Part 1: Pop-Up Retail Basics
Chapter 2: Formats and Functions of Pop-Up Shops
Chapter Overview
Over the last few years, pop-up retailing has gained popularity among retailers, from large international chains to small start-ups. As a temporary retail phenomenon, pop-up stores have emerged in shopping malls, urban street fronts, central business districts of small communities and other vacant spaces. Experts predict that the growth of the pop-up retail format in Canada will continue to gain momentum into the future, and that 2018 is the “Year of the Pop-Up”.1
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of the chapter, readers will be able to:
- Recognize and describe the different formats of pop-up shops
- Identify how pop-up shops are used as a marketing and communication tool
- Explain how pop-up shops may be used as a market entry tool
- Give examples of how pop-up shops may be used for inventory liquidation
Setting the Context
VIDEO
The following video presents a fictional meeting between a consultant and an entrepreneur who sells loose leaf tea online, but who wants to use a pop-up strategy to test the possibility of opening a permanent location, while building awareness about the brand and a great experience for new customers.
1. Pop-Up Shop Formats
1.1 Consumer Motivations & Pop-ups
From a customer’s perspective, a pop-up shop can be intriguing because its temporary presence creates a sense of urgency, making the customer feel that they should shop before the pop-up shop disappears. Businesses interested in leveraging the pop-up retail format, however, must think, plan and execute their pop-up store operations strategically. An important aspect to consider is consumer psychographic characteristics, which include those related to “individuals’ values, attitudes and lifestyles”.2 Many studies have assessed the effects of psychographic attributes on various aspects of consumer behaviours, such as retail format choice3, online auction behaviour4, shopping orientation and product/brand preferences5 and decision-making styles6.
When planning a pop-up retail experience, research suggests focusing on these three psychographic factors: consumer innovativeness, market mavenism and shopping enjoyment.7 These factors may help drive the choice of pop-up format to implement.
Consumer innovativeness refers to a customer’s predisposition to seek out new and different products/brands and/or shopping experience rather than simply adhere to routine consumption patterns.8,9,10 The unique and novel aspects of pop-up shops, such as limited-time operation, non-conventional location/store atmospherics and guerilla marketing approaches are appealing to innovative consumers due to the sensory stimulation provided in the shopping experience.
Market mavens are those influencers in marketplaces “who have information about many kinds of products, places to shop, and other facets of markets, and initiate discussions with consumers and respond to requests from consumers for market