Pop-up stores represent an innovative trend which has changed the face of brick-and-mortar retail. Exuding an aura of immediacy, exclusivity and novelty, pop-ups are all the rage in retail right now.
Pop-Up Republic estimates the global value of pop-ups at $52.5 billion. That’s a healthy valuation for a new wrinkle in the market which demands a look.
The allure of pop-up stores in 2017 feeds into the ongoing effort on the part of traditional retailers to provide consumers with an experiential shopping environment. With the pop-up, the experience is all about urgency and being in the right place at the right time to take advantage of something that won’t be there for long.
For retailers, the pop-up offers remote branding at an attractive price point. While logistically challenging, the pop-up achieves a localized presence for the brands using them and that means consumer awareness at street level.
A special brand moment.
The almost ethereal nature of the pop-up is where its true allure lies. These temporary storefronts aren’t about making money. They’re about consumer consciousness and building a brand. They generate material buzz just by being there.
The “here today, gone tomorrow” aspect of pop-ups give them an air of hipness which can’t be denied. If you know about the pop-up, you’re cool. You’re savvy. You’re in the know.
And there is nothing consumers like more than knowing something other people don’t.
Online brands aren’t excluded from the pop-up craze, either. They’re discovering that making a cameo appearance in the brick-and-mortar world (for a limited time only), builds their brand and raises awareness about it. Online retailers can enjoy the same special brand moment that retailers can, using the pop-up strategy.
The allure of urgency.
There’s nothing more urgent than a store which appears suddenly and then disappears forever. Consumers are drawn to the experience because it’s not going to be replicated. They know they need to get in the door of a pop-up before it goes “poof!”.
The pop-up is an exercise in guerilla marketing. Relying on word-of-mouth and local buzz, you build it and they come. Without the need for conventional advertising, suddenly your brand is the word on everyone’s lips and everyone wants in on your guerilla outpost.
Consumers become insiders.
The appeal of pop-ups is intimately connected with the need to feel like an insider. As pop-ups frequently highlight key aspects of a brand, they can be a window into emerging trends, giving those who experience them the sense that they’re on the ground floor and in the know.
Consumers polled about the pop-up phenomenon also reported feeling as though pop-ups gave them an opportunity to try the products of a brand they’d been curious about, but had never experienced in person. They also reported enjoying the feeling of exclusivity and being in the right place, at the right time. That’s something to tell your friends about!
The allure of pop-up stores in 2017 promises to extend well into the future.
Clip Strip is a leading producer of quality retail POP supports.