When shopping for a new scent, those browsing on TikTok and Instagram are met with ebullient, esoteric sales pitches.
“A golden toasted marshmallow in a bottle,” said one creator of Donna Karan’s Cashmere and Palo Santo scent. “Like a lemon bar,” said another of Anna Sui’s Sundae range. “The woman who wears this is doused in royalty and confidence,” gushed a male influencer about Viktor and Rolf’s Flowerbomb.
Direct-to-consumer retail sites and digital channels like Amazon, TikTok Shop — with all their slang, tonalities and quirks — are fast becoming the primary platform for fragrance sales. According to market intelligence firm Nielsen, around 55 percent of all fragrance sales in the US happen online, while data from consumer research firm Euromonitor shows that globally, fragrance sales online increased 17.2 percent in 2024, more than three times the rate of growth for offline channels. At the same time, department stores, which long served as kingmakers in the fragrance category with their cavernous halls dedicated to scent shopping, are decelerating, with high-profile bankruptcies like Saks‘ and store closures at the likes of Macy’s.
Jean Madar, chief executive of Interparfums, which makes scents for the likes of Donna Karan, Guess and Jimmy Choo, said he soon expects one in two perfumes will be bought online, and that he thinks around 40 percent of its business will be online soon.
“Yesterday, we had to convince the brands to go to Amazon or TikTok. Today, the reason for a brand to exist is to be on [those channels],” said Madar. The company is mobilising quickly: it increased its marketing budgets for Amazon and TikTok by 25 percent this year, while it has decreased its marketing budget for other channels.
But buying a fragrance online often means buying it unsmelled, which partially explains why lower-priced scents like perfume mists and mass brands have been especially buoyed by digital channels (per Circana, only 26 percent of prestige fragrances were bought online last year in the US.) A customer is more likely to gamble $30 than $300 on a scent they might not like. But the growing power of social-led selling, and perfume’s resilient popularity as a category, is steadily putting pressure on premium brands to also excel online.
Brands are quickly deploying new strategies and increased budgets to meet demand. In December, Estée Lauder Companies-owned Jo Malone London debuted an “AI scent advisor” designed to help customers choose with confidence online, while Puig-owned Carolina Herrera has found success on TikTok by investing in playful content franchises where its stiletto-shaped “Good Girl” perfume tours New York City.
Many prestige fragrance brands, including most of Interparfums’ portfolio, are connected to decades-old fashion houses not known for their agility, speed or openness to change.
But moving fast is key. “You have to adapt permanently to what’s going on in the marketplace and what the competitors are doing,” said Madar. “Everybody is very active and talented.”
The Language of Fragrance
How do you sell a scent when a customer can’t smell it?
Brands selling fragrance through digital mediums have to rely on tried-and-tested tricks like using emotional and evocative language to describe how a scent will make the wearer feel. Creators online often choose more playful turns of phrase, and reference memes and trends like “main character energy” when talking about a perfume.
“The creators who are successful in selling fragrances are great storytellers,” said Jack Li, who leads the fragrance category at TikTok Shop, adding that this had to be underpinned with good perfume knowledge.
But making a splash online is also about repeat visibility, which is key to developing an influencer strategy.
Even just seeing a creator’s reaction — however staged — to smelling a fragrance has an effect on viewers, said Filippo Falorni, a managing director in the consumer practice at Citi. “Just by showing people the product, you can really expand the customer base,” he said.
Larger influencers may help spread the word about a perfume, but are less likely to drive conversion. Smaller, more knowledgeable creators who specialise in scent are often more likely to convince their hyper-engaged audience to shop.
Some brands are also finding success by letting the perfumers, rather than influencers, do the talking. Interparfums’ Madar said many customers now viewed perfumers as “rock stars”, and wanted to hear from them about their creative process and how scents were developed.
Not being able to smell the perfume might also build up a little anticipation, said Madar. Singling out a specific note can also make a scent more covetable — the more exotic, the better.
“In Guess Uomo Acqua we have this marine note. It reminds you of summer on the beach and the wet sand,” said Madar. “Online, we communicate that with words.”
Planning for Virality
Some brands rejoice when a product goes viral online. But other times, unexpected levels of success can mean demand far outstrips supply.
“We have been out of stock many, many, many times because it’s very difficult to evaluate the demand,” said Madar, adding that its Guess Bella Vita and DKNY Be Delicious scents both outperformed in 2025, leaving the company temporarily out of stock. “If you don’t make it available fast enough, the customer goes to something else,” he said.
Demand planning is especially difficult online, when products can go viral at any time, even when they’re not new. Citi’s Falorni said that investors are understandably frustrated by out of stock issues, but that they are increasingly asking beauty companies to justify their marketing spend online. Tracking the return on investment for many digital campaigns is difficult, as customers may see an advert or post online, but choose to transact in-store or with another retailer. According to analytics firm YipitData, the top-selling fragrances on Sephora’s website last year included Kayali, Sol de Janeiro and Phlur, all social media stars in their own right.
Li said that brands can and should view TikTok as an extension of their direct-to-consumer offering, rather than a test-and-learn experiment. There’s often a halo effect on other retail channels by investing in the platform, he explained. “The brands that typically struggle are ones that aren’t fully committed,” he said.
In addition to being committed, fragrance makers will need to remain competitive about their digital presence, and continually invest in staffing and analytics to ensure their efforts are maximised.
As Citi’s Falorni put it: “If you don’t win on e-commerce, you don’t win.”
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