I've been doing some study work for Upperhand Scents this winter and I feel like its been a good study.
Initially I was adding the Cherry Bomb scent to the plastic to cook into a line of ice fishing plastics I make for a couple local shops. The baits were done with and without scent in equal numbers, packaged the same and in the same quantities per. The two bait options were sold side by side in both locations. Midway thru the winter, another run of baits were done as re-stocking baits, but this time a third option was added, scent added only to packaged baits. The store hooks were all brought back to equal numbers in each color and in each option after the hooks were cleaned of product remaining and the inventory recorded so the start on the second phase was all equal. In all cases, the price tag was coded so the difference in product option was easily identifiable at the till. I did the inventory yesterday and have some things to report.
Baits without scent and baits with the cooked in scent in phase one showed sales just about dead even. White, bright red and purple were the top three colors sold in both options.
After adding the baits scented in the package, not cooked in, numbers shifted. The un-scented baits still accounted for roughly 50% of the sales. Between the two scent options, the baits scented in- the-package-only made up about 80% of the sales. Repeat customers indicated that the surface scent got more and better hits over baits with the cooked in product. The red, white and purple colors remained the top three colors. Purple was by far the most purchased color followed by the red then the white.
Persons purchasing un-scented baits were asked why they did not buy the scented product and just about all indicated that they didn't feel the need for scent and would rather use a waxie, maggot or a minnow head if some form of attractant was needed.
In all cases, the baits were shot using the Do-It super soft with a nice dose of extra softener added along with a wee bit uv enhancer. The colorants used were all Do-It X2 colors.
While there are those who don't feel the need to have an attractant in the or on the plastic out there, an almost equal number of people still find the scent a favorable option. This wasn't a scientific piece of research but it does clearly support the idea that scent options should be a part of any sales program. As to why the preference of the "added" scent over a "cooked in" comes to light, I can only speculate a guess that people feel the scent s more readily available for the fish to taste it or smell [sense] it.
This has been an interesting little piece of study for me this winter. While it maybe hasn't changed any of my personal ideas on scent it certainly does show that there is less room between scent users and non-scent users that what I had thought there to be. And to note, I did not offer any other scent as an option. Only the Upperhand Scent Cherry Bomb was used.
