Matthew Greenwell
Pop-up stores are the trendy face of retail – and more brands are cashing in on short-term to expand their presence, drive sales and announce limited-time items or collaborations.
With so much to gain from investing in a short-term presence, the planning process is just as crucial as the execution. Whether it is for a week or a few months duration, setting up a pop-up store is simple. But how can you get the most out of yours? asks Matthew Greenwell
Matthew Greenwell is the Director of Storefront UK. After working in finance at Goldman Sachs, Matthew Greenwell co-founded Oui Open, which later merged to become Storefront.
Here are five tips to keep in mind to make sure your pop-up is a success:
1. Define your objective
When planning your pop-up store, it is important to outline what you are hoping to achieve.
Plenty of pop-ups focus on maximising a short-term profit, like popping up seasonally to boost holiday sales, while others are solely focused on brand building.
Remember, if you leave a lasting impression on new customers they could become loyal to your brand for a lifetime.
A profit loss now could be worth ten times that over five years if you attract a lifetime customer through your pop-up shop.
By creating a certain lifestyle experience, you give customers added value
2. Select the right location
While high footfall offers great store visibility, there are also ways to draw loyal customers to a more 'hidden' location.
Think about the city in which you want to gain the most traction. Then, depending on cost (prime central areas are more expensive), assess with your team just how important large footfall is for your pop-up.
Though central, buzzy locations are always thought of first, perhaps the message of your pop-up store coincides with an off-the-beaten-path neighbourhood and you will lure in a certain type of customer this way.
3. Focus on marketing
Marketing your pop-up store is very important. You must maximise exposure before, during and after, so that you can gain the most from it.
Before opening your pop-up store, try scheduling some social media campaigns to spread the buzz and come up with a hashtag to track your clout.
During the pop-up store's opening, think about hosting an event that will get people into the store, inviting influencers with a large social following or offering up food and drink to introduce your pop-up concept.
Also think about unique ways to get consumers into the store like hosting workshops, talks and Instagrammable moments.
Following closure, ensure that your team generated a lot of content via the pop-up, whether it be through press hits, shareable photographs or blog articles, so that you can continue to market and leverage the experience for future pop-ups, for bricks-and-mortar stores or to host the concept digitally on your site.
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