Both online and offline marketing strategies are essential for your business. If you don’t employ any of these strategies, it’ll be challenging for you to have the returns you expect. Even if the world is slowly transitioning into a global village, there’s still value in having an offline presence. That’s why pop-up shops remain a go-to for most businesses.
What’s A Pop-Up Shop?
First envisioned in the late 1990s, pop-up shows quickly became popular in cities with huge populations like London and New York. The reason for this popularity is the fact that these stores are only open for a short period of time in a particular location, stirring the potential buyers’ sense of urgency.
Moreover, a pop-up store enables participating businesses to sell their products directly to would-be returning customers. Because of this, customers have a chance to see the product in person. This approach is definitely much better than buying the product online since consumers would get to physically assess the quality of the product. Also, if they decide to purchase the item, they get to bring it home directly, which is a convenience not offered by online purchases.
Here are some essential factors that make a pop-shop different from an ordinary brick-and-mortar store:
- Duration: Usually, most pop-up store locations are open for business between three days to three months. This means that pop-up shops are temporary.
- Busy location: Given that pop-up shops are only open for a limited duration, it goes without saying that the location should be situated in busy areas. This is to provide businesses a high opportunity to attract customers.
- Lower prices: Businesses run pop-shop shops to promote their products. Because of this, they usually offer these items at a discounted price, giving consumers an opportunity to test them first.
- Type of product: Those belonging to the fashion, technology, toys, home décor, and art industries are the ones who usually set up a pop-up shop. However, there are still plenty of industries that can benefit from this type of promotion, especially those industries whose products are best sold in person.
How To Set Up A Pop-Up Shop
Take note that it takes more than simply gathering your products to set up a pop-up shop. In fact, there are protocols that you must follow. Hence, before running a pop-up shop in an event space rental in busy areas in your locality, follow these tips first:
- Consult first with either the administration or shopping managers of the location you’re eyeing.
- If you’re interested in setting up in the suburbs, it’s best if you talk with the property manager first. This way, if they agree, you’ll have different options on various vacant spaces.
- If you don’t have a specific location yet, you can search in the commercial section of any online property website.
Benefits Of Running A Pop-Up Shop
Knowing the nature of a pop-up shop may intrigue you and motivate you to set one up for your business. If you’re still on the fence, then these benefits may help persuade you:
- Short-Term
As mentioned above, one of the essential elements that make pop-up shops different from traditional stores is that you won’t have to invest in a long-term rental agreement. Hence, you get to save money from paying your business rent. This saved money can then be used for other essential purposes, like upgrading your product or venturing into different marketing strategies.
Additionally, with a pop-up shop, your business would be more lucrative since you can easily adapt to any changes. This is especially true since you have the sole decision to open in areas where there’s high traffic, which translates to more potential customers. You can also close your pop-up shop if you expect that there won’t be any returns for that day or during slower months.
- Gives You A Chance To Test A New Market
If you’re new to a particular location and don’t have any idea of how the current market will handle or deal with your products yet, then it’s best if you dip your toes first. This can be done without shelling a huge capital by opening a pop-up shop.
The same also holds true if you’re planning to expand to a different location. Surely, expanding your business venture is an expensive undertaking. You don’t want to immediately rent or even buy a physical store without testing the market first. Thus, opening a pop-up shop would be a wise decision for your business as it’ll give you the needed data if opening a brick-and-mortar store in that particular space is the right move for your business in the long term.
- Tap Into Emotions
Since a pop-up store is temporary, it’ll spark a sense of urgency in potential customers. This means that they’re persuaded to purchase as soon as they see your products. Compared to traditional stores, a pop-up store, therefore, displays your products as if it’s a ‘limited edition’ item that consumers should definitely buy or take advantage of, else they may later regret not purchasing it when they had the chance.
Appealing to a customer’s sense of urgency is important as it’ll subconsciously tap into a person’s desire to buy. This is why Call-To-Actions (CTA) in e-commerce websites are crucial.
- Create Brand Visibility
Having an online presence is considered a necessity these days. However, the downside of solely running an online business is the tendency that you’ll get lost among the sea of competitors. Not to mention that the strategies and techniques constantly evolve, which means that you must be updated at all times to keep up. Still, having an online business is definitely a good marketing strategy since it’ll give you basically unlimited reach. But it’s always best if you pair it with a physical shop, especially when it comes to establishing your brand’s visibility.
In addition to consumers physically seeing your brand, the limited and trendy nature of a pop-up shop allows your business to generate a fair amount of hype, which will boost customer anticipation. With this, your customers become now aware of your brand even in the real world.
Takeaway
Given the information presented above, it’s no doubt that a pop-up shop brings plenty of benefits to your business. However, ensure first that you ask permission from the necessary personnel so you’ll avoid hefty legal consequences when running a pop-up shop.
