What Is A Pop Up Shop?
As the fashion, culture, and style hub of the world, New York may be the best city for popping up. Pop up shops have taken the retail world by storm over the past ten years or so as a much cheaper way to gain brand exposure than signing lengthy and costly commercial leases. This is especially true in New York’s soaring real estate market. In this post, we’ll answer the question “what is a pop up shop” and explore what a pop up can do for your brand.
With many brick-and-mortar stores priced out of key neighborhoods, many businesses stay digital in order to avoid high storefront costs. But with a pop up shop, you can meet consumers in real life and in the middle of these two extremes, providing crucial face-to-face interaction without having to break the bank.
Whether you’re an online retailer looking to meet your customers face to face, a gallery trying to test the market of a new neighborhood, a merchandiser looking to clear out inventory and make room for new lines, or simply an emerging artist hoping to gain exposure, pop up shops appeal to all brands alike. Large companies and small start-ups alike have gotten behind pop up strategies, seeing them as the future of retail.
What A Pop Up Can Do For Your Brand
Here are four important goals to keep in mind:
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- Create brand awareness and recognition
- Test your market, whether with new products, approaches, or locations
- Observe your progress in order to get the most bang for your buck
- Improve sales
Studies have shown that temporary retail stores are expected to generate approximately $80 billion this year. Online retailers will reap much of this. They have the advantage of using consumer data to pinpoint where their customers are located and use this info to pop up shrewdly and effectively. That said, New York contains some of the world’s most famous shopping districts in neighborhoods like SoHo, Nolita, and Williamsburg. You don’t have to be a consumer data expert to know that a pop up store would flourish in those places.
A recent study from ReadyCloud showed that 88% of shoppers are expected to regularly engage in “webrooming” — browsing online, then purchasing in a store. This brings us to one of the greatest benefits of starting a pop up shop: customer engagement. With these temporary storefronts, brands can meaningfully communicate their brand face to face with existing and prospective customers.
How To Execute Your Pop Up
We’re all wired to strive for the next best thing — it’s in our DNA! Human beings crave new experiences, and pop up shops are wonderful conduits for just that. Pop up shops allow brands to cultivate a “Get it while it’s hot” feeling for their target markets — which brings in both sales as well as larger attention. As The Atlantic put it in a 2017 article about pop up shops in New York, “The tighter the time frame, the reasoning goes, the longer the lines.”
While making money is the primary objective, note that you may have to play the long game with your pop up shop endeavor. Improving visibility, credibility, and customer experience can do all the good in the world for your pop up shop idea. A happy customer always comes back, and an even happier one will bring their friends next time, whether that’s back to your pop up, or to your online store.
Now that you know a bit more about the benefits of hosting your own pop up shop, get ready to book your NYC Pop Up with Parasol Projects or view our previous, current, and upcoming pop up shops.
Additional Pop Up Information
Check out the Parasol Projects Blog for more information on popping up, including these entries:
- Pop Up Shop Ideas: 5 Tips To Make Your Space a Success
- How Much Does A Pop Up Shop Cost – 4 Budget Tips
- Pop Up Shop: 5 Ideas to Make Your Space a Success
- The 5 Best Places To Pop Up In NYC
- Pop Up Stories: Pop Ups, A New Kind of Business Model for PR