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What is a Pop-Up Store? The Purpose and Benefits of Opening One
Pop-up stores are increasingly being used in the field of marketing activities. However, some people may not understand what a pop-up store is or the benefits of it.
We’re explaining what exactly pop-up stores are and the purpose of opening it.
1. What is a pop-up store?
A pop-up store is a temporary place of business or, in other words, a short-term shop that appears and disappears after a while.
Pop up stores can sell just about anything.
It is usually used to test a new idea or create buzz for a product so that many brands create and offer you unique physical shopping experiences.
2. The purpose of opening a pop-up store
Pop-up stores are often opened for the purpose of expanding product and brand recognition, promoting new products, and test marketing.
For example, if you open a pop-up store in a rented space on a busy street or in a commercial facility, people may remember your product or brand. As a result, it is possible to make them a fan of your brand.
It is characteristic to create a store that effectively promotes the product or brand, such as by designing the store to push the image of the product. Since it is a temporary store, it is also effective to focus on buzz worthiness such having celebrities to appear or running an advertisement, instead of spending on interior design.
On the other hand, it is difficult to lead to long-term sales since opening for a short-term. Opening a pop-up store for the purpose of just increasing sales is not a good idea.
3. Advantages of pop-up stores
Pop-up stores are mainly used for marketing purposes, such as expanding product awareness, but what are the specific benefits?
Before thinking about opening a pop-up store, let’s take a look at some of the advantages.
– Creating a buzz
A pop-up store that is open for a limited time can easily attract the interest of customers. In addition, unlike regular stores, pop-up stores are easier to generate buzz since its open for limited time, it is likely to be covered by the media and SNS such Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.
Even if the customer does not visit the store, the product or brand awareness may increase.
– Communication with customers
For brands that sell their products only through online stores, the opportunities to communicate directly with customers are limited.
However, if you open a pop-up store, you will be able to communicate directly with customers and it makes it easier to build a relationship of trust between the customer and the store, which will lead to create your brand fan.
– Easy to measure the effectiveness
Another advantage of a pop-up store is that you can collect a lot of data by opening a store, such as the number of visitors to the store, sales, the number of searches on the Internet, and the response on SNS.
By comparing the data before and after the store opening, it is easy to see how effective the store has been.
Pop-up stores are also a great way to conduct test marketing when you are worried about the sales of a new product. If you use a pop-up store to pre-sale your new products, you can check customer response and sales to decide whether continue selling.
4. Disadvantages of a pop-up store
Although pop-up stores have many advantages, there is some disadvantage.
When opening a pop-up store, it costs for the venue, equipment rental, product delivery, and labor. It is said that it is easier to control the cost than a permanent store, but depending on the method of opening the store, 30-40% of the sales may be charged as a store opening fee.
Considering the necessary expenses, it is difficult to generate a large profit from limited time.
When opening a pop-up store, it is important to set your goals as increasing product awareness and attracting new customers.
5. Example of a pop-up store location
There are several ways to open a pop-up store, depending on the type of products and the purpose of the store. It is important to consider the characteristics of each location and the purpose of opening a pop-up store.
Here is an example of a location and the characteristics of each place.
– Rental Space
It is relatively easier to open a store. The interior of the rental space can be customized to create your original design for your brand.
When opening a store in a rental space, it is important to do some research beforehand to find out what kind of environment the surrounding area is like, what kind of people live there, and whether your products match the customer base.
– Part of a store space
There is also the option of opening a pop-up store in a rented space in a store such as a cafe or coffee shop.
If the store is willing to handle the cash register for your product as well, you will not need to hire someone as a clerk. Compared to renting a space, the space for a pop-up store tends to be smaller, so it is suitable for small-sized products or a small number of products.
On the other hand, since you rent a part of the space of an existing store, it may be difficult to appeal your brand image by the interior design.
Basically, it is an effective way to sell items that are highly related to the store you are renting.
– Commercial facilities
Opening a store in a commercial facility such as a department store, mall, or department store is also a good idea. This is a good option if you are thinking of opening a store for promotional purposes, as you can appeal to people who are highly motivated to buy something. Another attraction of commercial facilities is that they have relatively high foot traffic.
Since there are many other stores, you need to think of displays that will attract the interest of customers.
6. Let’s promote your business while using pop-up store
As we explained, pop-up store is one of marketing method that can easily generate the buzz, and it can be spread through social networking site leading to promoting products, raising brand awareness, and attracting new customers.
On the other hand, it is difficult to make a large profit from a pop-up store itself. If you do not prepare well in advance, you may not see the benefits.
Having a clear goal of opening a store and a clear concept of the store are important for the success of a pop-up store.