Well, hello there! Missy's series of software reviews continues. In this edition, we're tackling Boulevard. Created for medspas, day spas, salons and aesthetics businesses, this comprehensive platform occupies a niche space in the market. Like many of its peers, Boulevard claims to manage all aspects of business, from streamlining appointments to sending marketing texts and emails, and elevating client experiences with HIPAA-compliant forms and charts.
Boulevard's pricing is also noticeably higher than many of its competitors. Individual service providers should probably consider other options, but what about smaller or mid-size aesthetics businesses, or salons, for that matter?
Let's walk down the Boulevard together and find out.
Key Features to Consider
When evaluating any major purchase, it's helpful to distinguish between essential features and bonus offerings. No matter which software platform you ultimately select for your business, certain functionalities should be considered fundamental requirements—or at least carefully assessed—before finalizing your decision, regardless of your specific service menu.
Whether your priority is client database management or employee payment structures, aligning your software selection with your overall business objectives remains paramount
Cost
As noted, Boulevard’s high pricing stands out from competitors. It offers 4 main plans (with a fifth Enterprise plan for growing businesses with several locations):
Essentials – $160/month
Premiere – $295/month
Prestige – $410/month
Aesthetics Bundle (Medspas) - $520
Boulevard's Essentials plan covers core features like online booking, POS integration, the Duo App, basic reporting, and client communications. Additional features can be purchased as individual add-ons or acquired through plan upgrades.
Boulevard's Premiere plan adds resource scheduling, booking deposits, and custom reporting options. The Prestige tier includes the Forms & Charts add-on (crucial for medspas) plus a dedicated customer success manager. Note that many competitors include these features in their standard offerings
Customizations
Boulevard offers a range of customizable features, the extent of which increases with higher-tiered plans. These include custom digital forms, reports, branded client portals, service menu configurations, permission settings, scheduling parameters, communication templates, payment policies, and client profile customizations.
Integrations
Boulevard's many integrations include synchronization with: Apple Calendar, Facebook Book Now, Google Calendar, Instagram Book Now, Green Circle Salons, Okta SSO, Shopify, QuickBooks, REACH.ai (AI-powered booking engine), Opera PMS, Reserve with Google, Zapier, TrueLark (AI-powered business assistant), Widewail (reviews and testimonials), and Vish (color management software).
Online Booking
Boulevard touts its fast, seamless self-booking overlay (which stays on your business's website rather than redirecting clients to a separate booking page) and syncs with your Google, Facebook, and Instagram profiles.
Calendar
Boulevard offers a fully customizable calendar with time blocking, resource management and other features. Their proprietary "Precision Scheduling" uses algorithms to learn your clients' booking habits to offer the most efficient appointment times for your team.
CRM
Boulevard's CRM tracks client data like purchase habits, lifetime value, and special requests; automatically saves details to client profiles; provides a HIPAA-compliant portal for clients to update their information and manage appointments; and features a two-way client communication platform.
Appointment Reminders
Automated appointment reminders, confirmations, and other client notifications are included in Boulevard's scheduling and client management toolkit.
Reporting Boulevard leverages data-driven insights for businesses. Their reports analyze service sales, retail, tax, expenses, inventory, payroll, and client activity. Staff reporting, commission reports, and advanced activity logging require a plan upgrade.
Inventory Management
Boulevard's inventory management features, available in their Premiere plan, offer comprehensive product tracking fully integrated with transaction and customer systems. Features include real-time inventory adjustments, barcode scanning, quick product searches, depletion alerts, and detailed stock reporting.
Loyalty Programs
Boulevard's Loyalty Program App enables you to create customizable, point-based loyalty programs for products and services, which significantly helps increase client retention.
Website Builder
At the time of this review, Boulevard does not offer a website builder.
POS/Payment Processing
Boulevard's self-care POS software stands out from competitors. "Boulevard Offset" charges clients a 3% credit processing fee for the convenience of using credit cards at checkout, while you keep up to 99% of your product and service sales. It also supports multi-merchant accounts (independent contractors, renters, etc.). The Boulevard Duo POS device accepts dip, tap, swipe, and contactless payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Marketing
Boulevard includes comprehensive marketing tools, such as email and text campaigns. Their email and text tools offer automation, segmentation, an ROI calculator, success metrics, and an intuitive builder interface.
What Businesses Like Yours Are Saying About Boulevard
A salon or spa software platform may appear excellent in theory, but its real-world performance matters most. Below are some firsthand accounts from professionals who have implemented Boulevard in their businesses:
4.3/5.0 (76 reviews)
4.6/5.0 (324 reviews)
"Boulevard has been a game changer for my medical spa practice! I could not be more satisfied with an EMR/booking/POS system." - (Jun 18, 2024 - Capterra)
"The professional app needs a lot of work in my opinion. The lack of ability to take payments in the mobile app creates problems when we are trying to do purchases or enter appointments and aren't near a computer, and scheduling the appointments can be a chore..." - (Jul 7, 2023 - Capterra)
"We love using Boulevard at our medspa. There was hesitancy at first due to the higher price point, but this system is worth every penny. The charting is easy, scheduling is seamless and the client experience is better than anything else out there." - (May 18, 2024 - G2)
"This software has integrated nicely with our spa business. Booking is easy to understand and navigate and our clients seem to like the reminders and other interactions with Boulevard. Once you are familiar with the system, it's quite easy to use." - (Nov 13, 2024 - Capterra)
"[It is] Sometimes confusing when adding more services and products, [with respect to] what page to initially build these services and products on. Sometimes it’s a bunch of clicking back and forth." - (Jun 18, 2024 - Capterra)
"Boulevard's scheduling function is simple and easy. Its POS is intuitive and is streamlined to make check out quick and easy. It presents stylists with easy to digest reports of their own performance, while also providing in-depth reports to management without throwing in useless data. My biggest complaint is that the professional app doesn't let management view all reports." - (Jun 5, 2024 - Capterra)
The Final Verdict: Boulevard Pros and Cons
Though not exclusively built for medspas and wellness establishments, Boulevard's functionality makes it particularly well-suited for medspas, day spas, and larger salons offering aesthetic and self-care services. It earns significant praise for its intuitive, streamlined interface. Even when compared to competitors, Boulevard delivers substantial value with its comprehensive scheduling and client management tools. However, accessing more sophisticated (and often essential) team features typically requires upgrading to a premium subscription tier.
If I'm being repetitive, I apologize, but Boulevard's features and pricing structure make it most suitable for profitable, potentially larger businesses. While the Essentials plan provides basic functionality for up to five professionals, you'll need to invest nearly $120 more monthly for the Premiere plan if you want booking deposits—a critical feature for high-ticket services. For medical aesthetics providers requiring HIPAA-compliant forms and charts, the Prestige Package demands an additional $115 per month.
Nevertheless, the customer reviews are consistently positive. Users appear genuinely satisfied with Boulevard's pricing and comprehensive functionality. Any investment in your business must take your current profit levels, budget and projected ROI into account—and management software is no exception.
So, on to my final verdict. Weighing Boulevard's attractiveness, advanced features, and comprehensive functionality against some of its downsides—premium pricing, tiered feature availability, and POS hardware quality concerns—I give Boulevard an 8.5 out of 10.