Nobody wants to be known as the smelly kid in the corner, but that’s how Japanese consumers sometimes view their UK counterparts.

At the British Retail Consortium’s International Retailing 2012 conference, Boots International managing director Gordon Farquhar spoke about the importance of understanding a market after Boots made a faux pas in Japan. The retailer was perplexed its standard range of perfumes didn’t sell, only to find out the Japanese aren’t keen on such strongly fragranced products – they believe Westerners use it to cover up their body odour.