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Stardew Salon — Complete Product Spec

V1.0 · 85+ Features · 7 Competitors Mapped · Launch Aug 2026

Market Positioning

Not cheaper Zenoti. Not another MioSalon. The AI-powered salon OS for India's mid-tier.

Positioning: Stardew is for salons with 5-20 staff doing ₹30L-1.5Cr/year who've outgrown paper diaries but can't afford Zenoti. Three things nobody else has: Hindi AI voice receptionist, branded website builder, and AI sales insights that tell you WHY revenue changed.

What salon owners actually care about (ranked)

#	Need	What they say	Who solves it today
1	Stop losing walk-ins & calls	"Saturday ko 10 call miss ho gaye"	Nobody (in Hindi)
2	Get repeat customers back	"Client ek baar aate hain, phir gayab"	MioSalon, Dingg (basic)
3	Look professional online	"Website 2019 ki hai, update nahi hui"	Wix (DIY, expensive)
4	Know which stylist is earning	"Pata nahi kaun kitna kama raha"	Zenoti only
5	Track inventory / stop leakage	"Product gayab ho jata hai"	MioSalon, Dingg
6	Get more Google reviews	"Competitor ke 200 reviews hain"	Dingg (partial)
7	Send offers without effort	"WhatsApp pe manually bhejte hain"	SalonBoost, MioSalon

Complete Feature List (85+ features)

Every feature ships at V1 launch. No "coming soon." Grouped by module.

📅 Appointments & Booking (8 features)

Visual calendar

Color-coded statuses. Drag-drop reschedule. Day/week view. Multi-staff.

Online booking widget

Embeddable on website, Instagram bio, Google Business. Service → stylist → time → optional advance payment.

WhatsApp booking

Template-driven chat flow. Instant confirmation. New + returning clients.

Walk-in queue

Quick-add. Estimated wait time. Walk-in vs booked ratio tracked.

Automated reminders

WhatsApp + SMS 24hr & 2hr before. No-show flag for repeat offenders.

Recurring appointments

Weekly/biweekly/monthly for regulars. Auto-reminder each instance.

Waitlist

Full slot → client joins waitlist → auto-notify on cancellation.

Service menu builder

Name, duration, price, GST category, skill-level tags. Seasonal services with start/end dates.

💰 Billing & POS (7 features)

GST invoicing

CGST+SGST auto-calc. HSN/SAC. Digital invoices via WhatsApp. Thermal receipt. E-invoice IRP ready.

Multi-mode payment

UPI (Razorpay), cards, cash, wallet, split, partial, advance at booking. QR display.

Packages & memberships

Prepaid packages with redemption tracking. Membership tiers with auto-renewal & expiry alerts.

Refund & credit mgmt

Salon credit instead of refund. Auto-apply at next visit.

Discount engine

Flat/%, service-specific, time-based (happy hour), first-visit, referral, festival. Discount codes.

Tip collection

Digital + cash tips. Tracked per stylist. Included in payroll.

EOD cash register

Expected vs actual cash. Discrepancy alerts. Auto EOD report to owner via WhatsApp.

👤 Client CRM (5 features)

Client 360° profiles

Visit history, services, products, avg spend, no-show rate, preferred stylist, allergies, birthday, before/after photos.

Segmentation

Auto-tag: VIP, At-risk (45+ days), New, Loyal (5+ visits). Custom tags.

Consent & intake forms

Digital forms for chemical treatments. Allergy declarations. Signed on tablet/phone.

Before/after gallery

Linked to client profile. With consent, auto-post to Instagram. Stylist portfolio builder.

DPDP-compliant data

Explicit consent capture. Data deletion on request. Consent audit log.

📣 Marketing & Engagement (7 features)

WhatsApp campaigns

Pre-built: festive offers, birthday, "miss you" (45-day inactive), new service launch, package expiry. Segment targeting. Open/click tracking.

Google review automation

Post-visit WhatsApp → 4-5 stars directs to Google. 1-3 stars captures feedback privately. Reputation protection.

Lifecycle campaigns

Birthday, anniversary, 30/60/90-day win-back (escalating discounts), post-visit thank you, referral prompt after 3rd visit.

Referral program

Refer → both get reward. Track chains. Leaderboard. Share via WhatsApp unique code.

