How a Single Email Sparked Three Beauty Brands to Save Time and Money They're also gaining valuable insights into their daily operations.

Last year, Kristin Kidd received an email from someone she didn't recognize. Like most of us, Kidd was inclined to simply delete it. But something compelled her to open it and read it from start to finish.

It's a good thing she did. The email was from a representative at Amazon Business talking about the ways it helps businesses save money when purchasing office supplies and other goods. Kidd, the COO of Head to Toe Brands, was ready to learn more.

"I never usually reply to email that comes from outside the organization," Kidd explains. "However, at this point we did not have a unified partner [for ordering supplies]. At the time I was very intrigued and set up a meeting. From there it was an absolute no brainer."

Established earlier this year by private equity firm The Riverside Company, Head to Toe Brands comprises a trio of beauty/wellness franchise companies: The Lash Lounge, Bishops Cuts/Color, and Frenchies Modern Nail Care.

Working with her Amazon Business rep, Matt Jordan, Kidd started slow, rolling out Amazon Business to several of The Lash Lounge's 140 franchise units in the U.S. "Every business needs toilet paper, glass cleaner, coffee pods, mops and, in our case, things like Barbicide disinfectant, and other items," Kidd says.

A simple solution that unifies purchasing across multiple locations

With prices for many common office supplies on the rise, Kidd was keen to keep prices down for her franchise owners and to generally gain more visibility into the ordering process across all locations. "Many were using personal Amazon accounts while some used other vendors online or just physically went to the stores," Kidd recalls. "Our job is to constantly be helping our franchisees make their lives easier. The benefit to being in a franchise system is taking advantage of economies of scale."

Today, thanks to Head to Toe's Amazon Business Associated Accounts Program, Kidd says its franchisees are saving money on supplies. Once a main account (corporate franchise) is set up for the brand, its manager can invite other businesses (franchisees) to order via Amazon Business under the same associated account. The result is that all users can share benefits and discounts while operating and ordering independently.

The savings continue to add up for Head to Toe Brands with Business Prime, which offers free one- or two-day shipping on millions of eligible items. Also, depending on the subscription level, a business can also take advantage of features like Spend Visibility and Guided Buying, which helps create policy rules that guide employees to company-approved products.

Big plans for savings across the entire organization

Kidd says the response to ordering supplies via Amazon Business among The Lash Lounge franchisees has been exceedingly positive. So much so that Kidd is in the process of instituting Amazon Business across Head to Toe's 40+ Bishops Cuts/Color franchises as well as their more than 20 Frenchies Modern Nail Care franchise locations in the U.S.

"The fact that Amazon Business saves even more than a personal prime account is the absolute best part about the program, hands down," Kidd says. "Layer in the ability to get Amex cards, to have assigned ordering permissions for your employees, and to have multiple locations under one login, and you save time and money."

Kidd says she isn't the only one who is excited to complete the company-wide rollout. "Our brand leaders are excited to offer Amazon Business to their franchisees so they can start saving."

Click here to learn more about how Amazon Business can help your business save money and operate more efficiently.