Pop-up stores have been around for the best part of a decade now. Initially, they were used by restaurants at festivals but the industry has come a long way since then and nowadays all kinds of business merchants use the pop-up store model to gain brand awareness
What is a Pop-Up Store?
A Pop-Up store, also known as flash retailing, is a temporary use of a physical space by a retailer to communicate about their brand promise to potential customers. Usually, this is done by offering customers a taste of the full retail experience that the store normally offers.
How does it Work?
The pop-up store is a flexible model and has scope for experimentation. Merchants can tie-up with large retailers and set up a pop-up store offering a sample of their product at a discounted price or maybe even free. Usually, merchants do this by renting a vacant storefront for just a short period of time.
They may choose to have a booth at a craft fair, farmers market or another event. It is also common to rent a vacant storefront for just a short period of time.
The net spends on brand activation for pop-up stores in the U.S. was worth nearly $600 million in 2016, according to the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), topping $740 million by 2020.
What’s more, Pop-up stores offer an opportunity for retailers to connect with an audience that may reside in a different location to the main business. These retailers rely on brand recall and need to make a significant impression on the customers that they interact with.
The two biggest benefits of starting a pop-up store are:
- Helps in spreading Brand Awareness
- Helps in Market Testing
Brand Awareness
Digitally native brands who don’t otherwise have a brick and mortar store may use flash retailing to drive sales and increase brand awareness. Retailers use social media to create a buzz around a particular pop-up store so that they can maximize traction and visibility. Influencer marketing plays a big part in pulling the right audience. Retailers reach out to social media influencers who in turn do a brand shout out. Followers base their buying decisions on these influencers. Brands are aware that if they can make their customers experience a positive one, they retain the customer through their online presence.
Test the Market
Pop-up shops help retailers to enrich and improve your brand. An example of this would be pricing and merchandising testing. This is integral to the longevity of the business as owners want to know how customers are responding to price points. There is no better way to do this than to hear it directly from your customers.
Conclusion
Pop-up stores have become a lethal weapon in the marketing armory for retailers and merchants alike and if a positive approach is taken to experiment with it retailers can significantly increase their footfall. Space is becoming more and more expensive, pop-up stores provide a healthy alternative to long leases. While the concern remains that having one location as a permanent address for business enables customer loyalty, people have realized that this one location can be an online presence and not necessarily a physical store.
