Participating in a pop-up shop can expose your business to new customers, says Nic Faitos, senior partner of Starbright Floral Design.
Last spring, when Lord & Taylor asked Nic Faitos if he’d be interested in having a pop-up shop in the luxury retailer’s flagship store in Manhattan, the senior partner of Starbright Floral Design didn’t think twice.
“We have a mantra — ‘never say no to anything’ — but this ask was really obvious,” he said. “Lord and Taylor shoppers have a lot of discretional income. How could I pass up the opportunity to meet them and make them my customers?”
Starbright hosted its first popup shop four days leading up to Mother’s Day 2017. Employees set up two tables filled with buckets of bouquets and premade arrangements at price points between $30 and $75, and used a tablet to run credit cards. “It was all very easy,” Faitos said.
The project didn’t net remarkable sales numbers for the holiday weekend, but it has paid off tremendously long-term.
“I don’t have any statistics, but I’ve heard plenty of people say ‘I learned about your company at Lord & Taylor’, so I know it’s brought me a new stream of high-profile customers who will likely spend a lot over the course of a lifetime,” he said. “The way I see it, if I was at a tradeshow or expo, I’d have to pay thousands of dollars to get in front of a comparable audience.”
Additionally, he said, the Lord & Taylor connection has boosted his credibility and generated some of his company’s most popular social media posts.
Consequently, Starbright has decided to continue doing the pop-up shop, not just for holidays or other special events but any weekend “when we have enough people working to staff it,” Faitos said. Typically, one employee can handle the Lord & Taylor crowd alone.
Saying “yes” to the pop-up idea has had another huge benefit: a close relationship with Lord & Taylor. “The company’s become one of our best clients,” Faitos said. “They hire us to put on quarterly design shows and they buy tons of ‘Free Spirit’ roses, which is actually what their logo is based on!”
With the holidays swiftly approaching, retailers of all sizes and types are preparing for higher-than-average foot traffic. Why not reach out to one about establishing a pop-up shop? Your retail host gets a sea of pretty flowers enhancing its visual merchandising, while you get brand exposure right before Valentine’s Day. For best practices on doing a pop-up shop, check out these articles below:
https://retailminded.com/pop-up-shop/
https://retailminded.com/merchandising-pop-up-shops/
https://www.chainstoreage.com/article/harnessing-power-pop-shops/
