Sniff and shop

[MotherBear]

A unique smelling point for stores
5:00AM Saturday November 10, 2007
By Maggie McNaughton


Research has shown nice aromas make shoppers stay longer in stores and ultimately spend more money. Photo / Getty Images

The next time you are out shopping and inhale the tempting aroma of grapes, leather or even freshly roasted coffee beans, you may not be smelling the real thing.

Retailers in New Zealand are increasingly using artificial fragrances to entice shoppers and increase sales.

It's called in-store fragrancing and has been popular overseas for several years, but has only taken off in New Zealand in the past 12 to 18 months. The fragrances are automatically released from an aerosol can at programmed time intervals.

An expert in consumer trends from Australia's Monash University told the Herald in-store fragrancing could increase the overall pleasure of a shopper's experience and in turn make them spend more money.

"[In-store fragrancing] is another way of connecting to emotions. You connect and engage and excite consumers using the five senses, so one of those is a sense of smell. So a combination of music and aroma or whatever can certainly influence behaviour," said Michael Morrison.

More here .

[selchie]

Bleh. I hate fake scents being pumped into my breathing space. I've become more sensitive to breathing chemicals unauthorized for my lungs, and have had to leave some stores because of the stinky stuff. So much for my tough-gal self image.

Now if they have the real deal scenting the air, that's another story. Make mine coffee with a hint of chocolate chip cookie.

[Dawn]

I agree Selch! Pack it in you big bully capitalists!! Give us proper smells or we will boycott your stores in favour of real shops with real smells and no risk of chemically induced cancers!!!!

Did I tell em Selch? Eh?!

[selchie]

Dern tootin' you did, Dawn. Good job