The Scent of Money: How to Start a Profitable Fragrance Store
Starting a fragrance store allows sellers to indulge their passion for perfumes while also making a sizeable income.
Many people use their favorite perfumes every day and wouldn’t feel ready to leave the house without spraying on a fragrance.
You only have to see the numerous television advertisements to understand selling fragrances is as much about marketing as the actual smell.
These factors mean there are plenty of opportunities for new retailers to enter the fragrance market. However, it’s important to know how to open your store in the correct way.
Because it is easy to set up a website and buy some online ads, too many businesses spend money and don’t get a return on their investment. Owners can become disheartened when sales are slow and give up on their dream.
Read on to find out how to improve your chances of success by following some simple tips.
Choose Your Niche
The first step is to determine which fragrance niche you want to target. You can try to sell every type of perfume to a large market, but this often fails.
You would need to spend a lot of money advertising to a general market, and you don’t really focus on a particular segment of potential buyers.
Established brands already have a bigger marketing budget, so you’ll quickly find you can’t compete with the larger stores.
The way around this problem is to pick a small niche. You can focus on men or women in a specific age bracket. Perhaps you only want to sell to people who are buying fragrances as gifts for others.
The more specific your niche, the more targeted your advertising strategy will be.
Study Your Market
When you know who you want to sell to, it’s time to learn more about that group of people. A great way to do this is to use social media. You can search for people within your target market and see what they are saying online.
Many people will drop hints about what they find most appealing about a particular fragrance store. It may be free shipping that attracts their business, or perhaps there’s a personal note included in the package.
Price may be the deciding factor. When you find out as much as possible about your niche market, you can target them more effectively.
Select a Wholesaler
You need to choose a reliable partner who can provide you with fragrances at a fair price. Buying wholesale perfume is the best way to do this. A trustworthy partner delivers their goods on time and in excellent condition.
If this is not the case, you won’t fulfill orders on time, and you’ll lose customers. It’s a good idea to work with an American wholesaler to cut down on delivery times.
You may also incur extra costs such as import duties if you work with an overseas partner.
Set Up Your Website
Even if you’re planning on operating a brick-and-mortar perfume shop, you must have an online presence. Many consumers prefer to order their perfumes from a website, as it is cheaper and they don’t have to leave the house.
Your perfume business should have an identifiable brand. When customers see your logo and company colors, they should know who you are.
Your website should also be simple to use. It isn’t easy to keep customers’ attention because they have so many online choices. Ask friends and family to test your site, and ask them to be honest with their opinions.
Learn how to read analytics reports about your website’s performance. You may notice you are attracting customers, but they leave your site after landing on the first page.
This is a warning sign that there is something on that page that is putting customers off. When you have the data, you can make tweaks to your site until you find a winning formula.
Fragrance Store Marketing Strategy
Choosing a niche market tells you where to focus your advertising efforts. But implementing a marketing strategy is much more complex.
You can purchase Facebook and Google ads, but this could be disastrous if you don’t know how to run them properly. The best plan is often to use a mix of paid and free ads and then read the data to see how they perform.
You’ll be able to tell what ads appeal to customers and invest more time and effort in that type of marketing.
However, you need to be careful as you don’t want to compete against another retailer who can afford to run more ads than you. When you’re looking for a competitive edge, you need to know what you do better than anyone else.
A great tip for new sellers is to keep your marketing strategy personal. The massive multinational companies may sell many products, but smaller retailers can provide better customer service. You can promote this as a selling point.
By appealing to customers on a human level, you may find they prefer to shop with someone who truly values their needs. If a delivery is going to be late, consider picking up the phone instead of sending an automated email.
If something is wrong with an order, you can fix the issue and send a free sample of another fragrance as an apology.
Consider Third-Party Selling
When selling perfume from your online fragrance store, you are in charge of finding your customers. But third-party sellers such as Amazon already have customers who are looking to buy perfume.
The main danger with using a third-party seller is they may take a large commission for the benefit of using their site. You need to work out your figures carefully.
If the commission they take drains most of your profit, it may not be worth the effort to use their services. You can talk with your fragrance wholesaler and ask if they would provide a discount if you place larger orders.
Sweet Smell of Success
The many necessary considerations can be daunting when working out how to start a fragrance store. But you can increase your chances of success by making a detailed plan and sticking to it.
Overnight success is rare, so you need to continue with your efforts even when business is slow. When you become successful, you’ll be making money while working with products you love.
If you found this article helpful, be sure to browse some of the other useful articles on our site.
