Article

Grabbing shoppers by the nose

Intentional use of scents can profoundly impact the customer experience.

March 2, 2008 by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

For most people, the concept of aromas in the retail environment probably conjures up an image of a department store perfume counter, and the thick stench that can hang in the air and make passing through a nauseating affair.

But it should also conjure up the high-end supermarket that always smells tantalizingly of roast chicken, thanks to a strategically placed deli oven, or the warm and rustic whiff that permeates most leather stores.

It doesn't get as much attention as visual marketing, but some experts think 2008 might be the year when aroma marketing finally becomes mainstream.

"Western culture is focused more on sight than on the other senses, but multi-sensorial experiences are growing, from branding to design to architecture," said Roger Schmid, a fragrance expert who has consulted with companies such as Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Colgate on how to build multi-sensory brands. "Odor is a powerful vehicle for memory and as such penetrates into our deepest recollections, evoking the emotions that a given scent had originally stimulated."

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The power of the nose

At least two independent studies have confirmed the positive effect aroma can have on the retail experience. A study by Dr. Anja StÃƒÂ¶hr of the University of Paderborn, "Air Design as a Success Factor in Commerce," found that retail environments with targeted scenting have longer customer dwell times than comparable non-scented rooms, and that customers in those rooms were more likely to make a purchase.

Dr. Val Clulow, at Melbourne's Swinburne University of Technology, found that customers perceive the quality of the merchandise to be higher in stores that use targeted aromas than in comparable stores that do not. They also perceived customer service to be better, and were more likely to buy.

Scents can not only have a major impact on customer attitude, they can be used as crucial branding tools. Both Sony and Samsung make intentional use of aroma as brand component in their New York electronics stores; Rolls-Royce sprays the interiors of its new cars with a fragrance that smells like a vintage Rolls; Westin Hotels pipe a white tea scent into their lounges, to create a consistent feel from one city to another.

Four tips on planning a retail aroma strategy

When done properly, aroma marketing can be pleasant and effective. When done poorly, it can send customers racing for the doors. Jesse Jacobs, founder of Samovar Tea Lounge, offers four questions retailers need to ask themselves when planning their scents:

1. What is my goal here?

2. How am I intending to use the aroma, and for what purpose?

3. Based on my goal, which aromas occur naturally — and how can I use them to enhance the customer's experience?

4. How can I be subtle and still be effective? (The aroma should be an enhancer to the experience; it should not bethe experience.)

At Samovar Tea Lounge, a high-end specialty store in San Francisco, workers use a "tea burner" to burn dry tea leaves and fill the air with the strong aroma. They also brew tea at the retail counter and keep incense burning in the restrooms.

"The customers love it," said founder Jesse Jacobs. "They comment relentlessly on how they feel that Samovar is truly an escape for them. Scent is one of the most, if not the most, powerful of the senses ... we use it intentionally, to really take people away from their static, stale, cubicle/office workplaces."

So which scents work best for the typical retail environment? Kayla Fioravanti, registered aromatherapist and founder of distributor Essential Labs, said lavender, rosemary, peppermint, grapefruit and lemon are particularly effective at boosting shopper moods. She also said she's seeing a move away from fragrance oils, which are to blame for perfume department headaches, toward naturally occurring essential oils.

Sublime and subliminal

For some large retailers, the mechanics of aroma dispersion is part of the architecture and design process. But small retailers, and those large ones that did not build "scent players" into their buildings, can use aromas with some very simple tools.

"There are diffusers on the market that can quietly and gently scent a room," Fioravanti said. "But it can be as easy as putting some essential oil on a cotton ball each morning and putting the cotton ball near a vent that blows air into the store."

She also advises shops to put a cotton ball, dipped in an essential oil, in dressing rooms, near major decision-making areas and at checkout — for instance, inside the cash register drawer.

Most retailers who use aroma marketing don't want to talk about it; not only do they not want to be seen as manipulating the Pavlovian reaction humans often have to smell, but the technique is less likely to be effective if customers are aware it is happening.

Even so, Schmid and others like him say this is a concept that may be on the fringes of retail strategy right now, but it certainly won't stay there much longer.

"Scent is a very powerful tool that surrounds us already, but that we may not always directly perceive," Schmid said. "As differentiation of brands becomes more difficult, we can expect multi-sensoriality to grow as a marketing tool, and scent to play a major role."