Pop-up stores can have lifespans of less than a month and may coincide with product launches or serve as test beds for new technology. In Germany, for example, Adidas is using a pop-up store to test a high tech knitting system, Reuters reports. With the system, customers design their own merino wool sweaters and then their bodies are measured by a laser system. The technology then makes a custom fitted sweater within four hours.
Amazon, meanwhile, is well known for launching pop-stores that allow customers to try out new technology and ask sales clerks questions. Apple is also well known for pop-up stores and has reached out to young hip consumers by staking out temporary locations at musical festivals, such as South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.
An industry has even sprouted to help brands establish pop-up stores. The Store Front, for example, helps brands find temporary rentals in London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Amsterdam. Retail is Detail is another firm that serves brands by helping establish and manage pop-up stores. It also provides research, marketing strategies, and store designs
The key behind the growth of pop-up stores, however, is likely to be the ability of brands to integrate digital marketing with their physical locations. In an ideal world, brands will be able to use real time GPS data to let customers know about local pop-up stores and the travel time to the locations. With online customer profiles, furthermore, brands will be able to promote pop-up stores to customers that have expressed interest in products that will be featured at the locations.
At the same time, successful stores will integrate social media with their pop-up stores and provide incentives, such as coupons, for visitors to “like” their locations. Photo contests of customers modeling clothing or accessories for example, can also build hype because individuals can fuel social media posts as store visitors post images or videos of the events.
Marketers can also offer free services as a way to generate new online relationships. Armani generated much attention when it implemented this strategy by offering free make-up sessions at a pop-up in Paris. As part of the service, it videotaped the session and then sent the recording to the customer who received the make-up session, which allowed Armani to capture email addresses.
Another approach to forming relationships with pop-up store visitors involves having display screens respond to guests cellphones based on cookies or email addresses. With technology from CloudTag, for example, display screens and customers’ phones become a closed loop, reports PYMNTS.com.
Customers enter a store’s domain into their phones’ web browsers to start the process. Pop-up stores are ideally suited for using the technology to assess interest in products that may be featured in store displays.
