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Colognes can be an expensive purchase, yet it's one typically made based on how they smell after being sprayed onto a bit of paper. While startups such as Concoction have aimed to make the buying experience more hands on by letting customers to mix their own toiletry products, a new service called Scent Trunk is enabling subscribers to sample different fragrances each month based on their previous likes and dislikes.

Members begin by filling out a survey about who they are and what fragrances they typically go for. Using this data, the service creates a Scent Profile that determines the samples they receive in the post. Scent Trunk delivers three different testers each month, which members can rate and save to their trunk. When users indicate that they like one fragrance but not another, their Scent Profile is updated and the samples they get next time will take into account those preferences. The system enables customers to find the fragrance that best suits them, and if they like a sample they can go on to buy it, receiving rewards and discounts for future purchases each time they commit to a full bottle.

So far, Scent Trunk has partnered with more than 15 brands including Cognoscenti, Ilum Dean and Demeter. The monthly cost of the subscription is a flat USD 15. Are there other products that could use this kind of preference analysis to help customers find the brands that suit them?