So many things stink about the pandemic, and one of them—thanks to more people in one household working, schooling, cooking, Pelotoning, adopting pets, and showering less—is that it really does stink.

• 67% of consumers report experiencing “more malodor” than before Covid.
• Air freshener sales rose 10% in 2021 compared with 2019, while candle sales were up nearly 30% in the same period, according to IRI data.

So, sales-wise, the pandemic has been smelling like Linen & Sky to Febreze and the rest of the home air freshener category. But for their commercial counterparts, it’s been a different story.

“Has it impacted sales?” asked Roger Bensinger, EVP of Prolitec, a company that provides scents and scent-circulating devices to retailers, in an interview with Retail Brew. “Absolutely.”

• Many of Prolitec’s 180,000+ customers—like Skechers, L’Occitane, and Haagen-Dazs, to name a few—operate internationally, including in countries that locked down more dramatically than the US, like China and Australia.

But that was then. A rebound is now. Bensinger expects to return to pre-Covid level revenues “in the near future” (but he declined to provide specific sales data). And companies like Prolitec think they can be part of retail’s rebound, too, when it comes to getting more shoppers to return to stores. Because if the enormous growth of scent companies suggests anything, it’s that shoppers can be led by the nose.

Something in the air

One of the best-known examples of a scented retail environment is Abercrombie & Fitch.

In 2002, the chain introduced Fierce, its soon-to-be ubiquitous men’s fragrance, and to promote it, it had employees walk around the store spritzing from sample bottles. Come 2008, the retailer upped the ante. It hired Prolitec, which began diffusing the bestselling scent from devices in the ceiling, and still does today. (Brings back memories of Jason, the captain of the lacrosse team, doesn’t it?)

The smell of money: Bensinger calls approaches like Abercrombie’s “universal sampling,” meaning in essence (literally) that everyone is being given a sample of the fragrance in the hope that they’ll purchase it. But the execution is usually more nuanced.

Stores dispense scent in a way that may not consciously register with shoppers, but which studies have suggested causes them to stay in stores longer—and buy more.

One study in 2019 found that shoppers in stores with a pleasant scent spent 3% more on average than those who shopped in a store with no scent.

• Another found that a pleasant smell in a store increased the likelihood that customers would return.

So, how are stores approaching scents in the Covid era? From custom smells to clean ones to blasting more to get through masks, click here to read why the strategy passes the smell test.—AAN

DTC smoothie-mix maker Kencko has found itself at a “tipping point,” according to CFO Mike Erickson, and with $10 million in new funding, it’s ready to spill over into a new food category.

• Existing investor Siddhi Capital led the Series A round, with other participants including Next View Ventures and Riverside Ventures.

Erickson told Retail Brew the subscription-based startup will use the $$ to optimize supply chain, manufacturing, and scale up its ~100 person team by 50% across tech, nutrition, marketing, and customer experience.

• Kencko said it currently has 360,000 subs, up 173% from 2020, and shipped 10+ million smoothies in 2021.

Out to lunch: It’s also expanding into a new category: freeze-dried lunches that require hot water to prep.

• The line, called Kencko Bowls, will debut in mid-February with six flavors, starting at $4.90 per bowl for subscribers.

It’s part of the brand’s goal to extend into different dayparts: Its smoothies target breakfast, while gumdrops (introduced last spring) fill that daily “gap” when consumers crave a sweet treat, VP of brand Lucy Greeves told us.

“It’s just the natural evolution of growing a brand that is focused on customer needs and really focused on positioning itself in the best place to meet those needs in a creative and enjoyable way for the customer,” Erickson added.

Waste away: The freeze-dried ingredients used across its product lines prevent food waste by limiting any potential spoilage—part of the B Corp’s sustainability ethos (plus, they make it easier to ship DTC since the products are shelf-stable).

• Kencko said it diverted 663 tons of produce from the waste stream last year.
• It also uses compostable packaging and is on track to be carbon-neutral this year, Greeves said.

