When music played in stores helps to… sell perfumes

Under the musical shower of Guerlain perfume, at the VivaTech show in Paris, in June 2025. — Under the musical shower of Guerlain perfume, at the VivaTech show, in Paris, in June 2025. SARAH AUBEL

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At VivaTech, the technology trade show that recently held its ninth edition in Paris, some booths draw more crowds than others. Like the sound and light show orchestrated by Guerlain to showcase its famous Shalimar perfume. A success that owes nothing to chance.

Who hasn't been exasperated by those playlists played ad nauseam in certain major retail chains? A musical soup that we quickly forget once we're outside, which even pushes us to take off on a tangent faster than expected, not without a tear for the staff forced to endure it on repeat.

Too bad, because sound design is an art that, when mastered well, can actually encourage customers to linger in a store (or on an online sales site). Or even encourage them to take out their credit card. And that has nothing to do with the style of the playlist.

Let's take the example of the perfume shower installed by Guerlain in the LVMH pavilion during the VivaTech trade fair organized at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris from June 11 to 14.

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