"Together Talks" feature #95: Aroma Retail presented by KLS, freight company
Some Background on Aroma Retail
Today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the opportunity to interview Aroma Retail and Mike Hewitt, Director of Marketing. Aroma Retail is a home and business scenting company based in Las Vegas, well-known for its collection of signature resort scents and unique fragrance libraries. A certified woman-owned company, every scent is available with aroma diffusion machines, room sprays, linen sprays, reed diffusers, and hand-poured candles.
Scent Your Space today at AromaRetail.com.
Start over, bet on yourself
Aroma Retail began in 2017, founded by Cristina and Jim Reding. Both had previously worked in separate industries prior to starting their company. Jim brought a background in creating customized scents for hotels in the Las Vegas area. His knowledge and expertise gave him the opportunity to bring the products he had created to the retail side. When formulating the company both Co-Founders knew they wanted retail in the name to make it clear to consumers exactly how to find these incredible scents. Both took a huge leap by leaving their steady careers to start back at square one and build a brand new company. They ultimately believed in their top class products and the culture they envisioned they would create.
Aroma Retail was the first in the industry to produce pure grade fragrance model accessible at the retail level. Their products can and are pumped into air vents or homes without any chemicals being released. Remarkably the products are even safe for pets as well. As the company started to experience success, Cristina and Jim remained true to their mission and reinvested as much as they could back into the company. Overall the company has seen great success. They now have over 11 unique products in total including the commercial pro size, home size, and travel size. In the last three years the company has also tripled in size with more big things on the way!
Pure, non-harmful
With 11 products in total now, Mike explained to us how the company competes with many industries. But despite what industry they are serving, their commitment to excellence does not waver. Currently they are developing a plug-in product that will provide their signature scents and be completely chemical free, unlike what many homeowners currently use. Mike continued that while their price point will be higher than what is currently on the market they are bringing longer-lasting and purer smells that are safe for adults, children, and pets.
Mike said how many people associate smell to great memories, often those memories happen on vacation. Their catalogue of scents available plus the ability to create a signature customizable scent gives them freedom to truly bring an incredible reaction every time someone walks into a home or commercial setting. Already supplying many large hotels and businesses, their transition to the retail model provided a simple pitch for consumers, "Buying from the best".
While most struggled during Covid, Aroma Retail actually saw a huge boost. Mike said that when many businesses had to shut down or change their operations they realized the contracts they were under with their current supplier. It limited their ability to get help or relief while not operating, and still being forced to pay monthly. Aroma Retail saw the opportunity to give the people what they wanted and came up with the NO contract option for their commercial accounts, but what Mike believes is their greatest strength, their customer care team. "I believe our team is the best in the industry. They are knowledgeable, quick response times, and most importantly get to the resolution and implement it for our clients."
Mike shared a cool story of when he was on vacation in Curacao. While he was there he stayed at a little Airbnb and they were using the Aroma Retail products. He thought how cool it was he was in this little part of the world and their products were being used regularly. Side note, Aroma Retail ships worldwide!
Partner with KLS
KLS offers LTL and FTL for both dry and reefer transportation.
Our nationwide coverage provides companies a reliable, consistent, and dependable logistics partner to handle your trucking needs.
For more information on how we can help call our office today 708-980-0920 or reach us via our email quote request here!
Mike's switch
Prior to joining Aroma Retail, Mike served as a marketing director for a liquor distributor. He enjoyed that each day brought something a little different. Rarely was their redundancy in his daily duties. Then Covid hit and like many industries his felt the sting associated with many things shutting down. Mike said there wasn't much available due to everyone cutting back, laying off, or transitioning to work from home. Surprisingly though when he connected with Aroma Retail he saw they were flourishing. He realized it wasn't an opportunity he could pass up.
Joining a company that was rising was very exciting for Mike. He said that the fact that he has his hand in everything is what he appreciates most about his time there. Mike participates in everything from design, labeling, packaging, to production, and the care department team. Being included in everything contributes to the synergy of the company.
Mike said the biggest impact they have seen is their commitment to preparing for growth. As they continue to grow and expand it could be easy to get lost in the work and allow certain aspects to suffer, but with Aroma Retail they plan for growth before they reach growth. As they hit milestones, which have been aplenty with the tripling over the last three years, the team sits back and appreciates when they reach a new height. Leadership is always vocal about how important every team member is and the support they give allows the company to continue to produce, which lives up to the company motto, "be grateful". With leadership creating a collaborative culture, their focus on being organized, prepared, and on the same page creates any possible missteps. Mike explained that there are times where things still go wrong or not as planned, but rather than a detriment it is simply a lesson. The individual, team, or company will use it as a lesson and realize that while that is a dead end, there is something out there that will become an opportunity.
