Since sensory elements such as the visuals, touch and smell are intangible in
nature, they ought to be manipulated to complement the intangible qualities
of the brand like the brand personality and image. This will ensure that the
atmosphere of the selling space harmonizes with the brand and reduces the
risk of the brand losing its cachet.
Consumers mostly remember their experiences in a luxury store based on
the feelings they had during and after the store visit. These feelings are shaped
by their perceptions, which are influenced by the store’s atmosphere through
visual and other sensory elements. The visual aspect of a store is affected by
its colour, lighting, size, shapes, packaging and so on, and visuals play a key
role in defining the mood that a store evokes in consumers and has the high-
est level of impact on consumers’ interpretation of a store’s atmosphere.
The aural sensory element connected with sound (or in some cases noise)
in a store also contributes significantly to the mood and ambience of the store.
Sound considerations include music, volume, pitch, jingles and noise distrac-
tions. For example, in conventional fashion retail fast music such as pop is
used during peak shopping hours to encourage high expenditure and impulse
purchases while at the same time unconsciously promoting quick exits in
order to accommodate more shoppers. Slow music on the other hand is used
during low shopping hours to encourage shoppers to linger in the store,
thereby increasing their purchase probability. Luxury brands could replicate
these features through a higher level of application. For example, the choice
of sound should not only focus on sales returns, but must complement the
brand personality. In addition, luxury stores ought to avoid every possible
noise distraction and retail gaffe that could disturb shoppers, including tele-
phone exchanges of sales assistants.
The sense of touch or tactile sense is highly important in the luxury fash-
ion store atmosphere. Luxury consumers have a strong need to touch and feel
luxury goods before purchase. As indicated earlier, luxury goods are sensory
in nature and consumer responsiveness to retail and product design is partic-
ularly connected with the sense of physical touch. The tactile sense is also
described by the words ‘emotion’ and ‘feeling’. This indicates that the sense
of touch is linked with the emotional response that luxury brands strive to
arouse in their consumers.
The olfactory sense or the sense of smell is also an important influential
factor in luxury goods retailing. The sense of smell has become more crucial
in luxury goods retailing because several luxury brands have extended their
product range to include fragrances and cosmetics, which rely heavily on the
sense of smell. Often these products are sold in the same stores as apparel,
leather goods and other products manufactured by the brand, which empha-
sizes the importance of the sense of smell in luxury goods retailing.
Also, every brand has an associated scent and this should be perceived in
the store. Consumers do not expect to visit a Hermès store and find that it
smells of Chanel No. 5; or to visit the cosmetics section of a luxury brand’s86
luxury fashion branding