By Camilla Davies

Pop-ups have experienced a rise in popularity since the early 2000s and have proven to be an effective approach for brands to engage with their consumers in a unique, impactful and measurable way. They are a key tactic in approaching today’s insatiable need for newness and providing a unique customer experience. Many brands have already benefited from bringing pop-ups to the Canadian market with recent examples including Ikea, Indochino and Campbell’s.

Here’s how your brand or business can benefit from a pop-up:

1) Testing a new location: If you are already an active brick and mortar retailer and are looking to expand into a new location, a pop-up is an excellent way to test the waters before committing to a long-term lease. A limited time venture can help with future projected foot traffic, consumer demographics, market interest levels, local spending power and location suitability. In some cases, your test location can actually become a permanent one.

2) Connecting with customers: Based solely online? According to the International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC), 78% of consumers prefer to shop in store. Opening a pop-up shop can give e-commerce vendors an opportunity to engage with their clientele outside of the virtual world while simultaneously reaching a new demographic who prefers to shop offline. A pop-up is also an ideal opportunity to evaluate whether a physical store is the right direction to take.

3) Build awareness and buzz: As pop-ups are temporary in nature they offer an element of exclusivity. One that is well-promoted can generate a lot of media coverage, leading to increased sales, not only at that pop-up location but across the brand as a whole. Pop-ups can appeal to both local and national media, depending on the stature of the brand and uniqueness of the concept. Holding an opening night and inviting the media can help increase visibility for the brand in question long after the pop-up has closed its doors.

4) Develop brand relationships: Opening a pop-up not only allows new potential consumers to learn about your brand, but it also gives you the opportunity to reward existing customers and increase customer loyalty. By giving an exclusive tour or a voucher discount to loyal customers ahead of a general opening, a brand ambassador is born.

5) Get personal: Encouraging pop-up customers to subscribe to an e-newsletter at point of purchase, or leaving an anonymous survey to be filled out in-store, can also help a company increase their customer data and conduct market research. If this quantitative and/or qualitative data is used effectively, it can lead to improved customer retention and ultimately elevated sales.

Finding your ideal pop-up location

Once you have decided that opening a pop-up is right for your brand, the next and sometimes most difficult step is finding the right location. Questions you should ask yourself about taking the leap can include: What is the minimum square footage you need? Do you want your pop-up to be in an enclosed mall or street location, on its own or within an existing store? Whatever your defined criteria, sites like pop-up go are a great resource to help you find an appropriate space to meet your requirements. Not only that, pop-up go offers personalized marketing services through Make it Pop to fast-track outreach needs and assist in a successful pop-up launch.

Pop-ups are the perfect way for any company whether large or small to promote their brand, reach new consumers and test a location without a long-term commitment.

Canadian Retail News From Around The Web: July 22, 2016