Maisie Lloyd
I'm passionate about recording the world, but most of all driven by creativity and collaborative environments. My experience revolves around the production of digital content, pertaining to graphic design, writing copy, and video and audio content.
What is a pop-up shop?
A pop-up shop is a one-time event open for a limited amount of time, allowing customers to purchase items in a physical location. This could be anywhere from an empty retail store in a shopping centre, a kiosk, a free-standing pop-up spaces built as a temporary location, to a stall at a business convention (relevant to your industry).
This can be a particularly useful marketing venture for an E-commerce store, to scope out the potential of transitioning into a location, or to even get a better sense of their customer’s sentiment around the brand.
How to know if a pop-up shop is the right business choice for you?
The main thing to consider with a pop-up shop is whether it is suited to your business, and if so- how to successfully launch a pop-up store. Defining your expectations, goals and business needs can help prevent your business from making any poor business choices.
These are some of the essential considerations to make before making the leap and deciding to set up a pop-up:
- Is it the right time? Are you doing this on a whim, or is it the practical next step in generating traffic or scouting a potential location to set up a shop?
- Do you have the resources or stock available? Make sure you have a clear budget for the pop-up. You also need to ensure you have enough stock. Be prepared, as running out will likely cause frustration for the customer- especially if they have waited or made a long commute to your store.
- What is your goal? Do you want to sell lots of products, get a better sense of your customers, and test the waters in a physical store? Set your expectations beforehand, so you can realistically measure the success after.
- Where do you want to set up your pop-up shop? Are you going to do it based on the majority of your customer’s geo-location, or are you going to capitalise on an event in a fixed location where it feels relevant to set up a pop-up?
- How does your brand look when it’s a physical space? Think about the design of the space, how you are going to represent your store, what colour palettes will you use, and what branding will you incorporate. Will you create customised retail items like printed bags or business cards?
Why a pop-up shop could be the best marketing decision you make?
Allows customers to come see a physical representation of your E-commerce store, creating an opportunity for a rapport to be established. This process can also generate conversation around the brand, pop-ups often prompt intrigue and if physical marketing elements tease the pop-up happening prior, it starts the discussion around the brand or product.
The opportunity to sell old stock and promote new products. Capitalise on the eagerness of customers being able to see all the physical items of your store and create the chance for your business to shift old products. Making these products even more desirable with discounts is one way to promote impulse buying.
Equally, using the conversation and excitement around your pop-ups for product launches is one way to ensure your product campaign starts with success! Launching it both on your e-commerce store and in a physical location for your pop-up can give you a frame of reference for what type of buying suits your customer base, which is particularly useful if brands are considering launching a physical store.
It allows businesses to question if a physical store is suitable for them, and to test it out on a short-term basis with less commitment. It will help in gathering insights around customer sentiment, as well as the probability of the physical store driving profit. This can also provide clarity on what location best suits your business.
