Fragrances blending both fashion & Business houses

Recently there has been an upsurge in fragrance launches across the globe.

Earlier fashion houses like Chanel, Dior, Gucci, etc who had established themselves as fashion brands introduced their signature fragrance lines to personify their presence and keep their customers engrossed with the brand personality.

This trend was carried forward by celebrity-driven fragrance brands like JLO, CR7, Paris Hilton, etc each having their signature fragrance line for their raving fans and followers.

Recently, the trend of fragrance launches has entered the publications/media world wherein the latest entrants are Esquire and Cirque de Soleil.

But why do fashion designers or celebrities have their fragrances?

The answer is – that fragrance is an extension of a fashion statement, it is aspirational, and it combines the story of a fabric with the sensory elements through scents.

Though fashion designers are not Perfumers they do have one thing in common i.e. the sense of art and story-telling.

Designers tell their stories through their fabrics, color palettes, styling, cuts, etc and Perfumers tell their stories with their fragrance notes, each blended like a musical note of a symphony.

Fragrance personifies the brand personas into its sensory elements and gives character to a fashion brand.

Look at the Esquire magazine fragrance line and their names, each distinct name personifies the media designations.

Cirque du Soleil, the Quebecois entertainment company known for its elaborate Las Vegas shows, launched its first fragrance this spring. 

Crypto exchange platform Binance created a perfume in March to attract women to cryptocurrency. 

These launches speak to fragrance’s growing power as both a revenue stream and a marketing tool. 

According to data analyst firm Circana, fragrances represent the fastest-growing prestige beauty category this year thus far, with dollar sales up 12% in the first half of 2024 versus the same period in 2023.

To learn about multi-touch retail, click here.

Learning: 

If a brand wants to create a sensory experience for their customers and weave them into their fabric of storytelling, then developing a fragrance line is the answer.

Being a student of the fragrance and fashion sector and having spent over 25 years in the industry, I still feel so excited to learn new marketing tools that are emerging in the sector new concepts, and new mood boards for fragrance launches, I am confident that coming times are brighter for fragrance sector overall.

If you are a retail fashion /beauty business owner and want to scale your business both in physical and digital space,  Schedule a coffee chat with me to grow your business.

Freakonomics means the asymmetrical information, and irrational behaviors that influence cultures and businesses beyond economics.

The statistical data often DO NOT explain how consumers behave.

Do you know the business model of Mcdonald’s?

Previously, I had penned an article on the business model of McDonald’s’ which is not a burger fast food QSR but a real estate investment trust (REIT).

The only reason, they can sell a burger for a couple of dollars is due to the fact that the land is owned by McDonald’s and leased out to a franchisee to run and operate the restaurant.

Read the article here, click here

There are many business models whose revenue model is different from their main line of business.

Business model of Movie theatres is a classic example. 

The theatre owners don’t make a profit by exhibiting the movies but by selling food i.e. popcorn, drinks, snacks, etc.

On the Movie ticket, the theatre owner gets approx. 25-30% margin but on the food the margin is in multiples and add to it the “cinema advertising” revenue stream and earnings from concessionaires etc 

Food and advertising options cover most of the theatre’s overheads.

Now comes the great reveal of the month.

What do you think the Indian airline carrier Indigo’s Business Model?

If you answered, by carrying passengers, you are partly right. 

The main contributor to Indigo’s profit is the in-flight catering (food) that they sell to the passengers.

The profit of the airline’s food business is greater than that of the Pizza chain.

The below picture shall reveal the stats

The study of Business and its models has always fascinated me all these years of my management career. In fact, studying the business KPI and its economies are my hobbies now.

What is multi-touch attribution channel retail,? click here

I invite my readers and fraternity to list out other examples from the field of Business wherein the revenue model of the business is different from the mainline business itself.

About the Author

Ritesh Mohan is a retail expert with over 24 years of experience in the retail sector handling some of the biggest brands in the fashion, beauty, and fragrance sectors both in India and the Middle Eastern region. He is an author and a thought leader in the industry. He is a regular contributor to business magazines, papers and newspapers wherein he shares his wealth of retail wisdom.

