Redefining the Perfumania retail concept
After declaring Chapter 11 at the end of 2017 and closing 90 stores across the US, Perfumania looked to OSK to redefine its retail concept and to help guide a more meaningful conversation with their customers. Perfumania was looking to attract younger shoppers, while maintaining the value-oriented and tourist customer that comprised a majority of their current customer base. The new concept store is the first major signal to the beauty industry that Perfumania is back as a fragrance authority and offers more than the discount persona it had once been synonymous with. With a new retail concept and a fresh approach to customer engagement, the new Perfumania store surpassed its monthly sales goal in its first two days and generated the highest sales volume from the last five store openings.
OSK led an in-depth immersion process into the Perfumania brand and its position in the market, and envisioned a retail concept that accentuated “Discovery” and leveraged the brand’s strength as a “library of fragrance.” By understanding the broader cultural and market shifts, OSK uncovered opportunities and defined future strategies for Perfumania. By curating and editing the product assortment and making it easier to shop, OSK helped customers learn and understand more about the product offering in a simple, but exciting way.
The retail environment was transformed from a shop that was behind glass and organized by brand into an open-sell store that promotes discovery and learning in ways that relate directly to customers’ needs. Using new scent category tools as the organizing principle, customers are able to explore fragrances by scent category (floral, fruity, warm+spicy, woody, fresh, citrus). To further aid customers, a central Discovery Hub features a curated mix of ingredients to smell and an interactive digital application that helps customer discover which scents fit their moods and tastes.
While value still remains a key component of the brand, the heavy promotional messages are minimized and are replaced with invitations to explore. A rotational artwork program that features a new artist every quarter is carried throughout the store’s graphics and onto custom shopping bags, so the store is constantly changing. A community wall encourages customers to share their thoughts on localized topics creating store specific installations that also help the store staff to better understand, and sell to, their local market
OSK continues to develop this concept in partnership with Perfumania in 2019.
