The Online Perfume Industry
Chris Butsko
Srinath Nagarajan
Yuenman (Priscilla) Pang
Major Players in
Online Perfume Industry
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
FragranceNet
LaParfumerie
Perfumania
MyPerfume
Fascination Perfumery
LoveMart
The Fragrance Counter
Jasmin.com
A Sample Front Page
Basics
• Consumers do not need to sign up online with
perfume company
• Can shop anytime anywhere where they have
access to web interface
• Go to the web site, select perfumes (or other
products if provided), pay using credits cards
(some sites also accept checks and money order),
and arrange for shipping
A Sample Signup Page
A Sample Perfume Store
Online Perfume Industry
• Who are the customers?
– “Over the past ten years, Perfumania, Inc.
focused on developing a chain of discount retail
fragrance stores to meet the needs of today’s
fashion-conscious, value-oriented consumers.”
(Source: Perfumania)
Online Perfume Industry
• Who are the customers?
– International customers => FragranceNet offers
shipping worldwide
Online Perfume Industry
• How do they attract customers?
– Affiliation Program (FragranceNet, LaParfumerie)
– Great Discounts (All)
– Low price guarantee, beat competitor’s price by 5%
(FragranceNet)
– Free Shipping and worldwide (FragranceNet)
– Free wrapping (FragranceNet, LaParfumerie)
– Gift with every order (FragranceNet)
– Personalized service (FragranceNet, Perfumania)
– Also provide complementary products like, cosmetics, hair/body
care, accessories, Lingerie, etc. (LaParfumerie, Lovemart)
– Word of mouth (all)
– Media Advertising (all)
– Direct mail (FragranceNet, LaParfumerie, Perfumania)
Online Perfume Industry
• What types of value-added do the firms provide?
– Advanced Search Criteria
• Special methods for you to explore collections of fragrances
and find the ideal one.
– Search by brand to browse hundreds of fragrances for both men
and women
– Search by fragrance family for descriptive characteristics such as
aromatic, fresh, floral and oriental
– Search by interesting ideas, such as unique bottles, teens, classics
etc.
– Inform, Educate and Entertain
• Magazine – Ex. JASMIN Magazine
• Search criteria like “fragrance family” help educate users about
fragrances
Online Perfume Industry
• What types of value-added do the firms provide?
– REMINDER Services
• Ex. In FragranceNet.com, members of a club get email
notifications of birthdays, anniversaries and other important
dates
– Higher Buyer-Seller Interaction
• Ex. In FragranceNet.com, customers can speak to a fragrance
specialist via e-mail or a toll free number
– Address Net-Buyer Concerns
• High security. Ex. Billing Address must match credit card
address for the card to get accepted
Online Perfume Industry
• How do they get potential customers to try the
products?
– Experience good
– Price Guarantee
• Ex. Fragrancenet.com guarantees that it will beat any
competitors price by 5%!
– Offer promotions/guarantees to bring in potential
customers
•
•
•
•
Free US shipping and handling (FragranceNet)
Free gift wrapping (FragranceNet, LaParfumerie)
Free gift with each order (FragranceNet, PerfumeShop)
Guarantee to beat any competitor’s price by 5%
(FragranceNet)
Online Perfume Industry
• How do they get potential customers to try the
products?
– Free samples
• Jasmin.com – only with registration
– Strategic alliances to distribute samples to customers of
• Vendors of related or other goods
– Ex. Online book stores, drug stores etc.
• Service providers
– Ex. Email providers, ISP’s, Online Communities
Online Perfume Industry
• Turning one-shot customers into repeat customers
– Personalized services (increases switching costs)
• FragranceNet offers a “Reminder Club” in which a consumer
enters personally important dates (birthdays, anniversaries,
holidays), and receives an email from the company as a reminder
of an upcoming date
• Perfumania offers fragrance consultants to provide customers with
personalized service and expert advice
– Offering complementary products
• Perfume Center offers a link to HandyCraft.com, where hand
crafted goods may be purchased
• Perfumania offers bath/body products, aromatherapy products,
and an electronic greeting card service at its web site
– Excellent customer service
• Variety of companies offer an 800 number to talk to fragrance
specialist if cannot locate a scent
• Also provides a store locator to find out where stores are for
customer to buy a certain perfume