If you are a Brand Owner operating in the beauty/fragrance genre & want to grow his/her business & need a retail expert to help you realize your vision then feel free to write to me at riteshmohan@yahoo.com

How Multi Touch Attribution is helping omni-channel retailers?

In retail, you need to build systems/ processes wherein you can measure each and every touch point that involves customers.

The User Journey initiates several steps prior to the customer making a visit to your store.

It starts from the Discovery stage wherein your customer sees your brand communication online and gets exposed to it.

Several exposures of the brand’s communication bring the brand into his/her “Consideration set”.

The next stage leads to the online exploration stage of your product and services; this is the moment wherein brands try to retarget the customer through their retargeting ads on Instagram/Facebook/TikTok and use the data to create a look-alike audience for the ad campaigns.

You try to capture the customer’s email coordinates by giving some complimentary products like product samples or e-books of seasonal fashion trends etc.

By capturing emails, you build your database and use the same for educating the customers with the latest trends and news in the sector by sending emailers/catalogs. This is where “Top of the mind” recall is established.

The objective of omni-channel marketing is to create a seamless platform wherein the user journey is mapped from online to the store level.

This is where MTA (Multi Touch Attribution) comes into play.

What is Multi-Touch Attribution MTA?

MTA is a marketing attribution technique that assigns credit/ weights to different marketing touchpoints in the customer journey, from the first interaction to the final conversion.

Basically, MTA provides the aerial overview of the customer’s touch points in the overall journey thus providing a scope for carrying out improvements in the customer’s experience with the brand.

Read a case study on Container stores here,

 Multi Touch Attribution- Insights into the customer journey

MTA uses, user-level data to capture the effectiveness of individual touchpoints, such as email opens, paid search views, ad clicks, YouTube views, or Direct Mail exposure across various channels.

Omnichannel user experience

From online the journey leads to a physical store, which includes customer service, the discovery of merchandise, trials of products, time taken at the check-out, and overall exit from the store.

Mapping the entire store journey becomes a critical part of Multi-Touch attribution.

To learn more about Hyper-Personalization, click here

Real-time optimization- Multi-touch attribution

With MTA, marketers can identify underperforming touchpoints and shift resources to higher-performing channels, tactics, or audience segments. 

Benefits of MTA –

1. Faster and more accurate decision-making by retail professionals.
2. Better user experience and brand recall.

Technology tools Enhancing personalization through user-level data – Multi-touch attribution.

MTA’s user-level data allows for better targeting and personalization of marketing efforts. 

By tracking individual customer interactions and understanding which touchpoints resonate with specific audience segments, marketers can tailor their messaging and offers to align with customer preferences and behavior. 

About the author

Ritesh Mohan, is a retail expert, with over two decades of experience in building and scaling retail brands and businesses.

If you are a business owner operating in the beauty/fragrance/fashion genre & want to grow your business & need a retail expert to help you achieve your “Vision to Reality” framework then feel free to write to me at riteshmohan@yahoo.com 

We can schedule a discovery listening call over a #coffeechat.

Social Influence

Most of the brands and brand owners hesitate to allow their store personnel’s to develop their social influence & help the brand create a “community”.

My article may not go well with digital agencies as they will tend to lose their clients.

As a retailer, one of your key strength is direct access to customers, and this gives you an opportunity to build a social “community” and drive product loyalty and build future sales.

Store employees and their interactions are becoming more important for brands, with consumers becoming more discerning and competition for their dollars at a high. 

To ensure the right store representatives/personnel’s are in place, brands’ hiring processes are becoming more demanding and challenging.

To learn about Artificial Intelligence and skincare, read here

How store personnel’s use social influence?

Today, each one of us are micro/nano influencers as we all are present on prominent social media channels.

The trick is to use your store personnel’s social influence to build your brand’s community of loyal shoppers.

