Whether we’re recalling the smell of Christmas trees, fresh cut grass, or our own homes, scent has powerful associative power. This makes it a natural tool to leverage in retail spaces for brand engagement and customer satisfaction.

Incorporating Geurbeleving en klanttevredenheid into your customer experience is a great way to create a memorable and immersive environment that sets you apart from your competitors. In fact, many shoppers are impulsively drawn into stores by the way they smell. This is known as scent branding and involves strategically diffusing selected ambient scents throughout the store in order to convey a specific brand image. Abercrombie & Fitch, for example, pumps their signature scent, A&F Scent, into their retail spaces to create a distinctive brand experience.

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Aside from creating a memorable environment, scent experience is also an effective tool for increasing sales and building brand loyalty. A recent study comparing a home decor store that used scent to one that didn’t found customers spent 20% more time in the scented space and bought more items than those in the unscented environment. In addition, incorporating scent into the workplace can increase employee productivity and enhance the overall office experience. Peppermint scented diffusers in meeting rooms can help generate energy, while scenting the workspace with lemon can promote a positive start to the day.

Aside from its ability to increase sales and improve the overall customer experience, a scent’s effect on the brain is profound. The olfactory sense is connected to the limbic system, responsible for emotions and memories. Because of this, a pleasant scent can have lasting effects on customers, which can translate into positive feedback in hotels, hospitals, and residential care facilities.