By Will Fennell
In professional skincare, trust isn’t built online, it’s built in the treatment room. It’s gained through consultation, experience, and the ongoing relationship between therapist and client.
For this reason, product companies cannot afford to make retail strategy decisions in isolation. The salons that introduce, prescribe, and uphold a brand’s reputation are not just distribution points, they are the basis of its credibility. As the industry evolves and online retail becomes unavoidable, one principle becomes increasingly important:
brands must listen to their salons, not just their sales data. Every professional skincare brand faces the same modern challenge. Clients prioritise convenience.
Online shopping has become second nature. And eventually, every brand must determine how to address the realities of e-commerce. For professional skincare companies built on salon partnerships, that decision isn’t always easy.
At BIODROGA Australia, we faced exactly this challenge.
Our German partners need an official online store so customers can buy genuine BIODROGA products from a trusted source. Without it, clients often turn to unofficial channels – eBay, Amazon, or grey-market resellers, where authenticity and professional advice are completely lost.
A few years ago, we launched our own online store. The intention was good, but we made a few mistakes along the way. When building the store, we focused on delivering a top-tier online experience. We introduced features such as welcome discounts and subscription options to make purchasing easier and more convenient.
And the truth is, clients loved it. Perhaps a little too much. Some customers who first found out about BIODROGA in their salons started buying directly online instead of going back to their therapist. This was never the original aim, but it turned into an unintended result. Last year, at our BIODROGA Stockist Conference, I decided to address the issue directly with our salon partners.
I asked a straightforward question: How do you really feel about the online store?
The responses were genuine. Some stockists showed clear frustration, while others felt the system didn’t adequately support the salons that first introduced the brand to their clients. It was a tough but necessary discussion, as I’ve always believed that professional skincare should back the professionals who developed it.
Perhaps what makes this conversation different for us is that BIODROGA Australia isn’t just a distributor, we are also salon owners.
My business partner, Peta, and I still run our own skin institute. If the online store starts to impact salon retail, we notice it immediately. Peta keeps a close eye on the numbers and tells me straight away… and when she does, I listen.
That perspective matters.
While every brand faces the challenge of online retail, not every brand chooses where its loyalty lies. Following those discussions with our stockists, we worked directly with them to develop the BIODROGA Stockist Revenue Protection Program.
The concept is simple.
Each BIODROGA partner salon is given a unique stockist code. Customers shopping through the BIODROGA online store can enter this code at checkout. They then receive a 3% partner discount, matching the price with the in-salon recommended retail price and their purchase is automatically credited to the salon that referred them.
In other words, the therapist who built the relationship remains acknowledged, protected, and paid. The salon also receives the client’s purchase details, enabling it to continue supporting the client’s skin journey.
At the same time, we adjusted our online strategy. We no longer actively promote subscriptions or large online discounts that encourage clients to bypass their salon.
The aim is balance.
Clients can still enjoy the ease of online ordering when needed, but the professional relationship between therapist and client remains at the heart of the BIODROGA philosophy.
Interestingly, the program has also created new opportunities for salons to discover the brand. Some partners promote BIODROGA through consultations and treatments, while the online store handles fulfilment behind the scenes. This allows therapists to concentrate on their core skill, skin expertise, without needing a large upfront retail investment.
In many ways, this has been a valuable lesson.
The beauty industry is changing rapidly, and online retail is now a key part of that shift. But every brand must decide where its loyalty lies.
For us, the answer has always been clear.
BIODROGA products can sometimes be bought online, but the BIODROGA journey always starts in the treatment room, with a professional therapist, a skin consultation, and trusted advice.
This belief comes from the Black Forest, where founder Walter Friedmann established BIODROGA on a simple principle: professional skincare belongs in professional hands.
More than sixty years on, the retail landscape may have evolved, but that promise stays the same. Our roots remain in the institute, just as Walter Friedmann intended, and that is exactly where BIODROGA will always be.
Will Fennell is the Australian distributor for BIODROGA and an international BIODROGA trainer with over 30 years of experience in professional skincare. Alongside his business partner, Peta Friend, he continues to manage a skin institute while supporting BIODROGA salons across Australia.
