YourSalon Research Β· Methodology
Central European Salon Digital Readiness Index 2026
Research question
How ready are salons in Czechia, Poland, Germany and Slovakia for a client who wants to find them, see services and prices, book online, choose a staff member and cancel or reschedule β all from a phone?
Scope
A measured 0β100 index of public digital readiness from observable signals. It scores discoverability, booking availability, price transparency, mobile usability, booking flexibility and trust. It does not assess service quality, the in-salon experience or internal software.
Time period
2026 β single annual edition; data collected during 2026.
Markets
Czechia, Poland, Germany, Slovakia. Russian and Ukrainian are reading languages, not studied markets. β Czechia, Poland, Germany, Slovakia
Target population
Active salon businesses across business types (hair, barber, beauty, nail, massage, spa, tattoo/piercing, lash/brow, solo and multi-staff) and city tiers (capital, large, mid-size, small).
Planned sample
Target 1,200β2,000 salons (β300β500 per country), stratified by country Γ business type Γ city tier. The final sample size is disclosed only after collection β never asserted in advance.
Inclusion criteria
- Salons with a discoverable public presence (own site, Google Business Profile, or social profile).
- All listed business types and all city tiers β capital-only sampling is excluded.
Exclusion criteria
- Permanently closed or duplicate listings.
- Non-salon businesses misclassified in directories.
Data collection
- Manual / limited public-page audit using a standardized scoring sheet β no large-scale scraping; robots and terms of service are respected.
- Each business is checked against 20 public indicators (own site, online booking, Google 'Book' button, social booking, services and prices visible, staff selection, live slots, after-hours and online cancel/reschedule, deposit, cancellation rules, mobile, HTTPS, reviews, multilingual info, clicks-to-book).
- A subset is double-entered for quality control.
Scoring framework
Each business scores 0β100 across six weighted dimensions; each indicator contributes points within its dimension and the index is the sum of dimension scores. The weights are fixed in advance and justified here β not chosen to fit a result.
Higher = more digitally ready.
| Scoring framework | % | β |
|---|---|---|
| Discoverability | 20 | Own website, Google Business Profile, Reviews and contact details |
| Booking availability | 25 | Online booking, Google 'Book' button, Social and after-hours booking |
| Price transparency | 15 | Services and prices visible, Deposit/cancellation rules visible |
| Mobile usability | 15 | Mobile version, HTTPS, Low clicks-to-book |
| Booking flexibility | 15 | Staff selection, live slots, Online cancel and reschedule |
| Trust & information | 10 | Multilingual info, reviews, Transparent policies |
Formulas
- Dimension score:
sum(indicator points) normalized to the dimension weight - Index:
Ξ£ dimension scores (max 100)
Missing data
Indicators that cannot be verified from public pages are recorded as 'not observed', not as 0 or 1; the denominator is adjusted so missing data does not silently penalize a business, and the missing-rate per indicator is reported.
Quality control
- A standardized scoring sheet with written rules for each indicator.
- Double entry on a random subset to measure inter-rater agreement.
- Duplicate detection and city-tier balancing before analysis.
Potential bias
- Public-page observation can miss booking offered only via DM or phone.
- Directory coverage differs by country and city tier.
- Auditor judgement on 'clicks-to-book' is standardized but not perfectly objective.
Limitations
- A point-in-time snapshot; salons change.
- A stratified sample, not a census, with stated limits.
- Cross-country comparison only where sample composition is comparable; otherwise flagged.
Privacy
- Only public business information is recorded β no personal data of clients or staff.
- Results are published as aggregates; no individual salon is ranked or named negatively.
Correction policy
Salons and readers may request a correction; verified corrections are applied and listed in the study change log.
Update policy
Annual edition; the change log records every update and re-check.
Contact
Methodology and media questions: info@yoursalon.cz
Sources and methodology
No external sources are cited yet β they are added as each fact is verified.