British Jewellery brand Astrid & Miyu has just started experimenting with this concept successfully.

Astrid & Miyu recruits talent through traditional job sites and LinkedIn, with an eye on applicants with their own business or a significant social following. Both offer the opportunity to create awareness of the brand among a new audience. 

While the brand’s store employees are not paid to be influencers who leverage their own followings, they regularly take to Astrid & Miyu’s Instagram, TikTok and YouTube accounts while in-store to make recommendations or offer explainers on how to wear the brand’s products and use its services. Live streaming the videos straight from the stores.

Mantra here is – People love to buy from People with whom they resonate and feel connected.

Using store personnel in brand’s “How to use” videos or tutorials help reach new audience.

It’s much better than paying macro influencers thousands of dollars to promote the brand.

It’s all about Organic growth versus Exponential growth.

To learn more about, importance of niche retailing, click here.

Social influence – Brands need to embrace “content creation”.

Brands need to create trust amongst their users and hence content creation becomes a critical tool to:

• Building trust
• Converting customers into raving fans
• Bringing Authencity & social relevance in the process of shopping 

If you are a business owner operating in the beauty/fragrance genre & want to grow your business & need a retail expert to help you achieve your “Vision to Reality” framework then feel free to write to me at riteshmohan@yahoo.com & schedule a discovery listening call over a #coffeechat.

Retail Mantra -Look for gaps

Modern-age retail is all about experimentation and bringing out concepts and themes that can create excitement as well as engagement amongst the targeted customers.

One such concept that caught my eye, it’s an American brand called Container Store. 

They have a very focused category called College Shop.

The concept is unique since it offers storage solutions to students who live in college dorms or hostels to pursue their studies.

They offer storage solutions, bedding and under-bed storage, and study zone assortments like tables, lamps, laptops desks etc which can fit in small spaces.

Recently, my daughter entered her college dorm life in India, and I wondered why no Indian brand has thought about such innovative retail concepts targeting students and universities.

Since their prices are pocket friendly keeping students in mind, hence the marketing vehicle used by container stores is only SMS or WhatsApp text messaging.

They have over 100,000 subscribers with whom they communicate directly through SMS or text-based ads.

To learn how AI & Beauty merge together, click here

Retail marketing Vehicle SMS

The main marketing vehicle is SMS.

Social media has now become cluttered and to grab attention and generate sizeable impressions, you need dollars.

Rather SMS or text-based communication is a very personal and intimate form of communication.

And comes with a high rate of response as the messages are opened and read by the majority.

To learn how AI in fashion is disrupting “Fit tech”, click here

Result:

 Today, the Container store has become a store where you can get almost everything you need for your dorm room.

Thus, proving the fact that money lies in niches.

Unfortunately, none of the middle eastern retailers of furnishing has ever thought about such a concept yet. 

Staying agile and adaptive is the only retail game.

I have co-founded a retail accelerator for beauty brands called Adhara Retail which is a one-stop retail accelerator for testing brands in retail, Pop-ups & provides expert consulting in Retail leasing, staff training & retail ops, and franchising to scale your brand.

If you are a business owner operating in the beauty/fragrance genre & want to grow your business & need a retail expert to help you achieve your “Vision to Reality” framework then feel free to write to me at riteshmohan@yahoo.com 

We can schedule a discovery listening call over a #coffeechat.

Metaverse careers in fashion

Earlier this year, there was an article in the publication, National about career opportunities in the metaverse.

One upcoming career really caught my attention and that was “Avatar clothing designer”.

When I read the article, I was a bit amused since I thought of it as a crazy idea, (I am from the old school of luxury brand marketing) but I definitely saw a potential (my commercial mindset) since the average user’s age in the metaverse (Roblox, decentraland, Fortnite etc) is 13 years.

Yes, 13 years old and even younger are the core users of Metaverse, and this generation after 5 years would enter the “consumption” segment of the market which means that they would have a propensity to spend on things that they want in the metaverse.

