I’m currently planning the launch of an online-only perfume brand later this year, and I’m trying to figure out the best way to get our first customers without an actual retail store.

The biggest challenge is obvious: people can’t smell through a screen. Because of that, running ads directly to an expensive, full-size bottle feels like a fast way to burn budget when nobody knows the name yet.

Right now, my plan centers around selling low-priced discovery sets first. The idea is to offer a sample pack with three to five scents for around $15 to $25, and then give customers 100% of that money back as store credit toward their first full-size bottle. For marketing, I want to focus mostly on aesthetic, mood-driven short videos on Reels and TikTok that capture a feeling or scene rather than just listing scent notes.…