Loyalty points

Earn per ₹100 spent. Redeem for services/products. Birthday bonus. Expiry with reminder. Silver/Gold/Platinum tiers.

Gift vouchers

Digital vouchers purchasable online. Branded PDF via WhatsApp. Partial redemption.

Instagram DM auto-reply

Auto-respond with booking link. "Pricing?" → sends service menu + booking link.

👥 Staff & Operations (6 features)

Staff profiles & schedules

Weekly roster, shifts, leave, breaks. Service skills tagged per staff.

Attendance & clock-in

App-based clock in/out (GPS optional). Late tracking. Overtime. Monthly report.

Commission & incentives

Flat/% per service. Product sale commission. Target-based bonuses. Monthly payout report.

Role-based access

Owner → Manager → Stylist → Receptionist. Granular permissions.

Inventory management

Retail + professional products. Stock levels, low-stock alerts, internal consumption per service, purchase orders, supplier mgmt, expiry tracking, wastage logging.

Expense tracking

Rent, electricity, supplies, marketing. Monthly P&L auto-generated. Revenue vs expense trend.

📊 Analytics & Sales Insights (8 features)

Revenue dashboard

Today/week/month/custom. By service, stylist, payment mode. Period comparison. Growth trend.

Stylist performance board

Revenue, avg ticket, rebooking rate, no-show rate, satisfaction score, upsell rate. Leaderboard.

Client retention analytics

New vs returning. Repeat interval. Churn rate (60+ days). LTV per client. Cohort analysis.

Service popularity ranking

By revenue, margin, bookings. Seasonal trends. Underperformers flagged.

Peak hour heatmap

Busiest hours/days. Capacity utilization %. Recommendation: "Tuesday 2-4 PM is 20% utilized — run happy hour."

No-show & cancellation report

Trending rate. Worst offending clients. Revenue lost. Cancellation reasons.

Daily WhatsApp digest

Every morning: yesterday's revenue, today's bookings, low stock alerts, birthdays, at-risk clients. One message, zero app needed.

AI natural-language insights

"Why did revenue drop last week?" → answers in Hindi with specific reasons. PREMIUM

🤖 AI & Voice (4 features)

Hindi AI Voice Receptionist

Answers calls when busy. Books/reschedules/cancels. Pricing queries. WhatsApp confirmation. Human handoff. 24/7. Hindi-English code-mix. PREMIUM

AI service recommendations

Based on client history + service intervals. Auto WhatsApp rebooking nudge. Checkout upsell suggestion. PREMIUM

No-show prediction

ML flags high-risk 24hr before. Alert: "Seema has 40% no-show rate — require advance." PREMIUM

Smart campaign suggestions

AI analyzes data and suggests: "You have 45 clients who haven't visited in 30+ days. Send win-back campaign?" One-tap execute. PREMIUM

🌐 Website & Online Presence (9 features)

Branded micro-website

5 templates. Auto-populate from salon data. Live in 10 minutes. Subdomain free, custom domain on Growth+.

Photo gallery & portfolio

Before/after. Stylist portfolios. Instagram feed embed.

Service menu (live-synced)

Change price in app → website updates instantly. Always current.

Embedded booking widget

Book directly on website. No third-party redirect.

Google Business sync

Hours, address, photos auto-synced. "Book" button on Google Maps.

Reviews showcase

Google reviews auto-displayed. Testimonial wall. Star rating prominent.

Instagram booking button

"Book Now" action button → Stardew booking page. Bio link with service menu.

SEO basics

Auto meta titles/descriptions. Schema markup. Sitemap. "Salon near me" optimization.

Offers & announcements

Festival promos with banner images. Auto-expire. Shareable on WhatsApp/Instagram.

🔗 Integrations (8 platforms)

Razorpay / Cashfree / PayU

UPI, cards, netbanking, EMI. Auto-settlement. Payment links via WhatsApp.

WhatsApp Business API

Via Gupshup/AiSensy. From salon's own business number. Template approvals handled.

Instagram Graph API

DM auto-reply, booking button, feed embed.

Google Business Profile

Hours sync, booking button, review management, photos.

Google Calendar

Two-way sync for stylists.

Tally / Zoho Books

Daily transaction export. GST-ready. Tally XML import.

Exotel / Plivo

Virtual number for voice AI. Call recording. Analytics.

