Pop-Up Shops! Why Short-Term Retail Leads to Long-Term Gain

Retail is overwhelmingly competitive and cutting through the noise to build interest with consumers is a constant challenge shop owners and marketers are faced with. Throw e-commerce into the equation, and the traditional models of retail have been significantly disrupted. How now, in 2014 do we feature products/brands in a creative and unique way that genuinely stands above the crowd?

 

These days, everyone has an online store and with so much to look at and compete against, everything looks one in the same. And it’s not just product – it’s brand too. Brand is the extension of the the product – the voice and embodiment of the overall concept behind the merchandise. Making the investment in a real, albeit temporary physical location is a significant differentiator in an age when the majority of the time, all you see is a picture and some catchy copy describing said brand.

 

A Brief History

The pioneers of pop-up retailing are cited as Los Angeles based  Vacant . From their About page: “We provide turnkey solutions for brands that require pop-up activations and brand marketing, as well as interactive technology, projection mapping, staffing, build and acquirement of globally targeted heavy footfall prime real estate.”

 

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Vacant’s Game of Thrones’ Pop-Up Experience

 

Vacant made a splash in the late 1990s with what is now a commonplace idea in retail strategy: temporary retail experiences. And with recent advancements in do-it-yourself e-retailing platforms – community based like Etsy or the user-friendly CMS Shopify – along with remarkably easy to use POS technology like Shopify POS, everyone is doing it.

 

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Shopify POS: A portable system allowing for retail pretty much anywhere you can imagine

 

But more than just a trend, pop-up retail is more than just about the hype. Temporary retail experiences are an investment that both small and large shop owners should seriously consider making if they want to stand out against the crowd.

 
 

Show AND Tell: Bring a physical experience to the digital.

Something I struggle with in online shopping is the inability to actually interact with the product. Things I ask myself: What does the fabric feel like? Is the color swatch on-screen accurate? How does this thing actually fit? Having a physical showroom, as a complement to the digital store allows for the tactile engagement with a product that would probably convince to me to make the commitment to buy.
 
 

‘Tis the Season

A driving force in retail is seasonal shopping, and the ephemeral nature of the pop-up shop makes it ideal for seasonal based retailing. Setting up temporary pop-up shopping experiences is a clever way to market merchandise that may be difficult to sell due to it’s highly specific nature.

 

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You may not ALWAYS need Halloween merch, but you can count on needing it at least ONCE a year


 
 

Small and Large

What’s interesting to me is that pop-up retail is a marketing strategy that works for both small and large retailers, for their own unique reasons.

 

A small retailer with no bricks and mortar presence may sell their products exclusively online, but it’s often difficult to generate buzz and a profitable customer base this way. What I think is powerful about the small retailer going pop-up is that not only is it an opportunity to allow people to interact with a physical sample and showcase the brand, but it is a great opportunity to work the social. Documenting the temporary retail experience and sharing through Instagram, Facebook and Twitter can have a far reaching effect. It’s publicity that’s both authentic and free and will hopefully create a desire in those who see it to want to be a part of the brand.

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Target’s in-store pop-up bodega experience. Fun!

A large retailer can use the pop-up concept a few ways. It can help create an impression of newness in a brand that has been around for a long time, or help market and draw attention to specific products that may get lost in a large sea of skews. Setting up a small pop-up experience inside a larger store is an opportunity to both feature a new product or line of products and get creative with the environment in which the consumer experiences the product. All in all, making a physical and emotional connect with shoppers leads to more sales, ultimately the bottom line for all retailers big or small.