Founder Kelly Wright and the Pomander Tech kiosk
Choosing a fragrance to purchase and wear isn't always an easy decision for consumers. The act of sampling and discovering a fragrance, an invisible multi-layered sensory product, can be a deeply personal experience. And with more than 36,000 fragrances on the market, manufacturers know the competition is fierce, with some brands spending a significant amount of their marketing budgets to showcase their scents.
"Because the fragrance industry is so competitive, you'll see them spend a lot on marketing. That can be anywhere from 4 to 30 percent of revenue every year—30 percent of revenue every year being on the high side of marketing expenditures," said Kelly Wright, CEO and founder of Pomander Tech.
That's where the Pomander Tech kiosk comes in.
"We see this as a different way to stand out in the marketplace," Wright said. "So, it's not just the ads that everybody's used to tuning out, but something that's going to meet the consumers where they are and help them engage with the brand and engage with the product."
Upon approaching the fragrance sampling kiosk, a consumer will be asked to take a short quiz to help select a fragrance—where do you want to wear the fragrance? What kind of fragrance notes do you prefer? Then, it will give the consumer the option to sample the fragrances in the kiosk that it has selected based on the quiz information. This sample is dispensed on a card, which includes the fragrance name, a URL for more information on the scent, and a QR code to scan and purchase.
A woman uses the Pomander Tech kiosk to find a new fragrance.
"(The kiosk) is another marketing tool in the tool belt for the fragrance industry," Wright said. "It is a new way of showing up in the marketplace for these fragrance companies, as well as helping them develop the new fragrances down the line by helping them understand their customers better.
"We've seen that people will find a fragrance, and once they kind of settle into it as their fragrance, they are lifelong customers," she added. "We're hoping that this helps getting over that barrier to entry to some other brands too."
Wright, who has a decade of experience as a chemist before becoming a software engineer, was driven to create the kiosk by her experience of shopping for a fragrance as a consumer and the pressure to purchase without adequate time to explore a scent.
"Part of what I see as a challenge as a consumer is trying to learn about fragrances," she said. "So we're trying to improve that experience of how you can guide your own journey there.
"I see this a lot with men too. It's hard for them to feel comfortable to go in and try to find the right thing."
Having completed the University of Kentucky Von Allmen Center for Entrepreneurship Bootcamp and Launch Blue's pre-seed accelerator and incubator programs, Wright is now looking forward to getting more demos of the kiosk and growing her team.
“We see this as a different way to stand out in the marketplace. It’s not just the ads that everybody’s used to tuning out, but something that’s going to meet the consumers where they are and help them engage with the brand and engage with the product.”
In addition, Pomander Tech has partnered with American Perfumer, a Louisville-based fragrance boutique, that is working to integrate its signature scents in the kiosk to expand their reach outside of their existing local market. In the future, Wright envisions the kiosk in pharmacies, chain retailers, and possibly day spas.
"I think there's value there because the customer experience is poor. (Pharmacies and chain retailers) sell fragrances, but they're locked up behind glass and you can't learn about fragrances without committing to the purchase," Wright explained.
"We also find it interesting to put it in places like spas, where you're going to (the spa to) have that experience to make yourself feel beautiful, relaxed, and happy. We see fragrance fitting in there," she added. "Not that the spas have to sell the fragrances, because we can do online sales and have it shipped, but integrating that experience and being a way for people to learn about and experience fragrances where they are."
While the consumer feedback from initial demos has been positive and helpful, Wright sees the buy-in from those in the fragrance industry, like American Perfumer, as the ultimate win.
"I always tell the story from the consumer's perspective, because there's a big pain point there, but there's an even larger and financial pain point in the fragrance industry and that's what this technology accomplishes," she said.
"One big thing that you see in the fragrance industry is people don't want to buy it without having smelled it before, because fragrance can be so personal. They don't want to make that commitment to a luxury item without knowing if it's going to match. I think that's what is appealing to (American Perfumer) is a way to reach new customers, to get out there and have expanded reach."
By: Erin Shea
Launch Blue nurtures promising startup founders and university innovators through intensive accelerator and incubator programs. Its funding partners are the University of Kentucky: Office of Technology Commercialization, KY Innovation, the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and the National Science Foundation.