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Industry viewpoint Insight: Fragrance credit: istock n n n consider that a product that is more than three or four Travel retail will play a more important role in companies’ launch months old is not a new fragrance, so that pushes brands to do strategies, due to the increase in traffc, but also because of how fankers. I deplore the fact that too many retailers present perfumes you can present a brand or a launch in the channel. Today, we have almost as warehouses where fragrances are put on shelves in a strategy of fagships around the world and in that the number of alphabetical order and it is up to the consumer to fnd her way travel-retail fagships has increased. around the category. DL: Years ago every fragrance company had a very strong training In other sectors, such as make-up, at retail there is a real spotlight department and we would train the sales people on the back- on the product and retailtainmnet. I would like to see retailers story of the brand, on the fragrance notes and give them selling question themselves more and do for fragrance what they have tips. Two things have happened: most fragrance companies have done well in make-up. discontinued training as it is too expensive and most retailers have JM: Stores need to be more vibrant and focus on creating events. terrible staff turnover. There are very few doors where you can go Retailers also need to create real venues, like pop-up stores, which and say ‘I used to wear Amarige what should I be wearing today?’ can attract young people. Retailers’ websites are more professional, The sales people have no idea how to answer that. The retailers so that is one way of attracting young consumers, but there needs train the sales people on how to run the cash register, but they really to be more of a continual relay between the website and the store have no knowledge of the industry. to drive consumers from one to the other and back. If we don’t Also, retailers are too busy launching the fragrance of the week, capture these young consumers now we risk losing them for a but they probably need to build more of a three-ring circus, where long time. on one stage there is the store’s newest fragrance, then on another Store visibility will become more important. The industry needs you have a space for a top-10 fragrance of the week and then on to do a lot more and reinvent itself in terms of in store visibility. A the third space there is a classic. If they are launching a celebrity lot has already been done, but we need to fnd new ideas. Travel fragrance that consumer is not interested in, the consumer will walk retail is a very important part of retail in general, as there is strong out the door. But if they are doing a celebrity fragrance, a classic traffc and the channel has become not only a sales channel, but fragrance and something else on another stage, they approach the an advertising channel. And more brands are now launching frst in consumer in three ways and will perhaps get her attention. travel retail rather than in the domestic market. Little by little you will see companies looking to turn things around, EH: I often look at the shelves of wines and spirits in airports, as in and they will go back to the things that worked. We hear a lot terms of creativity and shopping experience there are a lot of things about enhancing the consumer experience, so retailers recognize in travel retail that are of excellent quality and that domestic retailers that there is nothing pleasant about buying a fragrance today and should look to for inspiration. Travel-retail operators give brands we have to do something to make it more interesting and more fun; the space to express themselves and that is the real difference the retailer and the manufacturer have to work on this. between travel retail and the domestic market. In travel retail in If you go into a high-end department store and someone is asking wines and spirits, operators have made choices about the products you to spend $125 on scented water, there better be some fabulous they stock. There is perhaps not a huge assortment, but they have experience along with that. This is starting to happen. There was made choices among the brands —mainstream brands that are a time when retailers were just taking everything from brands. We indispensable and other premium brands and you clearly see the have always had an open returns policy, so if it doesn’t sell we’ll brand and the offer, and this makes you want to go to the store. take it back. This means there is no risk for the retailer, so why not Often retailers don’t make choices and they stock too many things. take all 1,000 fragrances that are being offered—something has Travel retailers in general are going more premium, which is a good got to hit. But now they are saying ‘no, I don’t want to be in that thing as it shows that they are reviewing their offer, and this gives category anymore’. They need to edit the market and that too will value to the market. drive manufacturers’ strategies. 44 November-December 2015 - N°24 - BW Confidential