JustDial

Leads auto-captured. Follow-up automated.

Competitive Feature Matrix

✓ Has it · ◐ Partial · ✗ Doesn't have it

Feature	Stardew	Zenoti	MioSalon	Dingg	Glamplus	Salonist	SalonBoost

Where Stardew wins decisively

Hindi AI Voice Receptionist: Zero competitors. Zenoti's is English-only, premium add-on on ₹25K+ base.
Website Builder: No Indian salon software includes this. Owners pay ₹5-15K for a freelance WordPress site.
AI Sales Insights: Nobody tells owners "revenue dropped because Priya was on leave." Natural-language in Hindi.
Price + completeness: 90% of Zenoti's features at 10% of the price. MioSalon/Dingg match basics but miss voice, website, insights.

Pricing Tiers

No hidden fees. No per-location surcharges. No annual lock-in required.

Starter

₹1,999/mo

Annual: ₹1,666/mo

1 outlet, 5 staff
Calendar + online booking
GST POS + UPI
Client profiles
WhatsApp reminders (500/mo)
Google review requests
Basic inventory & reports
Website (subdomain)

★ MOST POPULAR

Growth

₹4,499/mo

Annual: ₹3,749/mo

1 outlet, 15 staff
Everything in Starter +
WhatsApp campaigns (2,500/mo)
Lifecycle campaigns
Referral + loyalty + gift vouchers
Staff commissions & performance
Full analytics dashboard
Website (custom domain)
Instagram DM auto-reply
Priority WhatsApp support

Premium

₹7,999/mo

Annual: ₹6,666/mo

Unlimited staff
Everything in Growth +
🤖 AI Voice Receptionist (500 min)
AI service recommendations
AI sales insights (Hindi)
No-show prediction
Advanced website + blog
Multi-outlet ready
API access
Dedicated account manager

Competitor pricing context

Competitor	Price	Missing vs Stardew
Zenoti	₹25,000+	5-10× more. No Hindi voice. No website builder.
MioSalon	₹2,000-4,000	No voice AI. No website. No AI insights. Buggy app.
Dingg	₹2,000-4,000	No voice AI. No website. No Hindi UI.
Glamplus	₹5,000-15,000	Pricier. B2B marketplace focus. No voice. No website.
Salonist	₹1,600-3,800	No voice. No website. No WhatsApp automation.
SalonBoost	₹799-1,199	Feature-light. No inventory. No analytics. No website.

10-Week Build Roadmap

Ship complete, not incrementally. All features at V1 launch.

Philosophy: Enter market matching MioSalon + Dingg on every core feature AND adding voice AI + website + AI insights nobody has. Salon owners compare feature lists — missing inventory or WhatsApp = lose to Dingg regardless of voice AI quality.

Week	What ships	Why this order
W1-2	Foundation: Next.js + React Native. Postgres multi-tenant. Auth (Clerk). AWS Mumbai. Razorpay. WhatsApp API sandbox. Service + staff CRUD.	Everything depends on this. Multi-tenant from Day 1.
W3-4	Booking + POS: Calendar (visual, drag-drop). Walk-in queue. Online booking widget. GST POS. Invoice. Payment links. EOD cash register.	Used 100×/day. Must be fast and bug-free.
W5	Client CRM: Profiles, full history, segmentation, notes, preferences, consent forms, before/after photos.	CRM data powers marketing + insights downstream.
W6	Staff + Inventory: Schedules, attendance, commissions, RBAC. Full inventory: catalog, stock levels, alerts, consumption tracking, purchase orders, expiry.	Missing inventory = lose comparison to Dingg.
W7	Marketing: WhatsApp reminders. Google review requests. Birthday/anniversary campaigns. Win-back (30/60/90d). Referral program. Loyalty points. Gift vouchers.	This retains customers and drops churn. Critical.
W8	Analytics: Revenue dashboard. Stylist scoreboard. Retention metrics. Service popularity. Peak hours. No-show report. Daily WhatsApp digest.	The "aha moment" that makes owners stay.
W9	Website builder: 5 templates. Auto-populate. Custom domain. Booking widget. Reviews. Service sync. SEO. Instagram embed.	Unique differentiator. Stickiness layer (website depends on Stardew data).
W10	Voice AI + Polish: Exotel + Sarvam STT + Claude Haiku + Sarvam TTS. Hindi booking flow. WhatsApp confirmation. Human handoff. Android app polish. Bug sweep. Hindi help docs.	Premium upsell. Doesn't block launch but completes the product.

