Part 3: Practices and Strategies for Pop-Up Retailing – Primary Activities
Part 3: Practices and Strategies for Pop-Up Retailing – Primary Activities
Chapter 10: Merchandising, Inventory and Logistics
Chapter Overview
The competitive retail landscape has seen accelerated changes in the past decades and many changes have been driven by the evolving needs and wants of shoppers. In an omni-channel retail environment, retail operations are largely developed to reflect the changes in how customers shop and how retail space is utilized.1 While savvy retailers are focusing on the customer experience, convenience and technology integration to lure shoppers back to the brick and mortar stores2, each element of store experience has implications for all aspects of retail operations, such as pricing and promotions, inventory control and management, as well as logistics.
Pop-up shops, as a relatively low-cost option for emerging entrepreneurs looking to get a foothold in the marketplace, have gained popularity around the world. It’s important to note that even though pop-up shops are temporary by design and business owners can maximize the benefits of a no-frills presentation, experts advise them to operate to their full potential because pop-up retailers can gather important market data for future operations3 and the pop-up shop is about the brand and brand experiences for the customers. In this chapter, we will discuss the operational aspects of a pop-up shop.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of the chapter, readers will be able to:
- Describe the factors to consider when developing a merchandise budget plan.
- Evaluate the best approaches to merchandise assortments for pop-up shops.
- Choose appropriate pricing strategies based on the pop-up format and function.
- Evaluate merchandising, inventory and logistic strategies based on pop-up retail decision making criteria.
Setting the Context
VIDEO
The following video offers some context to what goes into the first steps in planning the merchandise to offer for sale along with ideas for displays, layout and the duration for a series of pop-up shops in different locations.
In this scenario, the public relations director for a musician meets with a consultant to talk about using a pop-up strategy to grow awareness about her client’s music in new markets.
1. Merchandise Planning and Management for Pop-Up Shops
Merchandise is what a retailer carries in stock and makes available for sale. Retail merchandise is the backbone of any retail business and contributes to retail productivity – a key performance indicator of success.4 The two key elements in the merchandise planning process are the merchandise budget plan and merchandise assortment plan. With the budget plan, buyers/business owners have a clear idea of how much money to spend on purchasing merchandise. It also provides a guideline for buyers to determine the details for the assortment plan. An assortment plan includes the specific quantities and characteristics of each product based on specific factors such as brands, colours,