In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:
Making Sense of Scents: A Look at the Fragrance Industry

The scent of roses takes me back to my childhood garden, while frying bacon transports me to my grandmother’s kitchen.

Of the five senses, smell is our sense most closely tied to memory. More perfumiers are catering to that, with personalized fragrances and a new generation of perfumes targeted at today’s shoppers.

Scents remain popular with consumers. According to a 2021 Mintel report, Fragrance Trends in Beauty, 51% of American respondents wear perfume even when they’re not leaving the house, and 62% use fragrance to boost their mood.

Personalized perfume

Some perfumiers are offering quizzes to help customers select scents. Most of Pinrose’s customers opt to take the company’s online quiz, says Nancy Shalek, CEO. It was developed with scientists and the company regularly analyzes quiz results to ensure customers like what it predicts for them and often updates the quiz to keep it relevant based on consumer feedback.

Katrina Sellers launched Jules & Vetiver because she was tired of seeing mass-market perfumes “marketed the same way they have been for decades: with fancy, expensive-to-produce custom bottles, celebrity endorsements, flashy ads. It’s focused on selling an image, and almost no attention is paid to what’s in the bottle.”

Jules & Vetiver

But customer …

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In: Dropshipping|Last Updated:
How to Create a Coming Soon Page in 2022

You have a brilliant new website idea that’s not quite ready to launch. But you still want to build hype and let people know the awesomeness that’s coming. The solution: a coming soon page. 

A coming soon page, also called a pre-launch page, is a type of landing page that explains the concept, offers a way to get in touch, and encourages people to spread the word. It can be a catalyst for a successful launch of a new brand, product, or product line.

In this article, we’ll dissect the anatomy of an effective coming soon page and how you can use it to build buzz for your upcoming site. We’ll also share a few examples that you can use as landing page templates for your own pre-launch page. 

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What is a coming soon page? 

A coming soon page gives people an overview of your upcoming product or service. It’s meant to pique interest and help you build a customer base before launching. A well-designed coming soon page incites excitement, attracts visitors to your email list, and amplifies your reach via word of mouth. 

A coming soon page isn’t …

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In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:

One of the most intriguing coverages you may hear about in business insurance is inland marine insurance. While it has nothing to do with the sea, it has everything to do with protecting the stuff you use in your day-to-day business activities. 

Inland marine insurance is a first-party coverage. A majority of the policies you use to insure your business can help in the case of your business or product causing damage or inflicting injuries—but what if something damages the equipment you need to run your business? That’s where inland marine insurance may be able to help you. 

What is inland marine insurance? 

Also known as business personal property insurance, inland marine is a type of insurance for the tools, equipment, and other types of moveable property you use to run your business—while on the job or being transported across land. If an insured item is stolen or damaged, your insurance policy may help you repair or replace the item. 

Who uses inland marine insurance? 

If you regularly transport property or store it away from your primary business location, you should consider adding inland marine insurance to your business insurance plan. 

Inland marine insurance is often used by businesses who: …

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In: Dropshipping|Last Updated:

Have you ever felt a company truly cares about having your business? Chances are you’ve felt this warm, fuzzy feeling before, even if only once or twice. In today’s highly competitive ecommerce space, it can be the one thing that differentiates you from your competition.

Sending thank you messages is a small gesture that can make a huge difference in your customer experience. And, as we all know, a positive customer experience is how you keep shoppers coming back (and telling their friends about how great you are).

In this article, we’re going to take a look at different types of thank you messages you can start sending today, as well as tips on how to write and distribute them.

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Why show customer appreciation? 

Customer appreciation is an unselfish and consistent approach to engagement that shows customers you value them. A simple expression of gratitude can improve their perception of your company and provide a great experience. With 86% of buyers willing to pay more for such an experience, customer appreciation can become the catalyst for improved AOV and sales. 

The key objectives when implementing customer appreciation include:

Making customers…
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In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:
Mushrooms Truly are Magic for Retail and Foodservice

I recently went down a mushroom rabbit-hole. And not the kind you may be imagining.

It all started with RangeMe’s Q2 Retail Roundup Report, in which I learned that the keyword “mushroom” was trending on RangeMe among food, beverage, health and beauty care retail buyers in the United States. After digging deeper into the data, I found that buyers were searching for every variety of these formidable fungi from fresh mushrooms to supplements, beverages, jerky, and even coffee.

Armed with these insights, I took to the 2022 Plant Based World Expo floor at New York’s Javits Center to see what retailers, food service operators and brands had to say about mushrooms. I was not disappointed. Mushrooms are indeed becoming a favorite among buyers and are no longer just a staple in the produce section. They can now be foraged throughout the store in multiple categories. According to NielsenIQ Retail Measurement Services, NielsenIQ Product Insight, powered by Label Insight, there has been significant growth among some up and coming mushroom ingredients in the past three years, particularly products containing Reishi (up 72.3%), Lions Mane (up 534.5%) and chaga (up 238.4%). In total, sales of mushrooms and products containing mushrooms are up …

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In: Retailing Tips|Last Updated:
Why Typical Store Locators Are Falling Off the Map

It’s no longer breaking news that customers want multiple ways to shop. Whether it’s through online ordering with curbside pickup or purchasing directly from a retailer, meeting the omnichannel demands of the modern consumer requires brands to support several buying options in the most useful, convenient, and accurate way. 

In other words, we want our cake and we want to eat it too, but we also want to know exactly where we can locally buy the cake (preferably with multiple retailers listed so we can choose our favorite bakery and have a curbside or ship-to-home option available). 

The most common way to inform customers of where to find a brand’s products is via a store locator on their website. Up until now, store locators have caused more headaches than added value for both consumers and brands:  

Old data – The inventory data available for store locators is typically a couple of weeks old at minimum and is based on retailers’ point-of-sale (POS) data. Therefore, if a brand’s product is rung up at a register within the last couple of weeks, the item could still show up as in-stock at that location. This results in customer frustration when arriving at a…
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