Take a Deep Breath and Prepare to Open your Wallet

The upside is huge but this is hardly new. The pioneer was someone who knew it was all about touching all the senses--Walt Disney who pioneered scenting Main Street at Disneyland in the '50s.

There's no denying that the smell of baking bread or roasting coffee influences purchases. As a way to keep the smell in the store longer, for example, when you aren't baking bread seems smart.

Just piping it in over your Wonderbread display...probably not too effective.

Bob Phibbs, President/CEO, The Retail Doctor & Associates

It is no secret the sense of smell is a powerful tool in determining our actions. It has been long used in various situations to drive sales. For example, everyone is familiar with the impact of the smell of fresh popcorn on its sales at a movie theater. This is why even though many theaters pre-pop because of capacity issues they still do some fresh popcorn. We drove cinnamon rolls sales in stores by heating cinnamon oil in an oven behind the counter.

The potential is great but stores would have to be careful to not over use or over scent their stores. It may be great to smell bacon while shopping but no one wants to leave the store with the scent on their clothing.

Steve Montgomery, President, b2b Solutions, LLC

I think we all have it right. The smell of fresh baked bread? Intoxicating. The smell of pumped in "fresh baked bread aroma"? Not so much.

The sense of smell is powerful for triggering memories both good and bad. Plus, there is always risk of triggering some kind of allergic reaction (think about those perfume thingies in magazines...).

I don't see a lot of additional opportunity here.

As for smell-o-vision, all I can think of is John Waters' iconic movie "Polyester," where the audience was handed scratch-and-sniff cards that we were encouraged to scratch at appropriate times...the only one I really remember was the leather one.

So let's see, we're going to sit in our homes watching TV with our 3D glasses on while aromas produced by said TVs waft over us. Somehow that really creeps me out!

Paula Rosenblum, Managing Partner, RSR Research

Bernice's opening paragraph is a pretty discouraging statement for today's definition of food. "But at least they [scents] were from real products." Perhaps this is telling us that we need artificial scents to sell artificial foods. This must be progress.

The potential is there and yes it will work.

By coincidence, I was talking with a leather goods manufacturer last week. We were talking about how to tell real leather from today's imitations. I said, "By the aroma." He said, "No, no, no. Leather perfume has existed for over 30-years and is widely used not only for imitations but by retailers of real leather. Or, so you think."

Gene Detroyer, Professor, Entrepreneur, Adviser, Consultant, Independent

Please refer to the McLuhan discussion about the medium being the message. Yup--that's what I'm looking or in my food...artificiality. Yum, yum!

Ian Percy, President, The Ian Percy Corporation

I have no doubt whatever that it does what it is supposed to do. I only wonder one thing: If some study will come out saying that the scents cause cancer in field mice forced to breathe the stuff 24/7 at 1,000 times the levels normally used. Then, the Village Voice and others will be headlining not only "Olfactory mind control," but "It's not safe to breathe the air in supermarkets." Perhaps not so far-fetched. Lots of laundry and body soaps and shampoos are coming out with unscented varieties because consumers believe, rightly or wrongly, about health issues caused by the scents.

Warren Thayer, Editor & Managing Partner, Frozen & Dairy Buyer

I have read that scent is 80% of taste. If this is true, scent can drive sales because it is like giving customers a sample. Further, scent can be detected from any angle, so customers facing all 360 directions know where the aroma is coming from. They can follow their noses (a big advantage over signage, where many customers can't see it or mentally block it out). Finally, of course, the sense of smell is our most primitive, hooking directly into the limbic brain. For all of these reasons, fragrance is an effective marketing tool.

Marketers use all kinds of tools to manipulate behavior and attitudes. This is the nature of the business. If you don't use it, your competition will. The manager who is concerned about using this tool may be in the wrong business.

Liz Crawford, President, Crawford Consulting

To answer my own question, I think this could quickly reach a tipping point and become more irritating than tempting. I know that when I was in a grocery recently and smelled what I thought might have been freshly ground coffee, I remembered my childhood and my mother buying beans having them ground on the spot. Back then people didn't have their own grinders. But the store I'm talking about didn't either and I was disappointed enough to leave empty handed when I realised that the smell was faked to try and tempt me without being able to achieve an acceptable conclusion.

Bernice Hurst, Contributing Editor, RetailWire

It's a great idea. When I go to Whole Foods, they always have good smells. Not sure if they are real but it makes you want to hang around. McDonald's has always known that the color of red and yellow together will make people hungry. The right visual, the right scent... it is all about separating cash from our pockets.

David Livingston, Principal, DJL Research

I do not like this at all. While the idea has merit; the execution leaves a "bad taste" with me. Something about it seems dishonest if not distasteful.

Ed Rosenbaum, CEO, The Customer Service Rainmaker, Rainmaker Solutions

Scent certainly completes the picture but it isn't hard to imagine how nasal assaults could get out of hand (just because you can doesn't mean you should). Last year, Kodak pulled an April Fool's spoof involving a breakthrough in "Neuro-Optic-Nasal-Sense Imaging." Perhaps they were onto something.

Carol Spieckerman, President, newmarketbuilders

Just a quick follow up to Bernice's comment about fresh ground coffee. My daughters always told me that if coffee tasted as good as it smelled while being ground, they'd drink it.

Steve Montgomery, President, b2b Solutions, LLC

This is nothing new, and yes, it works! I'm waiting for "smellivision" software to gain popularity so you can be lured on your PC at home or where ever.

Ralph Jacobson, Global Consumer Products Industry Marketing Executive, IBM

I come down on the side of those who say "Just because you can doesn't mean you should." I think many consumers are increasingly looking for real, authentic, natural, organic, etc., and spraying shoppers with bacon scents seems to fly in the face of that.

Al McClain, CEO, Founder, RetailWire.com

Everything old is new again! In the '60s the company I worked for would put milk and cinnamon in a pan and blow the aroma out into the store.

'DrCellmor'

One key reason for adding bakeries to supermarkets was the smell. Cooking in store added to the senses. Artificial scents in a supermarket could counteract, causing confusion.

W. Frank Dell II, CMC, President, Dellmart & Company

This is a great idea whose time has clearly come. It is time tested and proven. Movie theaters, coffee stores, bakeries, carnivals, and donut shops have all used this to their advantage...why not grocery stores?

Kai Clarke, President, Miraclebeam Products, Inc.