Retail space, having been dramatically affected by last year’s lockdowns, is now experiencing something of a revival. Property owners are eager to fill the increasingly empty lots (vacancy rates are up nearly 15% in the UK) and are lowering their rental prices, as well as accommodating shorter, more flexible contracts. Alongside this flexibility, pop-up retail events are becoming more common too as retailers look for lower-risk opportunities to reach high street shoppers.
Many of these retailers are creating pop-up spaces for the first time, following the success of headline-grabbing events that have led to sell-out successes for businesses across the UK. These limited-time-only experiences draw in customers and create huge opportunities for advertising. However, despite these potential benefits, without due consideration, retailers can find themselves encountering unexpected challenges too, especially those without pop-up experience.
Design For Efficiency
Creating buzz for a pop-up event is typically the first port of call for retailers. They want to ensure that, for the limited time they appear on the high street, customers will be excited to frequent their space. While the concern lies with avoiding low attendance, the issues often, and alternatively, arise from handling unexpectedly large levels of custom.
If a pop-up space does not accommodate for potentially high volume foot traffic, whether with modular shop shelving or spacious retail furniture, it will soon experience frustrated customers whose experience is likely to be limited to inefficient store navigation and queuing. This is why, when offering pop-up retail advice, we are most inclined to encourage design for efficiency, styling a spacious store with clear navigation guides, such as those mounted on stand offs, and one that facilitates relief points for shoppers to rest in when browsing.
Make It Photogenic
As customers become satellites for advertising, snapping photographs of branding and products to share via their online social media platforms, it becomes increasingly important that stores take their pop-up store aesthetics into account, preferably offering photo opportunities to customers. By doing encouraging customers to take photographs with statement designs and bespoke retail furniture, businesses will effortlessly find their pop-up reaching new audiences.
This consideration for photogenic store design remains a way to avoid embarrassing oversights in design and cleanliness. If shoppers begin showcasing a pop-up event that isn’t aesthetically pleasing or attractive, customers will be soon deterred.
Light And Sound
As retailers will know, light and sound play important roles in creating an enjoyable store atmosphere, one that is conducive to a brand’s personality and a store’s aesthetic appeal. Temporary sites might not always offer the same benefits and, before taking on a pop-up space, it is worth evaluating the store’s potential for music and illumination.
If spotlighting isn’t available, we would recommend bringing, hiring, or installing one’s own, since it is valuable for both customer navigation and the highlighting of ‘hero products’. Additionally, it is important to assess what speaker facilities are available to ensure that a pop-up event’s appearance isn’t undermined by a stale, quiet audio atmosphere.
