5 Reasons Pop Up Shops Rock

It is undeniable that the high street landscape has changed. During the recession, retail took a huge hit and many units were abandoned. The high street began to look quite barren and caused a lot of professionals some concern. But, the rise in the number of empty units created a fantastic opportunity for pop up shops. Before long pop up stores began to fill the empty units and helped to breathe life back into empty units. They have created an exciting and interesting shopping environment for customers again.

Innovative pop up stores can quickly gain a cash injection to its business. In addition, a lot of customer feedback can be gathered and used to inform future business decisions. Whether a physical store ends up being a permanent direction for the business, or a temporary trial phase, there is a lot to be gained. Brand awareness, customer feedback and retail experience are just a few. All of these things can also guide a business owner when it comes to building, or further optimising, their website.

Here are 5 reasons pop up shops rock:

Pop up shops are excellent news for customer experience. In recent years, shoppers have begun to spend less on products and more on experiences like eating out and going to the cinema. While this has been bad news for some retailers, it has not phased pop up shops. Pop ups are agile and often run events and tasting sessions to draw customers to their stores.

Customers are no longer vessels on which brands can push continuous messages. They’re now part of the conversation. Consumers expect to be a part of the brand and they expect to be engaged. Simple ideas and events such as customer catwalks, tasting days and selfie competitions all cause a stir and get customers involved. Importantly, they are not just a trip to the shops. They are memorable experiences that help to unite shoppers with a brand. This is something that pop up shops absolutely rock at.

Pop up shops have a real advantage over larger brands, in that they have time to develop their product outside of the limelight. While all eyes are on apple, as customers wait and eager journalists speculate about what their latest release, pop up shops can develop their product and expose it to a small part of the market with relative anonymity. This allows them time to get feedback from customers and to create focus groups.

This feedback allows pop ups to troubleshoot a new invention and also their marketing and display strategies. Customers will let pop up stores know what they don’t understand about the product and what they think the most important benefits are. This will allow entrepreneurs to adjust their marketing strategy accordingly.

This also extends to those who are testing the suitability of their product to physical retailing. Customer comments and sales are an excellent way to measure whether the in store displays are working to optimum effect.

Pop up shops are agile and innovative. They benefit from being run by entrepreneurs who seek to drive their business forward. Unlike large retail chains, they are not waiting for ideas to be approved and rolled out across hundreds of stores. They can change their merchandise with the trends and change their displays with ease.

It is this agility that allows pop ups to create the experiential hype that increases footfall. If they want to change the way their store looks, they can, quickly and easily. In addition, pop up stores can make the most of seasonal window display props and themes without having to worry about buying in the next set up.

It’s the age old sales technique, “when it’s gone its gone”. It’s like when a salesman tells you there are only 2 left, and for you, they will do it at a special price. Pop up shops are a fantastic way to harness the power of scarcity and urgency to drive sales. This is particularly effective if there are in store offers that cannot be redeemed via the seller’s website.

The power of this urgency allows pop up shops to encourage their customers to buy on the day, and not to put it off until next week. This is fantastic for pop ups as they can generate a healthy income boost in a short space of time. This is an excellent way to introduce new customers to the pop up’s brand while also generating immediate revenue.

Many stores that belong to large brand chains are tied down by their head office. For example, they are told that there should only be one twitter account for the entire brand. This is completely understandable as building a brand is hard, and large retail chains have to protect theirs. But, this removes a key marketing tool from the individual stores that wish to attract local traffic. Pop up shops do not suffer from this restraint, and can attract a lot of attention very quickly by playing the social media game expertly.

Similarly, large brand stores are tied down to one main website that caters for the whole brand. Conversely, pop up store communications are easily integrated across online and offline channels. This is because the pop up owners have access to all of their media outlets and can cross share them in real-time. Their local press releases are going straight onto a dedicated website and similarly, their blogs about their new pop up venture, are being shared from their website onto their social media accounts. Much of the online media can focus on driving traffic to that one physical store, while the physical store can focus on driving traffic back to the online channels.

These are just a few reasons why pop up shops rock. These innovative stores are re-igniting the high street and filling the empty spaces. But in addition, they are breathing life into the high street with events and open customer conversations. Pop ups are a great way for innovators and inventors to test the market, raise brand awareness and meet customers. They’re also a great opportunity for customers to meet the faces behind the brands and to watch a business from soon after its inception, all the way to greatness.

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We cater for the giants and the boutiques. From the pink mannequins with one foot, to acrylic leaflet holders, our dedicated team deliver your visual merchandising vision. Over our 26 years we have delivered projects to the likes of Tesco, Disney, Paperchase, Nike, Topshop, Harvey Nichols and many others.

And the best part?

We put our heart and soul into catering to your needs. We put as much effort into supplying 20 S-hooks as we do 4000 trade counters.

Why?

Because customer service and product display is at the heart of our business, and at the heart of yours.

Browse our website or call 01329 842 000 to speak to a Display Expert about your display and shop fitting needs.