Pop-Up Stor(i)es

Pop Up Stores aren’t for everyone, but they should be. Because if you want a simple, cost effective and exciting way to engage customers, there’s really nothing better.

Changing Face of Pop Up Stores

Pop Up Stores have changed dramatically over the years. Gone is the ‘make do and mend’ attitude around available space. Gone are the preconceptions that they are only for the select few shops and shoppers.

Now you can have prime, purpose built spaces or spaces within spaces. You can even build your own space wherever you want. They can be static, transportable or even reusable.

The preconception of exclusivity is gone, and instead, they more like an event that your customers can get excited about. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling yachts or spatulas, it’s simply about the experience.

#FOMO

Also, pop-up stores are no longer simply mini-stores in empty retail spaces. They’re whatever you imagine. Big, small, glamorous, theatrical or simple and functional, it’s simply about what you need not where you can find or fit.

All this, if promoted correctly, creates a buzz that people want to be a part of. No one wants to feel like they’ve missed out on something, and that’s what makes pop-up stores so exciting. Your customers can say they were there; regardless of where ‘there’ turns out to be. The attraction is whatever you make it.

Here today, gone tomorrow

It’s the temporary nature of pop-up stores that makes them so appealing to all. Customers are excited by the opportunity to be part of something exciting. Brands are excited by the simplicity on offer.

For a brand, they can quickly and easily create something exciting that serves their purpose. It’s whatever they need.

Need seasonal? How about a Christmas Grotto? Want to be Topical in June? How about strawberries, cream and Wimbledon with customers sat in your garden furniture. Or just want to have some fun with your brand? You could create a park for adults to play with your own brand of refreshments. Or anything else you can think of.

You get all these exciting ways to attract interest coupled with a direct sales opportunity, without the risk or commitment of creating specific stores or sections in stores and then marketing them.

Pop up stores are versatile and responsive ways to promote and excite customers.

Make your new space pop

Today, there are no limits to what a pop-up store can be. From Snapchat’s vending machines in the Grand Canyon to Boxpark’s pop-up shopping centre concept, in fact, the more imaginative, the better.

You can build your own, hire purpose built spaces or set up shop in another shop. From Festivals to the high street to the middle of nowhere, you can be wherever you want. And in the exact kind of space you need.

Popping online offline

Pop-up stores are also a great way for online retailers to try something new. Within these flexible spaces, they can play with their brand expectations and people’s imaginations.

It allows them to sell where and when they want but without the risk of owning bricks-and-mortar stores; which fits perfectly with their online ethos.

But unlike online, it gives them the opportunity to create that emotional connection that their customers wouldn’t usually get. By letting customers see, touch and experience their brand in person, online retailers can create real brand resonance.

Playing nice with others

Don’t have the brand recognition to get people to come out and play? Or don’t have access to particular audiences? Then who does?

You’ll find many successful pop-up stores within other more well-known stores. It’s a win-win for all involved. You get to use their brand recognition or there specific audience, they get a risk free event that draws the crowds, and customers get a bigger offer. Like when Nutella went all posh and opened an Alpine Lodge on the roof of Harvey Nichols.

These days even the biggest names are open to the suggestion, it’s simply about offering them something they can get excited about as much as the customers.

Anything’s possible

The simple rule is to be imaginative. People aren’t excited by shelves, but they love an ‘event’. What ‘event’ means is entirely up to you. But don’t be limited by place, you can go far beyond the confines of your store walls. It’s the idea that matters, from in store lectures to Virgin Trains turning a train to a festival into a festival (No.6 Express), there are no limits.

Overnight success?

The only thing to remember is: Set up might be overnight, but success isn’t. So you’ll need a plan. From the design to the marketing, if you give your idea the tools it needs to succeed it will succeed.

And that’s where we can help. Our expert team of designers and craftsmen can bring even the most impossible dreams to life. It’s what we do.