+1: Kencko is all about DTC now, but it’ll be “dipping its toes” into brick-and-mortar within the next year, Greeves said.—EC

Shein, Gen Z’s favorite fast-fashion operation, is showing no signs of slowing crop-top output. And yesterday, sources told Reuters the Chinese e-tailer is revisiting plans to go public in the US this year.

• Insiders also claimed that founder Chris Xu is considering a Singapore citizenship change to, in part, sidestep the stricter rules for offshore IPOs in China.

Meanwhile, a Shein spokesperson told Retail Brew the company has no plans to go public, and that Xu has not applied for Singaporean citizenship.

Still, the question remains: Would a US IPO work for Shein?

International appeal: “Given the US is one of the company’s largest markets and US investors have a strong appetite for e-commerce retailers, a listing in New York would make sense,” Neil Saunders, managing director and retail analyst at GlobalData, told Retail Brew in an email.

“An IPO is a good way to raise funds, especially at a time when Shein is riding high in terms of its growth and valuation,” he added.

• Coresight estimated that Shein pulled in more than $10 billion in sales in 2020. Sources told Reuters that figure hit ~$15.7 billion (or around 100 billion yuan) last year, and they put the company’s valuation at about $50 billion in 2021.

“That said, launching in the US may cause some backlash in China,” Saunders noted. He reasoned that China typically doesn’t like it when homegrown companies list in the states and is looking to put more rules and regulations in place to prevent it.

Flashback: Rumors swirled last year that Shein was preparing to go public—which the company denied then as well, while noting it was a future ambition. According to Reuters’ sources, Xu set his sights on a US IPO roughly two years ago but put the plan on pause due to rising tensions between the countries and a shaky market.—JG

Today’s top retail reads.

How, Sway? Gap made headlines in 2020 when it inked a 10-year deal with Kanye West (now Ye). But after nearly two years and only two drops, some are wondering if the partnership will be worth it for the retailer in the end. (Financial Times)

A hard bargain: Consumers are feeling the effects of inflation now more than ever—and it’s beginning to affect how and where they shop. (The Wall Street Journal)

All smiles: How do you compete with the handful of toothpaste brands that control most of the market? You go sustainable, of course. Lindsay McCormick, the CEO of Bite, details how her company put a green spin on oral hygiene. (eMarketer)

*Sigh.* Retail is changing again: Got déjà vu? Same. But don’t panic. SAS’s e-book can show you how Accenture Applied Intelligence, using SAS and Intel capabilities, helps retailers approach big changes with customer-focused experimentation—now that’s how you achieve competitive differentiation! Read it here.*

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On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Aubrie Pagano is a general partner at Alpaca VC, where she looks for the next big idea in retail. It probably helps that she started a company herself: Pagano co-founded Bow & Drape—and served as its CEO—an online retailer that sold customized tops and more, landing her on the Forbes “30 Under 30” list in 2015.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I invest in the next generation of commerce companies.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile: I always wish I had more time to support founders.

What's your favorite project you’ve worked on? Working on the early days of Titles, which is a stealth mode company, on their user flows and metrics for launch. Working with founders through product-market fit is really exciting to me. It’s where the spark of invention meets the test of the real world.

What emerging retail trends are you most excited about? It’s a tie between live commerce and recommerce. Live commerce has been a huge trend in Asia—projected to reach $300 billion in sales in 2021—and is now just making its way to the US. Shopping as live entertainment has been around for a while here, if you think about HSN and QVC, but the new ways of live shopping leaves room for a younger, mobile-first, influencer-led experience.

For recommerce, a combination of shifting consumer mindsets toward sustainability, finding uniqueness in 1/1 items from the past, and affordability will drive this industry forward.

Hands down, the best fast-food restaurant chain is…Subway.

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• Resale startup Archive scores $8 million in funding
• The upside of flight delays—for airport retailers
• Non-alcoholic beverages seek a new frontier this year: retail doors