Motives and Guidance for the Use of Sensory Marketing in Retailing : The Case of Nature & Découvertes

Abstract: The competition within the retail industry enters a white-hot stage. In order to please customers, retailers are using variable methods to strive for market shares. Creating pleasant physical environment where customers enjoy coming to (Georges Olivereau in Engel 2010), plays a vital part in determining customers‟ satisfactions, their visit duration and intention to revisit the store (Turley and Fugate 1992), helping retailers to differentiate and providing brand experience. Consequently, new marketing technique has emerged, sensory marketing, which stimulates the five organs of human (visual, sound, scent, touch and taste).The authors of this thesis will answer why and how sensory marketing should be used in stores. The purpose is to find the reasons as well as the circumstances sensory marketing should be used and implemented properly to create a coherent sensory atmosphere that would benefit the retailers. Professionals‟ recommendations as well as the case of the French retailer Nature & Découvertes who successfully applies the five senses into the store atmosphere, will be used to answer these questions.At the end of this thesis, the authors summarise the motives and the different aspects to take into account when implementing sensory atmosphere inside a synthetic model (Figure 20). Four steps are described as well as the potential benefits for the retailers.