One of the most critical Key Performance Indicators in the retail segment is, of course, average transaction value (ATV). This indicator is vital when it comes to assessing the actual performance of a sales outlet. To turn sales results into a measurable value, we simply divide the total amount of revenue in a specific time span by the number of transactions in the same period.
Optimising this metric isn’t so much a case of acquiring new customers; it’s about knowing how to sell more, and better, to customers who have chosen to step into a retail store. Increasing average transaction value means capturing the attention and trust of in-store customers and creating an effective customer retention strategy. Winning over a customer and convincing them to cross the threshold is just the beginning of an interaction made up of tiny but powerful details to make the customer experience unforgettable.
These days, the sheer number of marketing stimuli can be overwhelming to consumers. So, when it comes to sensory marketing too, the key is to be original, to get shoppers to pay attention and remember you amid the unintelligible jumble of inputs all around.
Olfactory branding takes a lesser-known approach, one that can be astonishingly persuasive: have you ever thought of welcoming your customers to your store by enveloping them in a cloud of bespoke scent, created to match your objectives?
The steps to take to boost this KPI
Did you know that on average, people remember 35% of what they smell, but just 5% of what they see, 2% of what they hear and 1% of what they touch? These findings, from a study by Rockefeller University, show just how dominant the sense of smell is in how we form memories and feelings. Smells are processed by the limbic system, the part of the brain that manages emotions and memories.
Our other sensory perceptions must be broken down before being processed. Scents, however, trigger an immediate response and are turned into emotions, indelibly linked with the context in which we smelled them. Olfactory marketing harnesses that association between odours and sense memories to produce immersive, emotional experiences, in the retail sector as elsewhere.
So, every scent a customer inhales when shopping prompts a direct response that shapes their brand attitude and buying behaviour.
Olfactory marketing in retail: an endless source of inspiration
The most sophisticated brands ensure that their stores are a microcosm of carefully curated details. Kotler, one of the most illustrious marketing and management experts of the 20th century, was the first to note the strategic importance of atmospheric elements in retail spaces, highlighting how it directly influences sales results.
Using a bespoke fragrance to create a ‘scentscape’ can be the focal element that makes your store stand out from the crowd and allows the brand to express its personality to the full.
Welcoming visitors into your retail space means appealing to their senses with a fully immersive experience; a branded fragrance for your store allows you to completely revolutionise the in-store experience, tying all of the design elements together to send your customers a clear and powerful message.
The benefits of a well-chosen fragrance
Olfactory marketing positively impacts brick-and-mortar sales performance in myriad ways. Firstly, a bespoke fragrance can encourage customers to spend longer in store, increasing the amount of time they spend in a shop from between 16% to 40%.
A customer who is compelled to browse for longer is naturally more inclined to make a purchase and more open to the marketing stimuli presented by the store. The likelihood of them buying something rises exponentially, as does their tendency to make impulse purchases or place items in their cart that they did not really need. So, the increase in average transaction value is a direct consequence of this trend; as reported by Commerce Magazine, scenting a store can improve retail ATV by 10-20%.
Diffusing targeted scents in a retail space can also turbocharge purchase intention. Nike found that shoppers’ inclination to purchase the products on display rose by 80% when a pleasant fragrance was nebulised in the store. Meanwhile, the aroma of coffee in the air caused sales at a service station to increase by up to 300%. These figures are quite simply astounding.
Not only that, but customers were more willing to talk to sales assistants and showed more interest in touching and trying on the products. The emotional bond that a scent can establish between brand and customer helps foster a lasting sense of brand loyalty. A pleasant, sensorially stimulating customer experience inevitably translates into an indelible, positive memory of the brand, so that people will want to repeat the experience at the first opportunity.
Find your store’s signature scent
The noses at Scent Company have countless experiences and retail sector case studies to their name. Our Master Perfumers are behind the olfactory identity of some of the world’s most prestigious luxury brands. Their specialist expertise has led to collaborations with fashion stores, shopping malls and retail outlets in the most diverse sectors, from technology to food & beverage.
Olfactory marketing “simply” uses the evocative power of perfume to enhance a brand’s retail spaces. Olfactory branding goes further, as it identifies the best fragrance to complement the ambience, leaving a unique imprint on customers’ senses. A signature scent has the mission to encapsulate a brand’s personality in an exclusive olfactory pyramid. As it wafts through the air, the scent communicates the brands vision and conveys its history.
The experts at Scent have mastered the most advanced perfume theory. They can help you find the fragrance that aligns best with your sector, your brand identity, the cultural characteristics of your target market, and the seasonality of your offering. The result is a consistent, continuous scent throughout every corner of your stores. They will also provide essential technical support to create and install professional diffusion systems.
Want to take your communication strategy to the next level? Then you might consider creating a fragrance collection incorporating your brand perfume: items such as scented candles, diffusers, room sprays or eau de parfum can offer every customer the chance to have a souvenir of the immersive experience they have enjoyed in your store.
Are you curious to embark on a new journey in sensory marketing? Contact our Scent Experts today!
