The Sweet Smell of Retail

By Rieva Lesonsky

Retailers are facing increased competition these days from online merchants. But there’s still one weapon brick-and-mortar stores have in their arsenals that ecommerce sites can’t use: scent. The use of scents in stores is growing, Reuters recently reported, as consumers expect more of an “experience” when shopping.

The technology for scenting stores is becoming more sophisticated, but also increasingly affordable. One expert cited in the story says you can scent a store for under $100 a month.

Scent technology can range from using fragrance-infused ceramic beads and diffusers to spread smells through a small store, or disseminating the scent via the ventilation system for larger stores.

Good scents put people in a good mood; experiments have found that people were more inclined to help others when in an environment with pleasant smells. As for the bottom line, studies have shown that shoppers in a pleasantly scented environment stay longer in a store, which generally translates to spending more money there.

However, determining what scents to use can be a science in itself, since there’s no one universal scent that everyone likes. Food scents tend to be popular, creating feelings of well-being or urging customers in, say, a bakery to buy. For example, popcorn scents typically make customers want to eat—which could be a good thing if you’re selling food, but not so good if it inspires people to rush out of your store for lunch.

If you’re using scents in your store, tread lightly. Overpowering consumers with odors can easily backfire, so make sure whatever scents you use are light and unobtrusive. Until you’re sure of the effects, it’s also a good idea to start with scents that quickly dissipate or can be removed, such as scented beads, as opposed to pumping scent through the ventilation system where it may linger.

Also keep in mind that in today’s allergy-riddled society, many customers are sensitive to fragrance. If your business caters to this kind of customer, perhaps a store that has no scent at all is the way to make the sale.

Image by Flickr user Dennis Wong (Creative Commons)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 at 6:00 am and is filed under Marketing, sales process, Small Business, small business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.