When we step into a bakery and breathe in the aromas of warm bread rising, butter, cinnamon and vanilla, our memory-banks are cued. Our mouth starts to water, and the sale is made. Likewise, stepping into a florist’s shop brings a rush of olfactory impressions of springs and summers past.
This is the instant visceral effect of the essential oils used in aromatherapy. Positioning an aromatherapy display near the entrance of your spa can help to build a strong sensory bond with shoppers and guests, and can become the basis for powerful revenue retention, utilizing our most deeply instinctual sense – our sense of smell.
Neurologists link our sense of smell with the limbic system, the center of the so-called reptile brain where early, intense olfactory messages are stored and linked with embedded memories. For this reason, adding aromatherapy to your spa treatment menu and essential oil products can be a richly rewarding pathway for retaining revenue, even when clients may not visit the spa as frequently as they did in more economically resilient times.
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