Launch Timeline

Jun 1-14: Validation sprint. 15-20 salon visits. Confirm pain + pricing.
Jun 15 - Aug 23: Full 10-week build. No shortcuts.
Aug 25-31: 5 pilot salons at ₹999/mo. Bug hunting.
Sep 1: Public launch. Ads live. Referral live. Target: 15-20 salons by Sept 30.

Financial Plan — Path to ₹5L MRR

All costs researched and verified. Includes GST 18%, actual API pricing, infrastructure, and ad spend.

The math: ₹5L MRR at blended ₹3,500 ARPU per salon = ~143 paying salons. At 65% gross margin that's ₹3.25L gross profit/month. With ₹1.5-2L in fixed costs, you're netting ₹1.25-1.75L/month — enough to fund the medical coding build.

Per-Salon COGS Breakdown (Growth tier — ₹4,499/mo)

Cost Item	Unit Rate	Usage/Salon/Month	Cost/Salon	Source
WhatsApp — Utility messages	₹0.115/msg	~200 msgs (reminders, confirmations)	₹23	Meta INR rate card Jan 2026
WhatsApp — Marketing messages	₹0.863/msg	~150 msgs (campaigns, win-back)	₹129	Meta INR rate card Jan 2026
WhatsApp BSP fee (AiSensy/Gupshup)	~20% markup	On above msgs	₹30	AiSensy pricing page
SMS (DLT registered)	₹0.20/SMS	~50 SMS (fallback)	₹10	MSG91 bulk rate
AWS hosting (per-salon amortized)	—	RDS + S3 + ECS	₹80	AWS Mumbai, shared infra across 100+ salons
LLM inference (AI insights, recommendations)	~₹0.05/query	~100 queries/month	₹5	Claude Haiku / GPT-4o-mini
Website hosting (per-salon)	—	Static site on CDN	₹15	Cloudflare Pages / Vercel
Razorpay payment processing	2% MDR	—	₹0	Paid by salon's client, not Stardew
TOTAL COGS (Growth, no voice AI)			~₹292/salon/mo
GROSS MARGIN (Growth ₹4,499)			₹4,207 (93.5%)

Premium Tier — Additional Voice AI COGS

Cost Item	Unit Rate	Usage/Salon/Month	Cost/Salon	Source
Exotel — Virtual number + incoming	₹1,500/mo base + ₹0.50/min	~300 min incoming	₹1,650	Exotel IVR plan
Sarvam STT (Saarika)	₹30/hour	~5 hrs (300 min)	₹150	Sarvam pricing page
Sarvam TTS (Bulbul)	₹15/10K chars	~50K chars	₹75	Sarvam pricing page
LLM for voice agent (Claude Haiku)	~₹0.10/call	~200 calls	₹20	Anthropic API
Voice AI COGS per salon			~₹1,895/salon/mo
Total COGS (Premium ₹7,999)			₹292 + ₹1,895 = ₹2,187
GROSS MARGIN (Premium ₹7,999)			₹5,812 (72.7%)

Fixed Monthly Costs (Company-Level)

Item	Month 1-3	Month 4-6	Month 7-9	Month 10-12	Notes
AWS infrastructure (base)	₹5,000	₹8,000	₹12,000	₹18,000	RDS, ECS, S3, CloudFront. Scales with customers.
WhatsApp BSP platform fee	₹2,500	₹2,500	₹5,000	₹5,000	AiSensy starter → growth plan
Exotel base (shared pool)	₹0	₹3,000	₹5,000	₹8,000	Only if Premium customers exist
Domain + SSL + CDN	₹500	₹500	₹1,000	₹1,500	Cloudflare + customer domains
Sarvam AI credits	₹0	₹2,000	₹5,000	₹10,000	Pay-as-you-go, scales with Premium users
Google Ads	₹0	₹15,000	₹25,000	₹30,000	Start Month 3. "Salon software" + "salon booking app"
Instagram/Meta Ads	₹0	₹10,000	₹15,000	₹20,000	Voice AI demo reels targeting salon owners
Ops hire (from M6)	₹0	₹0	₹35,000	₹35,000	Salon support + onboarding
GST liability (18% on revenue)	₹0	₹9,000	₹27,000	₹54,000	18% IGST/CGST+SGST on SaaS revenue
Accounting / compliance	₹2,000	₹2,000	₹3,000	₹5,000	CA fees, GST filing, DPDP
Miscellaneous (tools, subscriptions)	₹3,000	₹3,000	₹5,000	₹5,000	Clerk, analytics, error tracking, etc.
TOTAL FIXED/MONTH	₹13,000	₹55,000	₹1,38,000	₹1,91,500

