The retail industry is fast changing. With the rise in online shopping continuing to disrupt traditional brick and mortar stores, retailers have been forced to change their marketing approach to give their customers a better experience. Instead of being a place for functional transactions only, innovative retailers are starting to adopt ways to give shoppers an enhanced experience.

These retailers understand that ambiance matters and create an atmosphere that enables shoppers to interact with both the products and the brand itself. From the music selection to the right layout, LED-lit window displays and matching sales team, every detail contributes to shoppers’ experience – even scent.

Using an excellent scent marketing strategy to attract and retain customers in retail locations has become vital to retail owners. A delicately crafted and properly diffused fragrance has the power to emotionally affect the sense of customers it comes in contact with. This scent, when distributed by an effective commercial scent machine, can stick in your customers’ memory and create an emotional connection that’ll keep them coming back for more. Everyone likes a good smelling environment; it lifts mood, increases perception and gives a settled state of mind.

Though the benefits of scent marketing are powerful, many retail locations are getting it wrong. This piece offers expert advice on how to effectively use scent marketing at retail locations.

Make sure it’s not “off-brand”

An essential aspect of scent marketing is knowing and working with a scent that suits your brand. It ’s no secret that floral and vanilla scents work well for women’s store while woodsy smells are suitable for men’s stores. Scents that match a particular gender improves your typical; customer’s perception of your product’s quality and encourages them to linger a little bit longer, thereby increasing interactions with your products and the possibilities of shopping for more.

Keep it simple but quality

Undeniably you might be tempted to mix two or three scents for a better effect or use different scents in different sections of your retail location. This might backfire when the scent marketing strategy is done wrong. Mixing many ambient scents is like playing two songs loudly at the same time, it’s irritating and confusing. Imagine walking through a retail location store and catching different scents in different locations. While this strategy might work for large surface retailers, it is disastrous for a niche targeted retail stores like a boutique.

Don’t look for shortcuts, work with the right scent technology

As a retailer on a budget, you might be tempted to work with aerosol spray systems or closed diffusing systems that require you to only buy from the supplier who sold you the solution. However, we don’t advise you to go for that. The effects of these forms of scents might be too intense or less intense because they’re not essential oil scents diffused by a suitable commercial oil diffuser. While less intense scents cause olfactory fatigue, high intense fragrances irritate your customers. These two effects of a wrong scent strategy lead to your customers not noticing your retail store anymore.

Retail locations ambient scent should be barely noticeable and should be released only at certain times. To achieve this, it’s necessary you go for commercial oil diffusers that can both hook directly into your AC system or work as a standalone unit. There are affordable cold-air scent diffusion units in the market that will allow you to use any essential oil or fragrance, control how often a scent is released and how strong it is.

At Oil Works & Co, we are your trusted source for all types of scent delivery systems. Not only are you free to use any of our scent delivery equipment, but we’ll also even help you create a custom diffusion strategy that suits your retail location. Talk to us today to learn more on ways you can use scent marketing at your retail location.