A pop-up shop can be a great way to get your brand out there. It doesn’t require a long-term lease, so it can be a great way to test out a new concept or a new location. It’s a lot of fun too! But, just like any business endeavor, it isn’t guaranteed to be a success. If it’s not, it can be a lot of work for nothing.
Fortunately, there are things you can do to increase your chances of having a successful pop-up shop experience.
Hire a Small Mover
A pop-up shop requires just as much moving as a residential move or a commercial move. There may be fewer items, but getting those items across town or across the state, depending on where your pop-up shop is located, can be a mammoth task that is nearly impossible to do with your small team.
Hire a mover that specializes in moves of less than 2,000 pounds. They can make it much easier for you to safely move your items to your pop-up shop location, but they can also transport your items back to your retail store, warehouse, or anywhere else. There’s no need to rent trucks, you’re less likely to leave things behind, and items are less likely to get damaged in transit when you hire a professional.
Zero in on the Right Merchandise
It’s important to think carefully about what kind of merchandise you want to display in your pop-up shop. More so than a regular store, your pop-up shop has to look cohesive.
Your items have to tell a story and look like they belong together. For example, if you sell jewelry, home goods, and bath products at your brick and mortar store, you may want to focus on one of those items only. Or, you could create a theme for your pop-up shop and only include the jewelry, home goods, and bath products that match that theme.
More is not better when it comes to pop-up shops. Don’t crowd your store with too many items. You’ll have to be realistic about what to leave behind, and you should keep stock-keeping units (SKUs) out of sight.
Prep and Stage Ahead of Time
There are a lot of things to get set up if you want your pop-up shop to be successful. From merchandise to displays and setting up a checkout counter, it can be extremely helpful if you prep and stage everything ahead of time.
Create a mock display to see what it’s going to look like. Draw out where you want things to go and figure out how you’re going to set up the counter for checkout.
When you give yourself plenty of time to prep and stage ahead of your actual event, you’ll find that it’s a lot easier to get everything set up exactly the way you want when you get there.
Start Setting Up Early
You may not have a ton of control over when you are able to set up your pop-up shop, but you should always aim to get in there and set up as soon as possible.
You never know what could go wrong. Even if you have staged and planned everything ahead of time, you might discover that the outlets aren’t where you expected them to be, or the sun will shine in your face all day long if you put the register where you originally planned.
It’s good to get there as early as you can so that you can tackle any problems that arise and still open on time.
Get Creative When Displaying Items
Displaying items isn’t always as simple as it sounds. You need things to display those items, which usually means tables, shelves, and racks. If those aren’t things you already have, they can be expensive to rent or buy.
Fortunately, there are a million ways to get creative when displaying your items! A few ideas include:
• A ladder can double as a shelving display
• Crates and old suitcases can be stacked to create a makeshift display table
• Old copper piping can be used as a clothing rack
• Two saw horses and a long piece of wood can act as a checkout table
Fabric is your friend if you DIY aspects of your pop-up shop. For example, if you don’t want the saw horses to show, you can cover the whole checkout table with a tablecloth. Paint, paper, and other materials can also be used to cover or enhance your displays.
Think Through Ways to Pay
There are more options than ever before when it comes to payments, and most customers have come to expect retailers to offer a wide variety of options. That doesn’t mean you have to go all-in on an expensive system. You can find easy apps with devices that attach to your cell phone so you can take various forms of payments.
You might want to consider encouraging customers to pay with cash. Offering a cash discount can be a powerful way to get more people to pay with paper money, which means you don’t have to pay for exorbitant fees or deal with learning how to use different apps.
Use it as a Marketing Opportunity
The point of opening a pop-up shop is to sell items and make money. Or is it?
Don’t feel discouraged if you didn’t move as much merchandise as you thought you would. Simply treat your pop-up shop as another aspect of your marketing strategy.
Aim to introduce yourself and have meaningful conversations with anyone who stops by to take a look. Have business cards handy and encourage visitors to check out your social media platforms. Offer a giveaway for signing up for a newsletter or following you on Facebook. That way your pop-up shop helps your business grow in the long run, even if it doesn’t make a ton of money in the short run.
A pop-up shop can be a great way to make money and get the word out about your business! Just make sure you follow these tips so it’s as successful as possible.
