NEW YORK—The New-York based perfume house, Givaudan, created a new way for consumers to select their favorite fragrance—iPerfumer—the first mobile perfume recommendation tool that is available for free download from Apple App Store. The iPerfumer application offers consumers tailored advice on which perfumes to try and functions as a personal fragrance consultant. It provides fragrance recommendations to help make informed choices.
Internet fragrance sales have increased, but the problem with Internet fragrance shopping is it removes traditional fragrance sampling from the purchasing experience. And with the rise of mobile phones serving as not only a communication tool, but a handheld media center, it makes sense to develop applications such as iPerfumer. Sid Shah, Givaudan head of Internet technology and innovation, connected market and technological developments with an individual need for guidance when buying perfume. “This is especially important when perfumes are bought without the opportunity to smell them and may be a way to connect with younger individuals.”
The iPerfumer App provides the opportunity to learn about fragrance and buy in an informed way. After a personal profile is created in iPerfumer, it can be used to view favorites or to shortlist fragrances best-suited to the user’s individual character. Multiple profiles can be created—allowing individuals to create one for friends and family, to help with gift-giving, as well as for themselves. The “Top Rated” function allows iPerfumer users to see which fragrances have been most highly rated by the iPerfumer community, in effect harnessing peer recommendation.
Information from Miriad® 2.0, winner of the FiFi® Technological Breakthrough of the Year for Fragrance Creation & Formulation, is the foundation of the database of more than 4,000 perfumes currently included in iPerfumer.
Maurizio Volpi, marketing director at Givaudan Fragrances, said: “Many people are daunted when choosing fragrance and either walk away or buy the same perfume every time because it is a safe choice. Our research shows young people particularly are not becoming fragrance buyers, but they love technology. iPerfumer is a means of sharing our professional understanding of fragrance with consumers and is a meaningful step towards engaging a new generation of perfume enthusiasts.”