“Catch them early” is the mantra being followed by luxury brands venturing into the metaverse.

Maison Valentino is the latest luxury brand to create digital fashion looks for Meta’s avatars.

People can dress their avatars, which are available on Meta platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and Meta virtual reality experiences, with six fully branded looks inspired by Valentino’s most recent collections. The designer pieces typically range in price from $2.99 to $8.99.

Today, I happened to meet a good friend Dipak Bhadra who gifted me with his book and during the discussion, we chatted about Leadership building in the corporate world by aligning employees towards the organizational goals.

I feel the leadership framework (3R’s) is the most relevant for brands targeting Metaverse for tapping the younger audience.

• Relevance
• Resonate
• Results.

You need to innovate in the metaverse by offering relevant solutions to the users. For example, Valentino did with their designer clothes for avatars.

Your brand must resonate its purpose with the millennials who are more and more engrossed in Metaverse platforms.

Last but not least, the results of the innovation must be shared with the community for their growth and to bring newer audiences onto the new platforms.

To learn how Artificial Intelligence is helping the beauty sector, click here

Why is fashion going ga ga over Metaverse?

The fashion industry is also nervous about neglecting a community of future consumers. 

Typically, brands ignore customers outside their highly prescribed comfort zone until they are unable to—until, in other words, it’s convenient and profitable to engage with new potential customers

Way forward for fashion brands:

Any fashion brand, any fashion house, needs to start to think about, 

• What is their meta-strategy?
• What does the brand become in the metaverse? 
• What does it translate to?
• They will not be able to sell, they will not be able to keep their legacy status or be top of mind, if they do not engage the community that already inhabits these spaces.

To learn how Fit-tech is revolutionizing the fashion industry, click here.

If you are a business owner operating in the beauty/fragrance genre & want to grow your business & need a retail expert to help you achieve your “Vision to Reality” framework then feel free to write to me at riteshmohan@yahoo.com & schedule a #coffeechat.

I have co-founded a retail accelerator for beauty brands called Adhara Retail which is a one-stop retail accelerator for testing brands in retail, Pop-ups & provides expert consulting in Retail leasing, staff training & retail ops, and franchising to scale your brand.

About the author

Ritesh mohan, is a retail expert, author, founder of Adhara Retail, a retail accelerator for beauty brands in the UAE. He helps retailers to scale their businesses by 4X using retail growth hacks, and strategies using data insights & converting them into executable action plans. Reach out to him at riteshmohan@yahoo.com

Artificial Intelligence is proving to be a boon for skincare brands.

The beauty industry was one of the first to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) solutions as a way to solve consumer pain points, like hygiene and waste that come from community testers and samples.

While the benefits of AI and AR virtual try-on solutions span all beauty verticals—from color cosmetics to eye color and hair color—the skincare category posed a grand opportunity coupled with a unique challenge that required an innovative approach, quite different from that of your traditional makeup virtual try-on.

To learn more about fit-tech and how it is revolutionizing the Fashion sector, click here

AI Skin Tech – Gateway to Skincare Personalization

Personalization is highly valued along the consumer skincare journey, and AI skin tech has quickly revolutionized how brands are able to offer this level of customization across this category.

Shopping for skincare poses a unique set of challenges to consumers, as it requires they are aware and informed about their own skin health and knowledgeable about the ingredients and products that will help them treat their specific areas of concern.

Skin – gamification using AI

AI skin technology also gives customers a chance to take an active role in their skincare journey, tracking progress and results in a fun, new hyper-engaged way.

Consider a hypothetical brand, XYZSKINZ, which has developed a mobile application that leverages AI technology to provide personalized skincare recommendations based on the user’s unique skin type, concerns, and preferences.