Sheer enthusiasm
Mike believes the biggest challenge has been educating consumers of the impact of their products. On top of being chemically free, the actual scent they can provide still shocks people to this day. Mike said whether at a convention or when consumers walk into their "smelly bar", they are amazed at just how incredible these scents can be. Add in the fact that all fragrances are pure grade and green certified and the product speaks for itself.
In a couple short months, Aroma Retail will be debuting a Super Bowl Commercial on the west coast market. Mike said shooting it was a ton of fun and they are excited to display it and see the feedback they receive. Black Friday was a huge success for them in 2023 and they hope to continue to build off that momentum with their SB commercial. As for the next phase of the company, Mike shared that the ultimate realization is a machine in each household. That would be the epitome of success for Aroma Retail.
Elevating their goals
When we asked Mike what has been the most rewarding part of the company's growth, he told us the new industries they have penetrated the last few years. He shared that they have made a strong push into pet stores, clinics, vets, etc. due to being completely pet safe and providing a more pleasant smell helps too! They also have created relationships with large stadiums. Lambeau Field was the most recent. Mike told us that the stadium recently underwent a large renovation for the front entrance and Aroma Retail is providing a signature scent to be dispersed for all of the patrons entering and leaving the stadium.
The other big progress for the company was getting into big box stores. They are actively on Sam's Club's. This was the next big step for Aroma Retail and Mike and the team believes it will only propel them into more opportunities. Aroma Retail will also be at the Inspired Home Show convention in Chicago in March officially debuting their Scent Machine - Smart 101 that is accompanied now by their new mobile app.
Piece of Advice
The conversation with Mike ended with him sharing his piece of advice.
"The biggest game changer I've found in the past couple of years is organization. Especially for my marketing role, there are so many concurrent projects, we joke that marketing is the chaos room. We first implemented it here at Aroma Retail, really creating and then building our EOS System to improve our processes. But with developing that, I've been able to take certain things and apply those methods to my personal life as well."
Interested in purchasing from Aroma Retail, use our coupon code below!
KLS15 ---> 15% OFF their entire catalog
Interested in being featured with "Together Talks"?
KLS is booking our upcoming schedule now!
Contact us as we would love to learn your story and share it amongst our audience.
Weekly we provide 2 companies our platform to expand their reach courtesy of our campaign. Let's collaborate!!!
In Closing
KLS wants to thank Mike Hewitt, Director of Marketing, of Aroma Retail for today's "Together Talks" feature. Keep up to date with Aroma Retail by following their blog on their website, check it out here. Follow along for the Aroma Retail journey with their social handles below!
Klimson Logistics Solutions - Together Talks with Aroma Retail feature #95
*Klimson Logistics Solutions is an Industry Leading Customer Service 3PL. Our focus and commitment to our clients has us striving to be the BEST customer service 3PL for LTL, FTL, Reefer, and Drayage in the country. KLS, freight company, is a 3PL providing nationwide logistics solutions. KLS shipping services include: LTL freight, FTL freight, Reefer LTL freight, Reefer FTL freight, and Drayage. Klimson Logistics Solutions thanks you for viewing our marketing campaign, "Together Talks". If you have any interest in being featured or questions regarding your freight operations please contact us today!
Why KLS?
Our precise and reliable effort.
We handle every shipment with the exact same process. It does not matter if you move one shipment a year or ten per day, you will receive the same level of customer service from us. When we started this company, we had one goal in mind, treat every shipment like it was our own. With our vast knowledge of the industry, we understood what a customer would want from a communication standpoint. We applied that process to be the standard here at KLS. Our reliability and being able to depend on our consistency is why we have such long-standing relationships with our clients.
Our Process?
Every shipment in our industry starts with a quote. We are firm believers that time is money, thus we strive to have quotes back in a 5-10 minute reply time for LTL and FTL, any FCL quotes are at the mercy of the carriers getting back to us. For LTL we have the flexibility to quote both off of NMFC and also Density depending on the carrier. Utilizing our services, you’re allowing us to use our expertise to class your freight accordingly to ensure we are providing the best rate we possibly can.
Once a quote has been submitted and a client chooses to proceed with KLS handling the arrangement of the shipment our full process begins. We create the BOL that will be used for the shipment. If it is a new location for our system, we will obtain all the important/special details (reference numbers, contact details, shipping hours, closed for lunch, dock/doors, etc.). We meticulously build every detail into our software for all future shipments involving that location. After we have both locations built and necessary reference numbers have been applied we will tender the shipment to the carrier. We use this method because it provides us a real time pickup number from the carrier to obtain updates prior to pickup. Our staff will either email the BOL directly to you or to the shipper (at your request) the minute after the tender has been accepted by the carrier. LTL carriers require a 2 hour window prior to close time in order to schedule it for a same-day pickup attempt.
