otherwise inefficient,” JOLYY says.

The company wants to offer a solution to many of these problems, also providing an innovative and smart platform, already operating in its home country Bulgaria. Now it intends to upgrade its system with the help of the Blockchain technology.

It is building a platform, based on the Origin Protocol, with the ambition of becoming a one-stop shop for beauty services and salons. The Origin Protocol uses the Ethereum Blockchain to help buyers and sellers transact in a decentralized environment without traditional intermediaries.

The new JOLYY platform will allow clients to book beauty appointments, pay using its native currency and receive multiple rewards. They will be able to review and recommend products and salons, invite friends, and add new salons, which will give them a certain amount of bonus coins.

Salon managers, in turn, will take easy bookings, receiving immediate online payments, which on other platforms may take up to a month, as reported by the company. In addition, salons will have access to detailed analytics about searches, visits by potential and existing clients, and other data to help them optimize their listing on the platform.

The network will bring benefits for cosmetic products manufacturers as well, through the so-called JOLYY Store. It will allow manufacturers to reach salons directly, searching for them by different filters. Also, they will be able to place ads, precisely targeted to the desired salons and ultimately, arrange product deliveries via smart contracts.

The platform will feature a social network, called JOLLY Live. Users will be able to promote their content, follow and like each other. 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, receiving deals, etc. Salons and vendors will be able to advertise their products.

Upon launch, the platform will allow salons and clients to make appointments free of charge. At a later stage, it plans to introduce a one percent commission per booking.

As part of its market entry strategy, the company will be working with a number of partners to gain access to different markets. In addition, it will benefit from the Origin Protocol network, allowing other products built on it to make beauty bookings as well.

A key element of the project is the launch of the “JOY token,” scheduled for the second quarter of 2018. It will act as the main payment tool across the platform. In addition to bookings, tokens will be used by manufacturers to sell their products. 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 value proposition for its holders. Tokens used for buying ad space will get burned, reducing the total supply.

It plans to issue “700 mln” JOY coins, with 50 percent of them offered for pre-sale. A total 30 percent will be reserved to the community and platform development, “15 percent will go to the company reserve and five percent will be left for advisers, strategic partners, and bounties,” the company COO Ognian Genev says.

Consumers are becoming increasingly accustomed to online and mobile. A 2016 study by research and consultancy company A. T. Kearney showed that online channels were growing four times faster compared to brick and mortar beauty stores.

A report by Inkwood Research predicted a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.15 percent for the global beauty and personal care products market between 2016 and 2024. The volume of the market is expected to reach $750 bln by 2024, the reports claimed. This and other reports identify e-commerce and social media among the main drivers in the industry.

The success of new online cosmetics retailers like Kylie Cosmetics best illustrates such trends. The E-store, launched by 20-year old reality TV celebrity Kylie Jenner, reportedly made $420 mln in sales in its first 18 months.