Month-by-Month P&L to ₹5L MRR

Month	Salons	New	Churn	MRR	COGS	Fixed	GST (18%)	Net	Cum. Cash
M1 (Jun)	0	0	0	₹0	₹0	₹13K	₹0	-₹13K	-₹13K
M2 (Jul)	0	0	0	₹0	₹0	₹13K	₹0	-₹13K	-₹26K
M3 (Aug)	5	5	0	₹17K	₹1.5K	₹28K	₹3K	-₹16K	-₹42K
M4 (Sep)	20	17	2	₹70K	₹6K	₹55K	₹13K	-₹4K	-₹46K
M5 (Oct)	38	22	4	₹1.33L	₹11K	₹70K	₹24K	+₹28K	-₹18K
M6 (Nov)	58	25	5	₹2.03L	₹17K	₹1.05L	₹37K	+₹44K	+₹26K
M7 (Dec)	78	27	7	₹2.73L	₹23K	₹1.20L	₹49K	+₹81K	+₹1.07L
M8 (Jan)	100	30	8	₹3.50L	₹29K	₹1.38L	₹63K	+₹1.20L	+₹2.27L
M9 (Feb)	120	28	8	₹4.20L	₹35K	₹1.55L	₹76K	+₹1.54L	+₹3.81L
M10 (Mar)	143	33	10	₹5.00L	₹42K	₹1.70L	₹90K	+₹1.98L	+₹5.79L

Key assumptions

Blended ARPU ₹3,500/salon: Mix of 50% Starter (₹1,999), 35% Growth (₹4,499), 15% Premium (₹7,999) = ₹3,475 blended.
Monthly churn 6-8% early → 3-4% by M8: New salons churn higher. Churn drops as sticky features (client history, website, loyalty data) accumulate.
GST 18% on all revenue: SaaS = OIDAR service, SAC 998431. GST payable from ₹20L annual turnover threshold. Budgeted from M3.
CAC ₹4,000-6,000 blended: Google Ads ₹8-12K CAC (30%), Instagram ₹3-5K CAC (35%), referrals ₹0 (20%), organic ₹0 (15%).
No salary for founder in M1-10. Founder lives on savings. First salary starts after ₹5L MRR.
Total investment to breakeven: ~₹46K. That's your max cash outflow before the business turns profitable in M5. Effectively a ₹50K startup.

Revenue Split by Tier (at ₹5L MRR)

Starter (₹1,999)

~72

salons · ₹1.43L MRR

Growth (₹4,499)

~50

salons · ₹2.25L MRR

Premium (₹7,999)

~21

salons · ₹1.68L MRR

Blended Gross Margin Waterfall

Line Item	Per Month (at ₹5L MRR)	% of Revenue
Revenue (MRR)	₹5,00,000	100%
WhatsApp costs (utility + marketing + BSP)	-₹26,000	5.2%
Voice AI costs (Exotel + Sarvam, Premium only)	-₹40,000	8.0%
AWS infrastructure	-₹18,000	3.6%
LLM inference	-₹3,000	0.6%
SMS / other comms	-₹5,000	1.0%
GROSS PROFIT	₹4,08,000	81.6%
Google + Meta Ads	-₹50,000	10.0%
Ops hire	-₹35,000	7.0%
GST payable (18%)	-₹90,000	18.0%
Accounting + compliance + misc	-₹10,000	2.0%
NET PROFIT	₹2,23,000	44.6%

Bottom line: At ₹5L MRR, Stardew Salon generates ₹2.23L net profit per month after all costs including GST, ads, voice AI infrastructure, and one hire. That's ₹2.23L/month available to fund the medical coding build — more than enough runway to build the MVP without external capital.