To read how the skincare brand “Once in a Pink Moon” uses astrology to grow, click here

Here’s a case example of how they use AI for personalization and gamification:

1. Personalization: When new user downloads the XYZSkinz app, they are prompted to create a profile and answer a series of questions related to their skin type, concerns, and current skincare routine. The app utilizes AI algorithms to analyze this information and generate personalized recommendations for skincare products and routines.
2. AI algorithms take into account factors such as the user’s age, skin type (e.g., oily, dry, sensitive), specific concerns (e.g., acne, wrinkles, dark spots), and any known allergies or sensitivities.
3. The app continuously learns and adapts based on user feedback and interactions, ensuring that the recommendations become increasingly accurate and personalized over time.
4. The AI-powered gamification features aim to make skincare routines more enjoyable and encourage users to stay consistent with their regimen. Here are a few examples:

a) Skincare Challenges: XYZSkinz app offers interactive skincare challenges that users can participate in.

These challenges can be focused on specific goals like achieving a clearer complexion, reducing fine lines, or improving skin hydration.

Users earn points, badges, or rewards for completing challenges, which adds an element of competition and achievement.

b. Virtual Try-On:

The app’s virtual try-on feature allows users to visualize how different skincare products might look and feel on their skin.

Using augmented reality (AR), users can virtually “try on” different moisturizers, serums, etc.

This interactive experience helps users explore new products and makes the skincare routine more engaging.

c) Community and Social Sharing:

The app includes a community feature where users can connect with fellow skincare enthusiasts, share their experiences, and seek advice.

Users can post skincare-related content, such as product reviews, skincare routines, or before-and-after photos.

The AI-powered algorithms curate personalized feeds for each user, showcasing content most relevant to their interests and concerns.

Summary:

Artificial intelligence & its application in the Beauty sector is immense & one such implementation is Skin tech which delivers a personalized skincare regime to users using an AI-powered app.

If you are a business owner operating in the beauty/fragrance genre & want to grow his/her business & need a retail expert to help you realize your vision then feel free to write to me at riteshmohan@yahoo.com.

I have co-founded a retail accelerator for beauty brands called Adhara Retail which is a one-stop retail accelerator for testing brands in retail, Pop-ups & provides expert consulting in Retail leasing, staff training & retail ops, and franchising to scale your brand.

About the author

Ritesh Mohan is a passionate retail professional with over 22 years in the Retail sector, handling some of the biggest brands in the beauty, fashion, and fragrances retail & FMCG sector. 

Ritesh specializes in Retail management, Product development, Brand Management, Retail Operations, Sales Management, and Franchising & Business Management. 

He strongly believes in empowering business owners with his wisdom & experience of around two decades in the industry.

What is fit-tech ?

It is a technology that helps customers to try & buy clothes based on their body types.

It all started in 2021 when Walmart bought a fit-tech startup called Zeekit.

The objective at that time was to integrate a new virtual try-on feature to encourage more e-commerce sales in the future. 

Secondly, to equip the trial rooms with this technology so that the customer’s experience in trying out the garment and social sharing could be integrated into one wholesome experience.

Following that acquisition, Walmart introduced the “Be Your Own Model virtual tool”, which lets users upload images of their bodies to virtually try on clothing.

To learn about Category management, click here.

Why Fit-tech is useful?

The category was born out of a need during the Pandemic when the trial rooms were closed for preventing the spread of covid-19. Also to encourage online shopping of fashion apparel, alongside bringing everything under the Omni channel platform.

Having a virtual try-on feature gives consumers a better idea of how a clothing item fits them and whether it matches their features — a solution to what has historically been a problem for many online brands.

Secondly, fit-tech adds a social element to the digital experience, allowing customers to bring their unique personalities and preferences to shopping, both online & in-store.

Case study:

Savage x Fenty by Rihanna, a celebrity brand catering to women’s lingerie & men’s innerwear needs.

The fit-tech has come as a boon wherein they are encouraging both virtual trials-on and in-store trial rooms trials of the merchandise.

Savage X Fenty has partnered with fit technology company Fit: Match to launch a new iteration of Fit Xperience, an in-store digital fitting tool that scans customers’ bodies and provides product recommendations. The brand debuted the latest version at its Lenox Square Mall store in Atlanta, Georgia, US.

