Nestore's blog

Why do we have to create a pop-up store?

The pop-up store, a test & learn tool

By definition, a pop-up store is an outlet that opens for a limited period. The purpose of a pop-up shop is to test a new concept, a new location, a new target, a new product... while limiting the financial risks.

So we see the pop-up store as a laboratory, a test and learn tool. By measuring the performance of the point of sale and gathering customer feedback, we can then draw conclusions and learn from our pop-up store so that we can roll it out on a larger scale. Creating a pop-up store is an effective way of analysing results, measuring the impact of a shop and identifying areas for improvement in the field.

Traditional shop vs pop-up store: minimising the financial risks

By opting for a pop-up store, you reduce your financial risks by an estimated 60%. There is less commitment to the lease, to the sales staff, to the furniture, etc. As a pop-up store is opened with the help of an agency, the latter manages the administrative side for you, making it easier to manage.

The ephemeral boutique: a solution to the explosion in online acquisition costs

With the mass creation of digital companies in recent years, known as DNVBs (Digital Native Vertical Brands), online acquisition costs have soared. For example, between September 2021 and March 2022, the average acquisition cost has doubled. In response to this problem, many DNVBs have had to diversify their retail strategy and turn to the physical world.

How do you run a successful pop-up store?

The 6 key factors in creating a pop-up store

When it comes to creating a pop-up store, there are six key areas to consider, six customer acquisition tactics :

• The venue: determine the sociology of the venue, its location and its type of venue.
• Communication and events: establishing a communication strategy before, during and after the creation of the pop-up store.
• Designing the pop-up: choosing the materials to be used, deciding on a precise visual identity.
• Merchandising and the customer journey: setting up product discovery and scenography.
• Customer experience and dramatisation: deciding on brand discovery, storytelling and gamification.
• Pop-up longevity and packaging: consider the benefits of pop-ups over time, their frequency and their activation.

All these levers need to be taken into account in the retail strategy for creating a pop-up store.

Define your objective to invest in the right levers

While we agree that it is not in the brand's interest to neglect any one of these elements in order to take advantage of the pop-up, it is clear that it will certainly not be able to mobilise as many resources and investments in all of them. This is where the clear and coherent objectives set at the start of the project come into play. These can be both commercial and marketing objectives, as customer acquisition tactics.

The main objectives in defining a retail strategy are :

Loyalty and commitment objectives

• Understanding and analysing your customers and your community
• Engaging customers to build long-term relationships

Objective of understanding and acquiring a new target

• Aligning the brand's positioning with its (new) target audience
• Adapting merchandising and pricing to a new target group

Repositioning objective

• Launch of a new range
• Innovation
• New concept

Awareness objective

• Making yourself known (DNVBs)
• Attracting press and influencers (major groups)

Sales volume target

• Increase your turnover
• ROI

Apply the test & learn method by measuring point-of-sale performance

As you will have realised, the test & learn method is a powerful way of making decisions about your retail strategy and customer acquisition tactics. But how do you put it into practice?

As in science, the test is based on a comparison of several indicators determined beforehand according to the objective. So it's vital to measure the performance of your pop-up store. Sales, effort rate and return on investment are frequently used indicators, but there are many others. If you want to know the real impact of your pop-up store, here the customer acquisition tactics. It's important to measure the performance of your point of sale beyond sales performance (impact on the website, on social networks, on customer satisfaction, etc.).

At Nestore, in order to learn more from our pop-ups, we analyse how we build awareness and memorability of the outlet, the quality and intensity of the client experience, and the ability to build customer loyalty.