Guidelines pop-up stores

Establishing a forecast budget before embarking on the creation of your pop-up store allows you to make the most of your project . By estimating your costs as closely as possible, you can avoid many mishaps that result in financial losses, thus increasing the price of your pop-up store .

This is one of the first questions our customers ask us, and rightly so. The price varies depending on your goals and the duration for which you want to open your store. It is even more difficult to design this forecast budget when it is a first point of sale : in this specific case, estimate the traffic in store, the conversion rate (i.e. the number of passers-by who become visitors) or even the conversion rate (number of visitors who purchase a product) would seem almost impossible.

However, you greatly reduce your chances of success if you create a pop-up store without calculating the price. The forecast budget is the essential step to identify the investments that you can make according to your objectives and to calculate the potential profitability of your store.

Adjusting the duration and budget of your pop-up store

The first step to estimating the price of your pop-up store: take a step back. What is the objective of your point of sale? As with creating a pop-up store , thinking about its precise purpose is the cornerstone of the project. Understand your objective and you can establish your pop-up store budget, before calculating the profitability of your store .

How much should my first pop-up store cost?

If you're organising your first ephemeral operation, exploring a customer's appetite for your product, testing the reaction to your brand, and collecting opinions to refine your concept, you should opt for an outlet:

• over a short period,
• outside peak periods (Christmas & spring),
• for a maximum of two weeks,
• in the district  close to your target customers.
• Objective: profitability and learning

Since your aim is to learn from experience, agree to release a "minimum viable product", i.e. the first version of a product, as soon as possible and at the lowest possible cost. This will allow you to quickly test your brand with customers.

To maximise your point of sale, always listen to customer feedback to obtain the maximum amount of data (qualitative and quantitative), and keep investment to a minimum to ensure a profitable operation.

Drawing up a provisional budget for a communication campaign

If you want to create a pop-up for an advertising campaign, then your objective is to reach a "break even" point, i.e. a zero point, where your investments are equalised by your profits.

For this type of pop-up store, open it for a short period, from several days to 3 weeks, to maximise the surprise effect. As for the location, which is included in the provisional budget, choose it according to your customer base. Is your clientele a highly committed community? Choose a secret venue that is little known to the general public. If you're looking to reach a new target, choose a high-traffic area. To maximise your chances of creating a buzz, don't hesitate to invest in the "Glossier effect".

To sum up, prioritise :

• short duration (from one day to a maximum of 3 weeks),
• a high-street location, if you don't have a committed community, or a secret location if you can rely on your existing customers,
• a memorable space that will capture visitors, multiplying user-generated content (content created by your customers and shared on social networks).
• Objectif : break-even 

A pop-up store to maximise seasonality

If your brand is subject to seasonality (swimwear like Anja, or winter hats like Cabaia), you will maximise sales performance over the period.

We recommend setting up this type of ephemeral boutique for 2 to 3 months, to make the most of the effects of seasonality. The provisional budget is drawn up with a view to generating significant sales, while taking advantage of the sales outlet to collect data. To achieve these objectives, we mustn't forget to take into account the costs associated with the choice of premises. It should be located in a place that generates a lot of traffic.

What do you think about a seasonal pop-up?

• 2 to 3 months depending on your estimates (and your stock)
• High-traffic area
• Space with your target customers
• Objective: maximise sales

Drawing up a provisional budget to create a sustainable point of sale

You've done a number of pop-up stores and are thinking of opening a permanent outlet for your brand. Or you haven't done any pop-up shops and just want to open one, to see if setting up your own shop is a good idea.

The aim to bear in mind when calculating the price of the pop-up store is to find out whether you can be profitable in the long term, after an initial (estimated) investment. This pop-up is also an opportunity to learn how to manage your sales staff.

To create such a pop-up store, you need to allow 6 months for the effects of the ephemeral to fade and for the seasons to change. This avoids distorting the results of the operation. Finally, the last element to consider when managing your pop-up store budget is the location, which in this case should be close to the area where you want to open a permanent shop. This way, you'll be dealing with the same clientele as in your hypothetical future shop.

Are you looking for a long-term store?

• 6 months (minimum)
• Same area as where you want to settle
• Objective: to be profitable over the long term, after an initial investment

Indicators by Nestore to assess your point-of-sale performance

If you have already done a physical operation, you already have the performance of previous times to estimate your performance. These figures will allow you to anticipate your sale, and your expected gains, so that you can offset them with the investments you are planning. You will then be able to manage your budget and know its profitability.

But if you're just starting out and would like a benchmark to compare yourself against, here's the Nestore data:

💣 What conversion rate can you expect?

The conversion rate is the number of visitors vs. the number of passers-by. It is the first indicator that reflects the attractiveness of your product and your brand. Experience tells us that a low rate is around 1%, an average rate around 2% and a high rate around 5%.)

💣 What is a good conversion rate?

The conversion rate, often measured on your online sales site, is often neglected at the point of sale. And yet it's very meaningful, and easy to calculate (how many people bought a product after entering the shop).

For reference, this rate is low when it is around 12%, medium at 30% and high at 45%.

💣 A quoi s’attendre comme ROI (le Retour sur Investissement)

It's hard to give you a precise ROI range - it depends very much on the rent and the expenses you incur (sales staff, fittings, equipment hire), but also on your sector of activity. Don't hesitate to contact us if you'd like to find out more about ROI performance in your sector!

A file to calculate the price and profitability of your pop-up store

We've created an excel document to help you get started and get your shop up and running. It will help you to quickly estimate your costs and profits to assess the potential profitability of your ephemeral operation, taking into account your areas of expenditure and your estimated turnover.

You can download it at the top of the page :)