Mechanics:

Within 30 seconds, the fit-tech scanners map shoppers’ bodies and create an avatar of their body type. Avatars are very popular with GenZ shoppers and build engagement and social sharing.

 It then compares that avatar with a database of similar previously scanned bodies to recommend Savage X Fenty products ideal for the customer’s fit.

To learn why the Ulta beauty loyalty program is the talk of the retail fraternity, click here

Challenges in implementation:

1. The Privacy issues, as the customers are very conscious of privacy issues.
2. Hence the new version of Fit-tech doesn’t use cameras instead they use scanners to scan the overall body.

In a study conducted by Cisco, one of the major insights that were revealed is that today’s consumers believe in “ Transparency”. 

Today’s customers want retailers to share clearly how their provided information/data would be treated or used by the retailer in the future.

Gen Z is more demanding and more aware when it comes to Privacy issues.

Early adopters:

Social media brands like Snapchat have also embraced this fit-tech technology.

Brands like Gucci and other fashion brands are fast testing this technology.

Advantage of fit-tech for D2C fashion brands.

The technology will reduce the cost of returns which is of utmost importance for D2C brands and can make or break an e-commerce brand.

If you are a retailer and want a fresh perspective on scaling your business then feel free to reach out to me at riteshmohan786@gmail.com

Email me if you are a beauty brand wanting to enter the middle eastern retail space.

Watch the Lidar tech working

About the author:

Ritesh Mohan is a passionate retail professional with over 22 years in the Retail sector, handling some of the biggest brands in the beauty, fashion, and fragrances retail & FMCG sector.

Ritesh specializes in Retail management, Product development, Brand Management, Retail Operations, Sales Management, and Franchising & Business Management.

He strongly believes in empowering business owners with his wisdom & experience of around two decades in the industry

What is House-money effect?

It is one of the most powerful tools used in marketing.

Let me narrate the concept through a story.

First scenario:

Consider you have worked very hard the whole year & saved USD 12000 at the end of the year. What would you do if given the option to use this money?

1. Deposit in a bank account
2. Invest it
3. Fulfill your desire i.e. buy phones, gadgets, cars, etc.
4. Buy a ticket to a luxury cruise.

Most of us would choose option (a), (b), or (c)

Now, in The second scenario, if you win a lottery of USD 12000 where would you choose to spend your money?

Most of us would choose options (c) and (d).

Researchers coined this behavior as the “House-money effect”

We tend to be more frivolous with lottery or inherited money rather than with hard-earned money.

To learn growth hacks for supermarkets, click here

How does “house-money” used in Marketing?

Marketers use this phenomenon to their advantage.

Ask me how?

Have you noticed credit card companies giving you a preloaded card of USD 100 for your initial purchase or your telecom operator providing you the first month free when you subscribe to their data plans for the year?

In India Jio telecom used by giving the first 6 to 9 months of free data and calls in their spree to acquire customers.

All the above examples get you on the temptation hook and make you habitual with the product or services thus driving the usage.

That’s why I always say,

“Business is all about understanding human psychology and behavior; If you don’t understand customers, you don’t have a business”.

My book “How to be a shark salesman” is full of real-life anecdotes, Grab your copy today from amazon & Flipkart.

(The Header picture is clicked at a new retail incubator store that I have co-founded, giving a retail platform to beauty brands willing to enter the middle east market. At Adhara we build retail as a more collaborative platform. Visit us at Wafi Mall, ground level near Carrefour, Dubai)

About the author:

Ritesh Mohan is a passionate retail professional with over 22 years in the Retail sector, handling some of the biggest brands in the beauty, fashion, and fragrances retail & FMCG sector. He has been instrumental in the growth of some of the regional brands as well as in the Middle East region. Ritesh specializes in Retail management, Product development, Brand Management, Retail Operations, Sales Management, and Franchising & Business Management. He strongly believes in empowering business owners with his wisdom & experience of around two decades in the industry