When Layo Ogunbanwo first set out to assist her friend, a Lagos-based salon owner, in refining business processes during the chaotic months of the 2020 lockdown, she had no idea she was laying the foundation for a transformative solution in Nigeria’s beauty and wellness industry. But she approached it like she approaches everything — with curiosity, care, and a knack for solving complex problems.
Fast forward to 2024, and that small act of support has grown into Splice: an all-in-one booking, payment, and business management software designed specifically for beauty and wellness businesses in Africa.
The birth and evolution of Splice
The idea for Splice was born out of frustration. At the time, Layo was serving as VP of Product Strategy at PiggyVest, where she was helping shape Nigeria’s largest savings platform. While assisting her friend with challenges like booking systems and client history in the beauty business, she discovered just how decentralised and inefficient operations were. The reliance on disconnected tools and manual processes made daily operations unnecessarily tedious.
She wondered: if one salon owner faced these challenges, how many others in Nigeria’s considerable beauty and wellness scene were dealing with the same?
Curious to see if this challenge extended beyond her friend’s salon, Layo embarked on a journey to validate her observations. She interviewed dozens of beauty and wellness business owners across Nigeria, soon uncovering a widespread demand for a centralised, easy-to-use system.
The insights were clear — salons and spas needed a comprehensive management tool to streamline daily operations, improve customer retention, and drive growth. As one of the fastest-growing sectors globally — projected to reach $670.8 billion in 2024, with an average annual growth rate of 9% through 2028 — the beauty industry requires its own management system robust enough to keep up with the demand and evolving customer expectations.
For Layo, who thrives on building practical, user-centred solutions, this was a challenge worth taking on. If there’s anything she had learned from her more than 13 years of experience leading product strategy across continents at various companies — including Nigeria-born startup PiggyVest, the world’s largest digital bank by valuation Nubank, and United States-based healthcare software provider Axxess — it’s that the best products solve real problems and they’re built with the user in mind at every step.
With this in mind, Layo began shaping the idea that would become Splice. She knew it couldn’t just be another generic tool because it needed to reflect the unique realities of Nigeria’s beauty and wellness industry.
By August 2023, Splice entered its private testing phase. Layo’s focus was clear: Test, learn, refine. For the next year, she and her team worked directly with business owners to ensure every feature was intuitive, effective, and truly addressed their pain points.
“It wasn’t about creating software for software’s sake,” she recalls. “It was about making life easier for salon and spa professionals, ensuring that the management problems they had prior no longer exist with Splice in the picture.”
Then, in September 2024, Splice made its public debut at Beauty Connect Africa 2024. Organised in partnership with L’Oréal, Sterling Bank, The Business Hub, and Beauty Hut, the maiden event brought together over 150 beauty and wellness professionals to network, learn, and explore growth opportunities. For Layo, the event was a chance to connect with the very people Splice was built for.
After more than a year of rigorous private testing and refinement, Splice became publicly available in October 2024, offering salon and spa operators in Nigeria — and soon across Africa — a robust platform to manage their businesses.
With Splice now launched, the question became: how would it truly stand out in a market crowded with generic solutions? The answer was in its carefully crafted features.
What sets Splice apart?
Splice stands out because it embodies Layo’s thoughtful, user-first philosophy. Before its launch, beauty business owners in Nigeria were often stuck with tools designed for foreign markets, which didn’t address local challenges. Others relied on multiple disconnected solutions that created unnecessary complications.
Layo’s vision for Splice was to change that narrative. She wanted it to be more than just a platform; she envisioned it as a partner that empowers beauty businesses to thrive. From online booking to automated reminders, every feature is designed to solve a specific challenge faced by salons and spas in Nigeria.
This approach stems not only from her professional expertise but also from her deep commitment to empowerment and inclusion. Beyond her corporate achievements, Layo is a fierce advocate for women’s inclusion and empowerment. As a founding member of the Feminist Coalition, she joins a group of Nigerian feminists championing equality for women in the country.
