Fanboy Friday - Scent Flights

If you’re in the business of smells, especially DTC, or if you’re invested in fragrance DTC, feel free to take this and make it yours.

I’m a big fan of Ranger Station . I discovered their Santalum candle a few years ago at an Austin haberdashery and have been a dedicated customer ever since. I was recently on their website making a purchase and saw they have added new SKUs to include perfumes. I got excited because I’m already a fan. The problem is, most of their scents have an attractive description, so I’m interested in all of them. However, without a trip to a retail location, if there’s one in the area, I don’t know what the scents actual smell like. In order to try the seven SKUs I’m interested in, I’d need to order $273 worth of travel perfumes, and then what - return the five or six I don’t want? 

If they do accept returns, it’s still an inconvenience for me, the customer. If they don’t, it’s a large spend and big inconvenience. Now, this isn’t the first time I’ve run into this issue. It’s happened before while shopping for some great brands: SALT & STONE , Histoires de Parfums , Aesop , comparing various haircare products like Nutrafol and hims & hers , and others. 

While most brands have store locators on their websites, and it is fun to go retail shopping, a lot of times I just want the convenience and ease of online purchasing. But I don’t want to spend hundreds to try a bunch of different scents, then go to all the trouble of return shipping, if that’s even an option.

Brands like Le Labo Fragrances , ATELIER MATERI , and Perfumerica.mx actually do offer beautiful discovery sets. It’s the closest solution I’ve found. The problem, as you can see in the images below, it may be a bit too much. The price point for Perfumerica.mx is close to $60 USD, ATELIER MATERI $32 USD, and Le Labo Fragrances is $35-$107 USD. Now, they are generous with the samples, but the likelihood that they’ll all get used is low, so I feel like there is bound to be a high amount of waste. Perfumerica.mx does package individual samples beautifully, and while they’re getting pretty close with that, they don’t offer them as an order option on their website - the smaller samples only come as add-ons to regular orders. 

On the wellness front, Thesis has their version of discovery with the Starter Kit. Thesis is in the business of personalized nootropics, and they have four different SKUs. To get started, they send you a week supply of each of the four SKUs, totaling a one month supply of nootropics. You try each SKU for one week, and then at the end of the month, you update your profile with the SKU that resonates best with your biology//physiology. Thesis boasts over 300,000 starter kits purchased. I don’t know what their conversion rate is, but that’s a hell of a revenue-generating, qualified funnel.

So what’s the solution for fragrance houses to minimize waste and costs, while maximizing customer experience and pipeline generation? 

The solution is same same, but different. Just a tweak really :: a Scent Flight. I’d like to be able to order a flight that includes all the scents I’m interested in, at a low cost, allowing me to try each scent before I settle on the one I’ll stick with, and I don’t want to throw away six bottles full of smells I don’t like.

So let’s say I want to try the seven scents at Ranger Station . I’d order a scent flight that costs $5-$10, just enough for Ranger Station to cover their costs + shipping, and I’d also receive an incentive of let’s say, 25%-50% off my first order. Now Ranger Station could simply dose a cotton swab in each scent, individually package, box and ship it to me. I’d have the chance to try each scent on my skin (which is an important part of picking a scent - not just smelling, but trying it on your skin), and then order the one I like most. Check out the design by James Harrill (and keep scrolling for more mock ups).

The general concept can be extrapolated out to products like candles, haircare, and other grooming confections. 

From the business side, Ranger Station (if they didn’t already have my customer info) would now have me in their funnel, have a first purchase, and be working on my loyalty with the first order discount.

At this point, you may be thinking, “so you’re pretty much just asking for samples?”, or, “this sounds just like a discovery set.”

Sure ;)

But samples that reduce waste, allow the brand to lower the cost of production, and solve a legit customer problem, all while still generating leads, building customer loyalty, and providing a delightful first experience for the customer. 

As always, design and packaging will be key to delighting customers, and for keeping costs reasonable. 

I've included some quick and dirty Midjourney -generated mock ups below as to what these Scent Flight Scent Swabs might look like (including one for candle samples), as well as images throughout this article of what’s already in the market. The Ranger Station mock up was created by my friend, the most talented, James Harrill , Creative Director extraordinaire. 12 days of LEATHER + PINE. “Try before you buy and have the confidence in your scent”.  Steve Soderholm , holler at James if you like the look.

Let me know what you think, and feel free to poke holes in the concept.

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Steve Soderholm , Kyle Lawrence , SKU , Michelle Breyer , Ryan Springer , Alex Bodney , Kate Gunning , Kyle LaFond , Martha Velando , Valerie Piana , Jennifer Lee Yang , Nima Jalali , Chandler Burr , Jillian Friedman , Jeremy Fragrance , Demi Rawling

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March 21, 2024

In response to Kyle Lawrence sharing the Discovery Set:

Kyle Lawrence - I ordered and received the Discover Set! Beautiful scents all around (I received six scents). My favorite's are Santalum and Leather and Pine.

For those interested, Santalum is a unique twist on your typical Santalum scents. This one has hints of smoke (camp fire) and almost a perfume version of frankincense and myrrh (reminds me of the incense burned in Catholic mass). Delightful.

Leather and Pine starts off piney, coming across clean, almost like a pine soap. Then the leather starts to settle and it smells almost like a Christmas tree in a boot store. Initially more subtle then the pine, the leather actually endures more throughout the day. Delightful.

As to the Discovery Set, you can find it under "shop -> by products -> unisex perfumes", which I'd initially missed on the website. My suggestion is to list it under "by product" on the homepage hero section.

The set is $39, which I think could be improved with the ideas outlined in my original article. However, I did receive a 20% discount off a full-size order, after I'd ordered the discovery set.

The Ranger Station discovery set is beautifully packaged in a reusable tin box, which I appreciate as my "Scent Flight" idea originated in part to address the packaging waste in product testing. There is a small spray bottle for each scent - here is where I'd still advocate for something more along the lines of what James Harrill designed in the image attached. And the mini spray bottles are held in place by a light cardboard framing.

Overall great experience and product(s), and I appreciate Kyle Lawrence pointing me to their Discovery Set. Highly recommend Ranger Station for great smells!