São Paulo – The 42-year-old Brazilian businesswoman Iane Cirelli had been buying and selling imported perfumes for over 10 years when she decided to invest in selling nothing but Arab product. Motivated by growing consumer demand, mostly fueled by social media, she opened a dedicated Arab perfume shop last October in São Paulo.
“A few years ago, I started noticing that demand for Arab perfumes was far greater than for the traditional perfumes I used to sell, but I decided to wait and see if that would go away or not. People’s interest did not wane, so when Shopping da Lapa mall representatives invited me to set up a shop to sell nothing but Arab perfumes, I decided to take the leap, and it’s been working out great,” she said.
“Ah Roma” carries different types of Arab perfumes. Sales are made in person and via WhatsApp. With 50 perfumes available at the shop, Cirelli holds a small inventory of her bestsellers, including Lattafa. “From the get-go, I have seen great acceptance of Arab perfumes, much more so than when I used to sell perfumes from elsewhere, such as France,” she says. She believes this is due to product quality.
According to her, what differentiates Arab perfumes from Western ones are features such as essence content, fragrance longevity, and ingredients. “Arab perfumes last so long they can stay on your skin for over 12 hours. Besides, the bottles, which are made from heavy glass and feature elaborate designs, are beautiful and help win over the public,” she says.
Going into the perfume business
Cirelli first started selling imported perfumes to meet financial needs. Over the years, she honed her skills and learned the trade. “Prior to selling imported perfumes, I worked for a multinational company as a software developer. I began selling perfume to my friends back in 2013, but I didn’t know anything about it. I dove deeper, I took courses, I learned about notes, what you wear at night, what you wear during the day, in cold weather, in hot weather, and I grew to love it,” says Cirelli.
By Rebecca Vettore, in collaboration with ANBA
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
