The best scent for a retail store is one that fits your brand, your products and your customers, kept simple and at a low level. That usually means fresh or citrus notes for sport and technology, soft florals or clean musks for beauty, warm woods and spices for home and luxury, and light, green notes for fashion aimed at a younger audience. Copying another store’s scent backfires: customers link it to the other brand, it was designed for different products, and it can never be yours.
If you’d like help choosing and running a scent across your stores, see our retail scent marketing service.
Why fit matters more than pleasantness
Research on scent in stores consistently finds that a scent congruent with the products works better than one that is simply nice (Bosmans, Journal of Marketing, 2006). A simple scent has been found to increase spending compared with a complex one (Herrmann and colleagues, Journal of Retailing, 2013), and warm scents have been linked to shoppers choosing more premium products (Madzharov, Block and Morrin, Journal of Marketing, 2015).
Scent ideas by store type
- Fashion. Clean musks, light woods or green notes that feel fresh without competing with the product.
- Luxury. Warm, rounded notes such as woods, amber and leather, used with great restraint.
- Beauty and cosmetics. Very soft, clean notes, or none, so the scent never clashes with testers.
- Home and furniture. Warm woods, cotton and soft spice that suggest comfort.
- Sport and technology. Crisp citrus, mint or ozonic notes that feel energetic and clean.
- Children’s stores. Very light, gentle notes at low levels, or none.
Our guide to fragrance families explains each family.
Why copying another store’s scent backfires
- It reminds customers of someone else. If shoppers know the scent from another brand, you are advertising them.
- It was built for different products. What fits a hotel lobby or a beauty hall may clash with your merchandise.
- It never quite matches. Scents matched by nose drift from the original and between batches.
- It can’t be protected. A copy can never be exclusive, so it can never become part of your identity.
Scenting a store in Singapore
Most stores here sit inside air-conditioned malls, with entrances where hot, humid air meets chilled interiors, and shoppers meet many scents in a single visit. That makes a distinctive, well-judged scent more valuable and overscenting more obvious. Scent the store, not the mall corridor, and keep levels low near fitting rooms and the till where staff spend all day.
Getting it right
- Choose a scent that fits the brand and products, or develop a signature scent.
- Deliver it with a commercial scent system, not plug-ins.
- Calibrate the level with fresh noses at different times of day.
- Keep it consistent in every outlet.
- Measure against a baseline; see scent marketing ROI.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best scent for a clothing store?
Usually a clean musk, light wood or green note that feels fresh and does not compete with the clothes.
Should every outlet use the same scent?
Yes. Consistency across outlets is what makes a scent recognisable.
Can scent increase retail sales?
Studies have found effects on spending and product choice when the scent fits. Measure your own results against a baseline.
Further reading: Retail on Wikipedia.
