Client Profile: Enviroscent
Interview with Vice President of Information Systems, Lee Macdonald


EnviroScent has been a B2BGateway client since 2010 and currently trades with Ace Hardware, Bed Bath & Beyond, Boscovs, Do It Best, Duane Reade, Home Depot, Joann’s Stores, Kohl’s, Lowes, Macy’s, Meijer, Michaels, Orchard Supply, Rite Aid, Kmart, Shopko, Target, Walgreens, Walmart

Q. Tell us a little about EnviroScent’s history
A. It all started in 2001 with the insight that scent is the most powerful of our senses, but one of the least utilized in business. Our founders, Jeff Sherwood and his wife Sharon, developed innovative ways to deliver superior fragrance experiences in places like Disney, Universal Studios, and the Bellagio hotel. A few years later, FTD (Florists’ Transworld Delivery, Inc.) asked them to create a way to enhance the scent of floral bouquets (since flowers have been engineered for color at the expense of fragrance). Our first consumer product, ScentStems, was born, and that was also the genesis of our ScentSticks technology, a natural fiber stick infused with pure fragrance. Bringing a true-to-life scent to flowers led to another idea – ScentSicles, scented ornaments that make Christmas trees smell fresh-cut. In 2009, the management team was expanded (including myself) and ever since, we have been rapidly growing the business. Today, EnviroScent is completely focused on marketing innovative home fragrance products that address the real needs people have in their personal spaces everyday.
Q. EnviroScent started big, by creating a great smelling environment to massive entities such as Disneyland and the Bellagio. How did the husband and wife duo take on such a feat?
A. Jeff is somewhat of a technical wizard, and Sharon is not only one of the sweetest people you would like to meet, but also incredibly creative and gifted when it comes to scent development. They’ve never been daunted by big challenges, and together they were able to create incredibly realistic experiences that really raised the bar and brought a whole new level of experience to special attractions. Everyone at EnviroScent appreciates the trail they blazed, and we endeavor to bring the same level of creativity and passion to our work today.
Q. In 2005, one of EnviroScent’s new products changed Christmas as we know it. Could you describe the product and the thought process behind it?
A. Most of us who celebrate and decorate for Christmas grew up with a real tree in the house, and it’s one of those things that we remember very fondly (86% of people associate the smell of pine with a happy memory!). If you have had a fresh tree in your house, you know the scent of that tree, and there’s nothing like it. But things have changed and the adoption of permanent (aka artificial) trees has really grown because of convenience, cost, allergies and other issues. But there’s one thing we all know an artificial tree doesn’t have – an authentic fresh-cut smell, that tree scent that greets you when you walk in the front door. ScentSicles takes care of that – it’s really a pretty simple concept: it’s a natural, biodegradable paper product that is dyed and infused with premium-quality fragrance that smells just like a tree. There’s no messy oil, it hangs or hides in a tree (and wreaths and garland), and it lasts throughout the holiday season. We tested ScentSicles at 500 Walmart stores in 2009. The orders were manually entered into our system at the time, and shipped through the FedEx website (manually), and invoices were printed on paper. Christmas of 2012 will see our ScentSicles products in over 20,000 retail doors across the country wherever Christmas stuff is sold (and nothing is manual now), but we also sell them online at www.scentsicles.com.
Q. Do you have any new product lines on the horizon?
A. Our other new product line that we’re very proud of is called AirCraft – it’s built on the same technology as the ScentSicle – a ScentStick infused with pure fragrance. AirCraft is a no-mess fragrance diffuser that you can use just about anywhere at home, in the office or even in the car. There’s no messy oil, no flames, no plugs – no hassle at all. We worked with some of the top fragrance developers in the country to create a library of twelve cross-compatible scents, so you can mix and match to create your own unique fragrance. With this line, we really see fragrance as the distinctive finishing touch in your room’s décor, so we’re empowering people to craft their air as part of their personal style and expression. We’re currently testing AirCraft with a few national retailers, and it’s also available online at www.craftyourair.com.

We’re also very excited about the launch of our new ScentBar at Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta, Georgia! Customers can work with professional AirCraft Concierge to create a custom scent that works best for their space.
Q. How has implementing EDI made your life easier?
A. Right now we have over 3,000 orders in our system in a “Pending Fulfillment” state. We only have one customer service/order entry/billing person that works for us – you do the math!
Q. If you could give one piece of advice to a person thinking about taking the next step in growing their business by selling to large retailers, what would it be?
A. I would actually have two pieces of advice:
  1. Have a killer product – one that is differentiated from everything else. Major retailers are all looking for something new to lift their business – the key is doing it incrementally. It’s not enough to have a “better” something else because that just takes dollars out of one of their other spaces on the shelf. You need to have a product that truly adds to what that consumer is taking home with them in their shopping cart.
  2. If you have the product, it’s all about service at that point. If ever there was a case where the customer is always right, it’s when your customer is a major retailer – you have to be on your game all the time when it comes to delivering product completely, on-time, and error free. Each customer has their own requirements, and becoming an expert in their requirements is a key to great service, whether it’s their EDI transactions, their labeling requirements, or other compliance aspects, you don’t want to show up on their “bad” list. Using a vendor scorecard that shows you are exceeding their metrics makes it easier for your sales team to go into the buyer – it just takes a topic off the table that could be a real negative, and lets them get down to pitching your product.