The concept of ephemeral store or “pop-up store”, long devoted to the sales of products of appliances at a broken price takes the rank and interests now the big luxury marks and the e-commerce. Easy to assemble and thought of as an event, it is certainly a concept in tune with the times.

A hybrid marketing action

The phenomenon completes the customer experience with a hybrid action combining events, brand communication and a classic sales operation, it is found in Europe and North America.

Ephemeral stores create events whose temporary nature develops the interest of the public and the purchase craze. A real marketing campaign that boosts the visibility of the brand. On occasion, brands often associate with prestigious partners.

Between “brick and click”

This concept tends to gain more and more popularity because of the multiple benefits it represents for advertisers. Indeed, for a normal shop, the main obstacle is the rent. Thanks to the ephemeral shop, sellers can rent premises for a short time and exhibit their products. The online shops thus meet their customers in order to create a close relationship with consumers.

A tool to create a link with brand buyers

Pop-up stores started in the United States in 2000. Today they are often associated with advertising strategies.

The combination of experience marketing and pop-up stores is a very lucrative way to create a magical universe that touches and leaves a lasting memory to its target customers. In recent years, we saw this trend flourish with big names like Nike, Louis Vuitton and Sky … So ephemeral stores would bring 2.1 billion dollars to the economy every year: it seems that this is the beginning of a pop-up revolution.

Ephemeral stores are mainly known thanks to new technologies and especially through social networks. Indeed, consumers share their experience via some hashtags and different shares on social networks.

A phenomenon of the future

Obviously, the pop-up stores are in full expansion. They cleverly create a sense of surprise, originality and variety. This alternative form has the advantage of filling the gap of e-commerce, which is not to be able to touch the products, but also the lack of advice and originality in physical point of sale.

Pop-up stores give sellers the opportunity to have an alternative physical presence to traditional forms of shops, and creates a real dialogue between the brand and its audience in a friendly atmosphere.

There are more and more ephemeral shops in shopping malls or supermarkets. These adapt to markets and the commercial flexibility that “we think globally but act locally …” (Steve Job).

Here are some examples:

A success story from Quebec : Womance

Less present in Quebec, the concept of pop-up store tends to gain popularity because of the multiple benefits it represents for advertisers.

Womance brings together a website and a Pop Up store, so the company feeds the regions of Quebec with each month a new ephemeral shop.

Andréanne Marquis, the creator of Womance, tells us about it: “Often the main obstacle is the very high cost of renting a temporary shop in a rented place on a temporary basis to avoid this problem and build a close relationship with our consumers. Indeed, we go closer to our customers and it gives great results by creating a surprise, a buzz, an event but also being at the door of our target.

She proposes a new way for a trendy young fashion. Affordable, her collections decline a universe easy to live and makes its small details a refined daily. It deserves to be recognized beyond Quebec and its online store already allows this expansion. Here is an address to recommend.

Louis Vuitton and Supreme

Louis Vuitton in collaboration with New York’s Street Wear Supreme brand has put together a daring style mix of the two brands’ collections. This initiative draws audiences from both brands for a unique style and moment.

Adidas and Stan Smith

In combination with experiential marketing, this concept allows consumers to experience an exceptional customer experience by immersing themselves in the brand universe.

Daisy by Marc Jacobs

The use of Marc Jacobs’ tweet is a shining example of using all forms of social networking to create a complete immersion in a digital experience.

The principle was to exchange money for tweets. So consumers bought their Marc Jacobs products, not with traditional currency but through the hashtag #MjDaisyChain. In addition, visitors were encouraged to tweet images or videos of the “Marc Jacobs pop-up shop” (on Instagram or Vine), in exchange for which they were offered a ring or a manicure session.

This “pop-up store” campaign, which aimed to promote Marc Jacobs’ latest perfume “Daisy”, had a great media success, particularly with a strong presence on social networks. The strong virality of the latter allowed the designer to strike a big blow.

Kenzo, « No Fish No Nothing »

In order to promote his NoFishNoNothing foundation, which alerts public opinion on the current state of marine fishing, Kenzo has created “NoFishNoNothing ‘Digital Pop-up”.

This pop-up store consisted of a large digital aquarium where buyers could touch the screen, browse and buy products from the “No Fishing No Nothing” line.

Every purchase made online or every post on Instagram of the “Kenzo pop-up store” signed the hashtag NoFishNoNothing, added a new virtual fish in the aquarium. So you could see the aquarium populate thanks to the contribution of the Net surfers to the rescue of the marine world.

The merging of social networks, e-commerce and environmental concerns is an ingenious way for Kenzo to reach consumers and mark public opinion by creating buzz. For the consumer, this increases the quality of his customer experience and helps him to build a positive image of himself.