Pop-up shops for holiday marketing

'Tis the season for holiday pop-up shoppes opening around the UK. More than ever, brands and businesses see pop-ups as a good way to offer a limited-time, in-person experience controlled by the brand.

This allows the companies to try new products or new displays, learn more about customers' interests and preferences, understand response to pricing and test response to communication messages featuring the pop-up. Once the pop-up closes, marketers can analyse the results and make decisions about future products, pricing, promotion and distribution possibilities--made possible by limited spending on a limited-time retail space in a targeted geographic area.

For instance:

• Seedlip, which markets non-alcoholic drinks, is opening a Mayfair pop-up focused on its beverages as well as bar products.
• Amazon, the pioneering online retailer, is opening a London fashion shop for one week to experiment with bricks-and-mortar store marketing.
• Cards for Good Causes, a nonprofit, has a holiday pop-up inside a public library, selling greeting cards to benefit numerous charities.
• One of the more unusual pop-ups is in Manchester, where Classic Football Shirts sells, well, classic football shirts like an original #7 Beckham ManU shirt, amongst others.