Following the launch of Givaudan’s Aroma Kiosk, shoppers in Mexico are now being offered a tailor-made experience that is led by suggestions based on their preferred aromas;

Jim Toy, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“Digitalization has progressed in recent years to supply the ‘oil’ of the 21^st century that is integral towards understanding the needs and wants of modern consumers. Out of 514, *61% of respondents to GlobalData’s Q1 2021 Consumer Tracker Survey said that personalisation often or always affects their product choice, making the region an ideal ground to test on being **8% higher than the global average. This technology can indeed be combined with other profiling techniques that use cameras and digital profiling to create a better picture of the ‘in-store’ customer.

“Sadly, COVID-19 has slowed down ‘in-store’ interactions and digital-sensory innovation. With the world coming out of lockdown, the technology is picking up where it left off. Innovative hardware designers in this niche space need to be conscious of how senses of smell may vary across demographic groups.

“However, with the consumers’ backlash against the potential invasion of their privacy, scent-based analysis will come across as relatively harmless to their data privacy, owing to how novel and unusual the technology will appear. This should make consumers feel much more at ease in allowing Givaudan’s advanced AI (ATOM 2.0) to consult them on their preferences, that is administered on the back of their scent preferences at the store itself.

“Consumers are presented with a funnel where various scents are transmitted from. Through a succession of questions based on each aroma profile, the ATOM 2.0 advises the consumers how to shop using personalized recommendations.

“As much as this technology has huge future potential, Aroma Kisok will certainly need fine tuning so not to overwhelm or under-deliver on a person-by-person basis, or else risk damaging the relationship between the customer and the retailer they chose to visit.”

* GlobalData’s Q1 2021 Consumer Tracker Survey – Mexico, out of 514 consumers

** GlobalData’s Q1 2021 Consumer Tracker Survey – Global, out of 21,768 consumers