The following morning you’ll receive an email from us. It will either provide the reason the pickup was missed (driver’s trailer filled up, driver missed the close time, truck broke down, shipper said no freight, etc.) or if the pickup was successful you will receive the PRO (tracking) number from us, along with the eta for delivery. Our staff will track it throughout the duration of transit and advise if anything happens that will alter the estimated delivery date. The day the shipment delivers we will email you with confirmation and the POD (Proof of Delivery), should you require it.
Your shipment has been quoted, scheduled, picked up, and delivered. The next step is waiting for the carrier to invoice us and make sure the rate matches up. If it does, we close out the invoice from the carrier in our system and automatically your invoice is created and sent to the requested party at your company. In the event the carrier has an additional charge on their invoice “Variance”, we will never send you an invoice with an additional charge without first identifying you of the charge.
Let us repeat, NEVER WILL WE JUST BILL OUT AN EXTRA CHARGE WITHOUT YOU BEING NOTIFIED.
You are our customer, we represent you. Should the carrier provide an extra charge on an invoice, “Lift gate, additional weight, reclass, detention, etc.) We notify you of the charge via email first. Second, within that email we identify what is required should you choose to dispute the charge. Again our goal is to honor your request, if you want to dispute, we will dispute. During a dispute we will provide you updates every step along the way. Once a dispute is closed out, whether it is approved or rejected, then we will invoice you as the invoice has been resolved.
For reference, our company only had 6.2% of all shipments go to dispute in 2022 and we successfully won 91% of those disputes on behalf of our customers.
This is our process for every single shipment you move with us. We don’t cut corners, we don’t hide from difficult situations. We believe in being available, honest, and transparent. We don’t ever want to tell you that a shipment is lost, damaged, misrouted, but it is our duty to notify you the second we find out something has gone wrong. We hate to present bad news, but it is part of the job. What you can guarantee is that we will work a shipment all the way through and turn over every stone until we get a resolution for our clients.
Services offered?
Our core business is LTL and FTL. Within these options we have options for both dry and refrigerated/frozen. We also offer FCL/Drayage options. Our company as a 3PL has nationwide options and services clients across the US.
Let’s breakdown our services more in-depth
LTL:
Standard and Guaranteed
CFS (Imports & Exports)
Tradeshows
Hazmat
Anything that is on a pallet can be moved LTL. Typically LTL is up to 10 pallets, but the sweet spot for a carrier is 6-8 pallets at most for an individual shipment. LTL quotes are good between 5-30 days depending on the carrier. LTL can be quoted either via NMFC or density to determine the class (we do this for you).
Volume:
Anything over 10-12’ of space in the truck is the technical rule for a volume shipment. When we run a quote for you we will determine if it qualifies for volume and provide you a rate if available. Volume moves allow you to get a reduced rate for larger shipments. The caveat to volume shipments it the quotes are only valid for 3-7 days and they move on capacity between terminals. If a terminal is backed up they will move their LTL freight first before the volume freight, which can lead to longer transit times for volume moves.
FTL/Dedicated/Expedited: 53’ Dry and Reefer 26’ Box trucks with lift gate Sprinter Van The main difference for FTL vs LTL is space and transit time. For standard pallets you can fit either 26 or 30 pallets in a 53’ dry van. The other main difference is transit time, for FTL each day counts in the transit time, whereas LTL does not count the day of pickup, weekends, or holidays in their transit time.
Reefer/Frozen:
LTL and FTL
We specialize working in the CPG space with food manufacturers. We regularly deliver to
the following locations:
Kehe
UNFI
Core Mark
DPI
Wegmans
Cugini
H.T. Hackney
Netrition
HEB
ALDI
Chambers and Owens
EBY Brown
Nassau Candy
Harris Teeter
Wakefern
NU INC
Long Distribution
What makes KLS different?
There are thousands of freight brokers and 3PL in our industry. Barrier to entry is rather easy and agents or owners will often hire sales people without any intention of properly training them. It results in high turnover for many freight companies and a forgettable experience for the client. We choose to operate differently through our consistency. We truly care about doing right by our clients and prospects too. While we would love to help provide our services to every company we speak with, that just isn’t realistic. We won’t always be the right fit for every company that moves freight and that is ok. Our authenticity as a shipping company sets us apart from the competition and that is backed up by our testimonials. We also run a marketing campaign bi-weekly called “Together Talks”. We interview, highlight, and promote two businesses every week. Our goal is to grow our network, make new connections, and learn something new with each collaboration. Check it out on our website and if you’re interested in being featured reach out.
Our company also runs a year long charity promotion. Book your first shipment through KLS and we donate to the charity of your choice in your name. Our way of thanking you for giving us an opportunity to show you the KLS way and what makes us one of a kind. This entire package is what we offer to every prospect and every client. Our goal is to help provide answers that customers may have when it comes to shipping. We want to always be available as a resource and will always offer a lending hand whenever we can.