Of the $75 billion in New Zealand retail sales last year, only $6-$7 billion was spent online, according to the BNZ Online Retail Sales Report. Many focus on the disruption of online shopping in the retail space but the statistics do not match the concern. What is most important is customer focus.
ShopFloor is New Zealand's new hub for pop up retail space allowing designers and retailers to get closer to consumers and be in control of their brand message. Offering meaningful interactions with customers, ShopFloor helps brands tell a story with its beautiful spaces and innovative creative services. Here to support New Zealand retail, ShopFloor makes it easier to set up shop and increases the ability to use short term space through ongoing support. It’s an inspiring project led by Alex Leece who sees a need to connect brands, artists and designers with supportive spaces that reflect the mood of their designs.
“Rental prices are rising steadily whilst online accessibility means people are shopping differently, causing businesses to need to adjust models to meet new expectations of dynamism, immediacy and personal engaging experiences,” said Leece.
ShopFloor perceives that the trend for pop up stores is due to three factors. Firstly, there is a ‘personal selling revolution’ where online tools and social media make it easier than ever to start an online business to gain brand momentum before moving offline. As a new retail channel a pop up can then build brand equity into a space while sharing the offset rent costs to make further exposure and customer footprints achievable.
The notion of retail as an experience is also driving the trend for pop ups. Brands need to differentiate their offering to engage the growing needs of consumers and offline is still the preferred channel to make a personal connection. With a pop up, brands can test and learn new retail concepts whilst building a customer database. If working with ShopFloor, part time retailers can also utilise the company’s retail expertise and advertising services.
There are around 30,559 people working in creative industries in New Zealand and in 2011 creatives, including fashion designers, contributed $3.6 billion to the local economy. The combination of the local economy, sharing economy and on demand economy is the third driver of pop up store popularity. By renting shared pop up spaces to a number of creatives, local makers are able to connect and join forces. This is the sharing economy enabled by a shared space. The on demand economy is driven by consumers who expect everything to be accessible immediately, a pop up store can help designers and online stores meet this heightened demand.
Real estate agents also gain from pop ups as they can generate revenue in between major tenants or offer it as a supplementary service to clients. ShopFloor sees pop up stores as a growing area of opportunity for a range of businesses and with its expertise in branding, ShopFloor are inspiring the pop up revolution in New Zealand.
THE CHANGING SPACE OF RETAIL