Her work with Splice reflects the same drive to uplift and empower others. “The journey doesn’t end when a product launches,” she often says. “That’s when the real work begins — listening, iterating, and ensuring the product evolves to meet the needs of the people using it.”
Designed for beauty and wellness businesses such as hair salons, barbershops, makeup studios, nail bars, aesthetics clinics, and more, Splice integrates everything a beauty business owner needs on one platform, including:
- Online booking: Simplifying appointment management.
- Payments processing: Enabling seamless and secure payment at the point of booking via multiple channels, including card payments and instant transfers.
- Inventory: Tracking and managing product levels.
- Automated reminders: Automating reminders and client communications vSMSsms and email.
- Powerful Calendar: Designed to maximise business availability.
- Client Relationship Management (CRM): Robust client profiles, insights and preferences.
- Staff scheduling: Ensuring team’s operational efficiency.
- Reporting & insights: Offering data-driven decision-making tools.
- Promotions and loyalty programs: In-built loyalty programs. Helping businesses reward and retain customers.
Now that Splice was already solving pressing challenges for business owners, the team understood that empowering the beauty industry required more than just tools — it demanded insights. So, it was time to release the 2024 Beyond Beauty Report.
Insights from the 2024 Beyond Beauty Report
Following its launch, Splice unveiled its 2024 Beyond Beauty Report. This landmark report provides critical insights into the factors driving customer loyalty in Nigeria’s beauty industry. But why was this important?
Earlier in 2024, while Splice was still in the testing phase, Layo discovered that the Nigerian beauty and personal care market is projected to generate $9.72 billion (₦15.5 trillion) in revenue in 2024, more than double the $4.6 billion (₦1.6 trillion) in 2018. Despite economic uncertainties, this growth was expected to continue through 2029.
However, she realised that in addition to having an all-in-one management tool like Splice, Nigerian beauty and wellness businesses needed a deeper understanding of what makes customers tick to take advantage of this growth opportunity.
Recognising this need, the Splice team, again, dedicated months to researching and understanding how Nigerian consumers find beauty service businesses, what drives their loyalty, and what they expect from these establishments.
They surveyed over 500 Nigerian beauty customers spanning various age groups, demographics, and genders. The result of all that work is a report titled Beyond Beauty: Understanding Your Customers.
The report reveals that 67.4% of Nigerian beauty customers prefer businesses that offer rewards. Additionally, quality of service also stands out, with 7 in 10 customers ranking it above professionalism, cleanliness, and staff friendliness. Perhaps most striking is the strong link between customer satisfaction and word-of-mouth referrals. The report highlights that 7 out of 10 Nigerian customers rely on personal recommendations, showing how satisfied clients can become loyal advocates for a business.
With features like rewards programs and tools to track customer satisfaction, Splice gives beauty and wellness businesses the power to grow smarter and faster.
Speaking about the report, Layo explains that customer satisfaction isn’t just another metric; it’s the basis for any sustainable growth. “The report offers insights into the minds and preferences of customers and gives beauty service businesses actionable tips for growth and increased customer satisfaction,” she says. (Get your copy of the report here.)
This is just the beginning
What started as a way to help a friend has blossomed into a solution that’s empowering beauty professionals with the tools they need to thrive. In just 3 months after its public launch, Splice is trusted by over 100 businesses that serve more than 30,000 clients, demonstrating its growing impact in the Nigerian beauty and wellness sector.
Although so much work has already been done, Splice’s journey is only just beginning. With plans to expand across Africa, the software is well-positioned to redefine how salon and spa businesses operate on the continent.
Layo’s commitment to creating meaningful products and the insights from the 2024 Beyond Beauty Report demonstrate that Splice is more than a tool, it’s a partner in success for beauty businesses.
“Building Splice has been one of the most rewarding challenges of my career,” she says. “But the real reward is seeing the difference it’s making in people’s lives and work. That’s what keeps me inspired.”
