How Pop-Up Shops Can Drive Revenue and Delight Customers Year-Round

The holiday season — the busiest, most lucrative time of year for retailers — has passed, but that doesn’t mean the opportunity to drive revenue and garner good will among your customers is over.

Even though e-commerce sales continue to grow year-over-year, particularly during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, online retailers are looking for new and effective ways to engage with customers directly.

One way they can find success is through a pop-up shop. In fact, online-only retailers continue to enjoy success when trying their hand at traditional brick-and-mortar. For online retailers, pop-up shops make a lot of sense, especially during the holidays when foot traffic in traditional retail spaces is at its highest. But what about the rest of the year? If you’re looking for a New Year’s resolution your brand can really benefit from, try a pop-up shop.

Here are a few ways to make your pop-up shop a success no matter what time of year it is.

Create Anticipation

Establishing some lead time and generating anticipation for your pop-up shop is key. Advertise to existing and potential customers, and be sure to include why they should visit your store as opposed to simply going online. Chances are you have a healthy contact database, so be sure to spread the word and reach out to them.

While you’re at it, why not make it an event or tie it to a holiday like Valentine’s Day? Incorporate surprise and delight elements, such as a coffee or hot chocolate bar, to enhance the appeal of your shop.

And finally, what better way to drive traffic than to offer pop-up-only specials. This could be a discount, gift or something else of value for the shopper. The possibilities are virtually endless. Just be sure to offer something that will truly resonate with your customers.

Create a Unique Email- and/or Social-Only Offer

It’s easy to believe that providing a physical space to browse and shop is novel enough, but don’t fall into that trap. Get consumers even more excited about visiting your pop-up shop by creating a unique offer via email and/or social media. This is a good way to tie an online channel to the store, while providing an incentive for visiting your magical little pop-up.

Allow for BOPIS (Pre-Orders)

Just because you’re setting up a temporary physical space doesn’t mean you should ignore customers that want to buy online and pick up in-store (BOPIS). If you can logistically accomplish this, let customers do it. Not only will this save you and the consumer on shipping costs, but we do know the majority of BOPIS customers make additional purchases when picking up items.

Offer Complimentary Gift Wrapping

This works great for traditional gift-giving holidays like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Valentine’s Day. Not only is it a great value-add, it’s great customer service, too!

Help Your Brand Pop

Consumers love browsing and buying online, and that trend will continue to grow. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t more opportunities for online retailers to explore and benefit from having a physical space. Pop-up shops can be great for online retailers. They can help drive revenue throughout the year and provide an interesting way for online brands to interact with their customers.

With a little creativity and solid execution, pop-up shops can be the gift that keeps on giving year-round. By providing an exceptional customer experience and winning them over in person, you’ll not only drive revenue while your pop-up shop is open, you’ll empower customers to buy from you again and again.

Greg Zakowicz is a senior commerce marketing analyst at Bronto, a commerce marketing automation provider.