Paint brush and roller brand Harris is taking a novel approach to making shopping for decor products more attractive - giving its independent retailers a way to create a scented store environment.
The company has been working with top fragrance house Scent Perfique to create a unique scent that evokes a sense of the sanctuary of home. With research from the UK and USA suggesting that consumers spend more in a scented shopping environment, Harris is now providing many of its retail partners with a specially-developed scent, Home by Harris.

It is estimated that 95% of all purchase decisions are subconsciously driven. This provides businesses with the opportunity to guide the thinking of consumers in subtle ways, with colour, lighting, and smell.

Many successful retailers already use different scents in store to elicit different emotions; supermarkets, for instance, vent the smell of freshly-baked bread throughout their stores.

Said Harris sales and marketing director Stuart Hobbs: "We're sending our retailers a wonderful room spray, and their customers get the chance to shop in a fragrant environment.

"Changing attitudes towards DIY are both a challenge and an opportunity. We need to make DIY easier and more satisfying to do. Rather than simply commentating upon how the younger generation tend not to find pleasure in DIY like many of their parents did, we need to take responsibility to make it a more attractive proposition."