In my last blog on pop up shops we discussed The Power of Pop-Ups and why they are effective for strengthening the relationship between a business and its customers.
I wanted to dive a little deeper and talk a bit more about curating products for a pop-up shop, and give you some golden nuggets of information around the number one question I get asked…
How do I work out how much product to take to a pop-up shop?
One of the decisions you are going to need to make very quickly is around how much you need to bring to the pop and what you want it to look like in store.
Your product range has not only got to look pretty, but it’s got to work ‘pretty’ hard for you at your pop-up!
Here are some of the key elements you need to consider when curating your products for your pop-up shop.
What else will your customer see?
It’s really important to consider what else your customer is seeing around you and what your competition looks in your location.
Gaining a bit of an deep understanding of the market in which you will be trading in and understanding ‘what good looks like’ in your space will help you to clearly define what differentiates you from everyone else and you can use that information to help you stand out, create effective marketing strategies, attract the right customers and create a unique shopping experience.
Plan your space
When planning your space for your pop-up shop, you’ll need to first, plan the range to fill the space you have. Secondly, plan for replenishing the stock as it sells! The latter is a bit more tricky…but bear with me!
A great place to start is by looking at how other retailers buy and display their products in your particular product category. It’s a great way to start developing ideas and building out your range for your pop up shop to help you plan your displays and of course, help you plan your initial display quantities.
If you think about it, a retail buyer’s job is to ensure that they have built a commercially balanced range. The range should offer just the right amount of choice, balanced with enough excitement to draw customers and enough of the core items, which essentially are the bread and butter for the retailer.
THIS balance of the ART and SCIENCE forms part of your retail strategy for your pop-up shop and becomes your PLAN for what’s going to bring in the money and hit your sales and profit targets, so when you are putting your range together, the same sort of principles apply.
Display
Your displays have to be inviting and they should attract customers to want to come over and discover what you are about – Consider a retail environment with lighting, POS, product placement strategies, graphics and marketing messages.
If you have very small products like cosmetics or jewellery, then give your displays different tiers of height – remember what’s at eye level will get seen and noticed first. So, when you are mocking it up before the event, bear this in mind especially if there is a particular product or collection you want to highlight as your HERO products for the pop-up.
Your design and layout should be memorable, inviting and open without any obstacles. Pop-ups can get quite busy so open, easy to navigate and inviting spaces are essential!
Less is More – I know I say this ALOT, but it’s really important to spend time curating your range for the space.
Your ranging has got to look visually appealing to the customer – not like a jumble sale. If you have a large product assortment – don’t be tempted to take everything!
Too much to look at, and you could leave your customers overwhelmed and confused – what you show them should be attention grabbing and memorable and in a WAY you should be telling them what they need to buy from you.
Getting technical!
If you have the measurements of the space, fixtures and fittings – then this will be your best friend and your next step to putting as much of the Science as you can behind the Art of retail merchandising!
If you can, take the time to mock it out and plan how you want it to look, aligning it with your brand look and feel and offer enough choice without it looking too much.
Think about what else you may need to display with the product to help conversions…further graphics to explain the product? Customer reviews or industry awards that you may have one can all be powerful forms of instore marketing, so if you want to include these, you will also need to plan the space to include them.
Once you are happy, you will have your initial display quantity! Take lots of pictures to use as a bit of a blueprint for the set up day! This will help avoid a lot of faffing around and wasting time when you get to the event itself!
Sales Drivers
Your product range has not only got to look pretty, but it’s got to work ‘pretty’ hard for you!
Give your BEST selling products or core lines prime position, these are the products which always drive sales for you – or in other words your bread and butter lines. If there is something in your range which customers keep coming back to you for – make a BIG deal out of it, display customer reviews alongside it, shout from the rooftops and make it a BIG part of your stand campaign.
POP-UPs are also a great opportunity to try something new and launch new concepts or products as it’s the best place to get a market reaction. So if this is your aim, think about how you can build buzz and excitement – can you team up with influencers or bloggers to help you create an enticing campaign for your shop?
It could even be something that you developed as a PRESS PIECE or ran a recent influencer marketing campaign with – so something that has been especially created to draw people in or get a market reaction. In this case, you can also use your pop-up shop to create marketing and PR for your brand by inviting relevant people.
Replenishment
Have a plan for restocking inventory and managing sales throughout the pop-up shop’s duration. If there somewhere you can store and hideaway stock for replenishment?
Estimating what you might need as replenishment is a difficult one because it’s harder to predict sales from a one-off event…but you can make a best guess plan by knowing what your best sellers are and what your customers like from you and you can also plan to have contingencies up your sleeve for the duration of the pop up.
If you’ve done pop ups before, this will give you a great starting point to help you forecast stock and sales.
Have a plan for taking orders of products that you have run out of so you don’t lose sales from the day.
Creating memorable experiences
So much of retail is becoming about experiences – consider how you can create experiences for your customers to help you really stand out from the crowd.
Can I run my own pop up shop?
Yes, you absolutely can run your own pop-up shop. This is an area where I help brands and offer consultation services for product brands. It takes lots of preparation, organisation and coordination and of course a go-to market plan and you definitely do need Retail Strategy for your pop up to help you to determine your goals and sales targets, financials, stock management – which all become really important KPIs for the success of your pop up shop.
Overall, careful planning and preparation can help ensure a successful pop-up shop experience.
Get in touch to discuss how myself and my retail team can assist you in building a go-to market retail strategy for your next pop-up shop!
