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Shopping! Shopping! Shopping! As a boutique owner I do a lot of shopping. I buy props for photoshoots, packaging, items to store and hold merchandise, and software to name a few but my favorite thing to shop for is new clothes and shoes for all of you to buy! Over the last year I have learned a lot about how to shop, but recently I got a crash course in how to shop for a pop-up event. Since The Casual Auntie is a fully online boutique, researching and finding ways to participate in brick and motor style shopping events has been tricky. I want to share with you guys the 10 things I learned doing my first ever pop up shop!
#1. Schedule them at least a 1-2 weeks out for advertising
Scheduling and advertising are huge! I did this pop-up shop with 48 hrs. notice and would defiantly recommend allowing yourself at least 1-2 weeks so you can prepare advertising, props, space, and any giveaways or goodies you may want to do. How will people know you are doing a pop-up shop if you don’t put the word out? The more time you have to share on stories and posts, the more people you reach! I would also recommend speaking to people that you have work your event about going live on their socials for you as well. Taylor (the owner of Argenta Nutrition) and her staff did this and it really helped me with reach and turn out.
#2. Partner with a local small business you love and trust
I am lucky enough to live in Arkansas and be blessed with so many local small business owners. It is important to choose a business that exemplifies the level of service, quality of products and atmosphere not only you yourself want to support but also one that your clients will enjoy and want to support too. There is a Nutrition Shop I go to everyday at lunch with one of my friends. The vibe, the people, the service and their message are so uplifting. From the music to Friends on the Tv (who doesn’t Love Friends) to the window seats you can curl up in and people watch while you enjoy a nutritious shake it feels like you are spending time with your own friends or family. This is why I chose ARGENTA NUTRITION in North Little Rock. I love that they understand and cater to various stages of life that people might be going through. Taylor, the owner, helped me put the word out to other locations and had their customers come shop and sip. It was such a great turn out!
#3. Have grab bags! everyone loves packaged deals!
One thing I quickly learned was grab bags! As women it can be over whelming to see all of the merchandise at once and try to imagine how to pair things together. I cute paper bags and tissue paper to make them more fun and festive. I took one item in each size to create the perfect casual outfit and placed them in the window to draw attention. I charged a discounted price for each bag based on the number of items it contained. This helped merchandise fly out the door and make some very happy customers!
#4. Have a setup in mind (tables, table cloths, racks)
Setup is the 2nd most important thing to consider after the event is scheduled. You want to make sure you know an understand the space you have to work in. Will you need clothing racks or need to provide your own tables? Will you need to bring signage to place outside and mark merchandise with? All of these things need to be thought about. Just because you are holding a pop-up shop doesn’t mean you need to look unprofessional and like a Saturday morning side of the road flea market. Looking back, I would defiantly purchase table clothes to help hide the bags I had under the table for checkout as well as any backstock. I found these on Amazon and will have them present at the next pop-up shop. I would recommend having some sort of clothing rack on wheels to move around easily. I bought this one at Walmart and it worked perfectly !
#5. Have payment options listed !
How do you want to get paid? These days Cashapp, PayPal, Venmo and Apple Pay are widely used because of their convenience. There are however still people who will prefer to use a card to pay so having a card option is important. I learned this lesson the hard way and unfortunately lost out on a few sales because I did not have a card option available. I have since purchased a square reader and would recommend it for any pop-up style events you may be hosting. I also Learned having the payment option listed with QR codes visible makes for easy scanning and checkout. I ordered this one off Amazon for my next pop-up but if you wanted to go a cheaper route you could always purchase cute picture frames and print out the QR code at home, and place them in the frames.
I loved participating in my first pop-up AKA Shop and Sip and was so grateful to ARGENTA NUTRITION for allowing me to work with them on this event. One goal I have The Casual Auntie is open a brick and mortar store front and I hope holding pop-up shops sharing all of the AMAZING items we have will help me get there! I am sure as I continue to do more events and fairs I will learn more but these were my biggest takeaways from my participating in my first.