Vertical research · Ranked #1 of 10
Med spas and aesthetic clinics
High-ticket elective treatments paid by card at the point of service, with growing membership and package prepayment. Highest modelled platform revenue per merchant of any vertical studied.
- Opportunity score
- 80.4 / 100
- Recommended plan
- Growth
- Platform fee
- 0.60%
- Modelled revenue per merchant
- $7,668 / yr
- Businesses in scope
- 10,000
- Typical monthly card volume
- $90,000
- Average transaction
- $450
- Confidence
- 72%
How this industry scored
| Measure | Weight | Score (0–100) | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Processing volume per merchant | 30% | 88 | Average treatment of roughly $450 with high monthly card volume. |
| Acquisition through search | 20% | 90 | Dense, commercially motivated search demand around med spa software and payments. |
| Fit for recurring billing | 20% | 78 | Memberships and prepaid treatment packages are standard practice. |
| Expected retention | 20% | 72 | Sticky once memberships bill, but clinics do change platforms. |
| Risk profile (higher is safer) | 10% | 60 | Discretionary spend, package refunds and state practice rules raise risk. |
The overall opportunity score is the weighted average of these five measures.
Market size and merchant population
The American Med Spa Association reports the US medical aesthetics industry has passed $17 billion in annual revenue and is growing by more than $1 billion a year. The merchant base is small relative to other verticals but each location handles unusually high card volume, because treatments are elective and paid directly by the consumer rather than an insurer.
Confidence 72%
How money actually moves
Treatments average several hundred dollars and are typically paid at the clinic or prepaid as a package. Memberships that bundle monthly treatments are now common, which means a single merchant produces both large one-off charges and predictable recurring billing — the exact mix this platform is built for.
Confidence 68%
Modelled platform revenue per merchant
Modelled on the Growth plan at $99 a month plus a 0.60% platform fee. Stripe processing is charged separately by Stripe and is not included in these figures.
| Scenario | Monthly card volume | Platform revenue per year | Over three years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | $45,000 | $4,428 | $13,284 |
| Base case | $90,000 | $7,668 | $23,004 |
| Aggressive | $160,000 | $12,708 | $38,124 |
Confidence 62%
Search and AI answer opportunity
Search demand around med spa payment processing, membership billing and package pricing is commercially motivated and dominated by point solutions rather than payment platforms. Answer-first explainers on membership billing, package refunds and effective cost per treatment are strong candidates for AI Overview citation.
Confidence 60%
Risks and objections
Elective spend falls first in a downturn. Prepaid packages create refund and chargeback exposure if a clinic closes or a client stops attending. Several states restrict who may own or operate a medical aesthetics practice, which affects onboarding verification.
Confidence 65%
Our recommendation
Lead candidate. Largest revenue per merchant, strong search demand, and card-present plus card-not-present mix suits hosted checkout and recurring memberships. Elevated dispute risk requires clear refund and package terms before launch.
- Sales difficulty
- Moderate — owner-operators and small groups, reachable through search and industry associations
- Retention
- Strong — clinical software switching costs are real once memberships and packages are stored
- Risk
- Elevated — elective spend is discretionary, chargeback exposure on packages, some state medical-practice rules
Sources
- American Med Spa Association — Medical Spa State of the Industry Report
US medical aesthetics industry revenue has passed $17 billion and grows by more than $1 billion a year.
Checked 2026-09-09
Revenue figures on this page are our own modelling of Enterprise Pay Gateway subscription and platform fees, not measured platform data, and they exclude Stripe's own processing charges. Cited facts link to their original source above.