In my last blog on pop up shops we discussed The Power of Pop-Ups and why they are effective for strengthening the relationship between a business and its customers.
I wanted to dive a little deeper and talk a bit more about curating products for a pop-up shop, and give you some golden nuggets of information around the number one question I get asked…
How do I work out how much product to take to a pop-up shop?
One of the decisions you are going to need to make very quickly is around how much you need to bring to the pop and what you want it to look like in store.
Your product range has not only got to look pretty, but it’s got to work ‘pretty’ hard for you at your pop-up!
Here are some of the key elements you need to consider when curating your products for your pop-up shop.
What else will your customer see?
It’s really important to consider what else your customer is seeing around you and what your competition looks in your location.
Gaining a bit of an deep understanding of the market in which you will be trading in and understanding ‘what good looks like’ in your space will help you to clearly define what differentiates you from everyone else and you can use that information to help you stand out, create effective marketing strategies, attract the right customers and create a unique shopping experience.
Plan your space
When planning your space for your pop-up shop, you’ll need to first, plan the range to fill the space you have. Secondly, plan for replenishing the stock as it sells! The latter is a bit more tricky…but bear with me!
A great place to start is by looking at how other retailers buy and display their products in your particular product category. It’s a great way to start developing ideas and building out your range for your pop up shop to help you plan your displays and of course, help you plan your initial display quantities.
If you think about it, a retail buyer’s job is to ensure that they have built a commercially balanced range. The range should offer just the right amount of choice, balanced with enough excitement to draw customers and enough of the core items, which essentially are the bread and butter for the retailer.
THIS balance of the ART and SCIENCE forms part of your retail strategy for your pop-up shop and becomes your PLAN for what’s going to bring in the money and hit your sales and profit targets, so when you are putting your range together, the same sort of principles apply.
Display
Your displays have to be inviting and they should attract customers to want to come over and discover what you are about – Consider a retail environment with lighting, POS, product placement strategies, graphics and marketing messages.
If you have very small products like cosmetics or jewellery, then give your displays different tiers of height – remember what’s at eye level will get seen and noticed first. So, when you are mocking it up before the event, bear this in mind especially if there is a particular product or collection you want to highlight as your HERO products for the pop-up.
Your design and layout should be memorable, inviting and open without any obstacles. Pop-ups can get quite busy so open, easy to navigate and inviting spaces are essential!
Less is More – I know I say this ALOT, but it’s really important to spend time curating your range for the space.
Your ranging has got to look visually appealing to the customer – not like a jumble sale. If you have a large product assortment – don’t be tempted to take everything!
Too much to look at, and you could leave your customers overwhelmed and confused – what you show them should be attention grabbing and memorable and in a WAY you should be telling them what they need to buy from you.
Getting technical!
If you have the measurements of the space, fixtures and fittings – then this will be your best friend and your next step to putting as much of the Science as you can behind the Art of retail merchandising!
If you can, take the time to mock it out and plan how you want it to look, aligning it with your brand look and feel and offer enough choice without it looking too much.
Think about what else you may need to display with the product to help conversions…further graphics to explain the product? Customer reviews or industry awards that you may have one can all be powerful forms of instore marketing, so if you want to include these, you will also need to plan the space to include them.
Once you are happy, you will have your initial display quantity! Take lots of pictures to use as a bit of a blueprint for the set up day! This will help avoid a lot of faffing around and wasting time when you get to the event itself!
Sales Drivers
Your product range has not only got to look pretty, but it’s got to work ‘pretty’ hard for you!
Give your BEST selling products or core lines prime position, these are the products which always drive sales for you – or in other words your bread and butter lines. If there is something in your range which customers keep coming back to you for – make a BIG deal out of it, display customer reviews alongside it, shout from the rooftops and make it a BIG part of your stand campaign.
POP-UPs are also a great opportunity to try something new and launch new concepts or products as it’s the best place to get a market reaction. So if this is your aim, think about how you can build buzz and excitement – can you team up with influencers or bloggers to help you create an enticing campaign for your shop?
It could even be something that you developed as a PRESS PIECE or ran a recent influencer marketing campaign with – so something that has been especially created to draw people in or get a market reaction. In this case, you can also use your pop-up shop to create marketing and PR for your brand by inviting relevant people.
Replenishment
Have a plan for restocking inventory and managing sales throughout the pop-up shop’s duration. If there somewhere you can store and hideaway stock for replenishment?
Estimating what you might need as replenishment is a difficult one because it’s harder to predict sales from a one-off event…but you can make a best guess plan by knowing what your best sellers are and what your customers like from you and you can also plan to have contingencies up your sleeve for the duration of the pop up.
If you’ve done pop ups before, this will give you a great starting point to help you forecast stock and sales.
Have a plan for taking orders of products that you have run out of so you don’t lose sales from the day.
Creating memorable experiences
So much of retail is becoming about experiences – consider how you can create experiences for your customers to help you really stand out from the crowd.
Can I run my own pop up shop?
Yes, you absolutely can run your own pop-up shop. This is an area where I help brands and offer consultation services for product brands. It takes lots of preparation, organisation and coordination and of course a go-to market plan and you definitely do need Retail Strategy for your pop up to help you to determine your goals and sales targets, financials, stock management – which all become really important KPIs for the success of your pop up shop.
Overall, careful planning and preparation can help ensure a successful pop-up shop experience.
Get in touch to discuss how myself and my retail team can assist you in building a go-to market retail strategy for your next pop-up shop!
