Hey, it’s Bob Negen. And thank you for watching this episode of Real Retail TV. Today, we’re going to talk about the opportunities that pop up shops and community events, places where you go to sell your merchandise– boat shows, RV shows, lawn and garden shows, events like that. We’re going to talk about the opportunities that present themselves, little known opportunities that most people don’t take advantage of. 

So there’s four opportunities that I want to share with you that I think can make the difference between your pop up shop being a huge success and a middling, mediocre opportunity. And so the first thing to think about when you think about your pop up shop his lifetime value of a customer. Recognize that a pop up shop is not just an opportunity to sell your merchandise. It’s an opportunity to get new customers and their corresponding lifetime value. 

As I’ve talked about several times before, we’re not looking at a transaction. We’re looking at the accumulated value of all of the transactions that come to a customer. We really want to focus on the lifetime value of a customer. And if you use these pop up shops, if you use these events as opportunities to get new customers, recognize that the value from that event goes on and on and on and on, years and years, through lifetime value. 

So the second question, the second opportunity, is how do I get that value? How do I ensure that I actually build a lifetime value from someone who I first meet at a pop up shop? And the answer is gift certificates. 

Let me tell you a story, we had a client who had a Quilt Shop, or a sewing center, actually. It was more than a Quilt Shop. It was a sewing center in Nashville, Tennessee. And she did a pop up shop in a quilt show. 

So this gymnasium was filled with quilters. Yeah, Sally was happy. So she had an opportunity to meet and sell to quilters. But Sally knew about gift certificate marketing. And here’s what she did. 

It cost $8 to get into the quilt show. Every single person who came into our booth, Sally looked at them and said, here. Let me buy your way into this show. And she gave them an $8 gift certificate to be used in her store. This is important. Not a $8 gift certificate to be used in her booth, an $8 gift certificate that was to be used in her store. 

Sally reported that 20% of the gift certificates that she gave away at this quilt show came back into her store. So what was happening? She was acquiring new customers and their lifetime value. 

So the third way, the third important thing to think about, is you want to collect names. So even if you give someone a gift certificate and they don’t use them, if they give you their name and email address, physical address, if you do text marketing, their telephone number, you want to be able to proactively build the relationship after they have left your pop up shop or your community event. 

And you do this by having a wonderful giveaway. There’s lots of things that you can do. But the better the prize, or the better the bribe, as we sometimes call it, the more likely it is that people are going to actually give you their email address. 

So find an offer– and the offer really depends on you and your industry. You might want to have a giveaway. You might give something away right away in exchange. But find a way to be very, very, very aggressive about building your list. 

Again, what are we trying to do? We’re trying to do more than just sell merchandise. We’re trying to build relationships so that we can get those people into our stores and proactively build their lifetime value. So that’s a third way– build your list. Get their email address. 

And the fourth way, the obvious way, is to sell when you’re at a pop up shop. And this is why most people do a pop up shop. And it makes sense. It’s another way. It’s another stream of revenue. 

Rather than you waiting for people to come into your store, you’re going out. And you are going to the customer. You’re finding groups of customers. And you’re going out to meet them. 

But here’s the secret sauce when it comes to running a pop up shop. Start with purpose. Understand what you’re trying to do when you sign up for a pop up shop. Some community event are really best used for clearing old merchandise. 

Well, that’s great. If that’s what this event is best suited for, bring your old merchandise. You don’t have to worry about putting together a really nice store. You just want to throw your racks in there, throw yourselves out there, and sell as much stuff as you can just to get rid of it. 

But if this pop up shop, if this event, really has your best customers wandering past, you want to make sure that you do a great first impression. You want to invest in signage. You want to be thoughtful about your merchandise mix. You don’t want to just put an untrained person on the floor, that you want to be thoughtful. You want to be thorough. And you want to put your absolute best foot forward. 

So these pop up shops, these community events, these places where people gather, are wonderful, wonderful opportunities for you to sell more stuff. Get more customers. Build your list. Build that lifetime value. But it’s just really important that you’re proactive and intentional. 

So I hope that you’ve found this helpful. I hope that the next pop up shop that you opened for your store is much more successful because of what you’ve learned here today. And if you haven’t subscribed to Real Retail TV, I would encourage you, go to iTunes. Subscribe. Make sure that you’re getting it every single week. 

And of course, I love your comments. I love your questions. Put them down below. And I’m Bob Negen. And we’ll see you next week.