Your pop-up shop is temporary, but that doesn’t mean you should just throw it up haphazardly without putting any thought into it. Whether your pop-up is open for months or days, here are some retail tricks you can learn from major retailers to maximise revenue and increase custom.
Think out your layout
It may surprise you to hear store layout is one of the most powerful tools available to the retailer. This article from merchandising experts OCS Retail Support looks into the various ways large retailers influence customers with store layout. These methods are underpinned by ‘nudge theory’—the idea of subtly driving customers to make purchases without them knowing it.
One of the key ways large retailers do this is through placement of merchandise. In a grocery store, for example, flowers are often found at the front and bread at the back, even though shoppers are far more likely to buy the latter than the former.
The flowers create associations of freshness and the trek to the bread means customers may pick up other products on the way when they notice them, even if they never intended to buy them.
These kind of layout tricks can work just as well in a small pop-up as they do in large supermarkets. Position your most popular items past your less popular ones to give people a reason to see more of your stock. And try to set things up so that shoppers have to walk around your whole store to find what they want before they leave. This way, your store layout will naturally drive impulse buys.
Send messages with signage
Your store may be small and your time may be brief, but that doesn’t mean you can’t dedicate time to designing an attractive and alluring storefront. Most major retailers change up their window displays frequently, so the brief life of your pop-up should not deter you from decoration.
Though some stores display large price tags in their windows to emphasise their bargains, most major retailers opt to give customers a sense of their store’s current range. House of Fraser, for example, worked with window designers Prop Studios on a Autumn/Winter window display that used a few items from their product range but focused on communicating the colour pallette and warmth of the clothing. This emphasis on a theme or ‘look’ for your store is far more important than pointing out deals.
Play with your pricing
It’s tempting, as a pop-up, to just sell one product at one price. This avoids confusion, and rails against the confusingly manifold prices of larger, long-term superstores. There is, however, a reason larger retailers sell cheaper and more expensive versions of the same products.
According to studies, the difference between ‘value’ and normal versions of supermarket products is minimal. But retailers know that these two versions serve a secret purpose. As discussed by Market Watch, the cheaper version of the product encourages customers to buy the ‘premium’ version so they feel what they are buying is superior.
Other pricing tips from Market Watch include the infamous tactic of having each product cost one penny less than a round number. You may be cynical of this technique’s effectiveness, but large retailers continue to do it because they know it works. One study found that consumers were 40% more likely to buy a product if it was priced at $49 over $45—all because of that endearing 9.
Leverage loyalty
You may not be open for long, but supermarket or coffee chain-style loyalty systems are still worth implementing. There are many ways loyalty cards can increase business—from making sure customers come back to encouraging them to spend more cash.
Another way to use these schemes to your advantage is to foster long-term loyalty to your events company or brand through having customers sign up to a mailing list and offering discount on future pop-ups. Suggesting patrons follow you on social media and engaging with them afterwards is another way to build loyalty to be capitalised upon at a later date.