CHICAGO - Dec. 4, 2017 - PRLog -- Black Friday weekend got off to a slow start, and the 5 a.m. lines going around the block may be a thing of the past. However, the lack of Friday frenzy does not mean retailers will see a weak holiday season. Ecommerce sales saw record levels on Friday, according to Adobe Digital Insights. Stephen Brooks, The Pop-up Retail Expert, says that retailers and commercial landlords are beginning to innovate with smaller format stores and pop-ups.
"Shoppers are becoming bored with going into shopping malls and seeing the same stores in the same locations," said Brooks. "Pop-up electrifies the consumer's need for excitement and diversity, and brings some community spirit back to the mall. Malls need diversity in retail, and pop-up can be a part of that."
The rise of online retail has delivered fundamental and permanent shifts in consumer spending. "But that's the best thing that's ever happened to retail," said Brooks. "Because it's made people pull up their socks and realize we've not been meeting the needs of the consumer." According to Brooks, brick-and-mortar retailers have not been keeping pace with the needs of millennial consumers, "But pop-up does that. It can be very niche and very exciting."
Brooks notes that while many pop-up retail outlets are independent, entrepreneurial ventures, larger retailers are beginning to join the pop-up craze as well, using it as a proving ground before committing to a new product line or region, or even using it as a way of successfully selling excess inventory. Larger retailers such as Nike have already successfully embraced the concept, most notably with Adidas' "shoebox" popups, part of the shoe retailer's strategy of moving away from permanent mall locations.
The new Amazon pop-up stores which will roll out at selected Whole Foods locations throughout the holidays also highlight a trend of larger retailers expanding into multiple formats. Amazon and online retail is not taking over the industry, so much as it is bringing about a much-needed shift in focus and format.
Commercial landlords are also seeing the handwriting on the wall, with some of the largest mall landlords such as Simon Property Group opening up new concepts which rotate retailers on short-term contracts, rather than maintaining a singular focus on bringing in big-box and large-format "anchor" retailers.
The success of "Small Business Saturday," which inspires consumers to shop at smaller, local shops, also made an impressive showing this year. Last year's National Federation of American Business results showed that 61 percent of consumers were aware of Small Business Saturday, and 82 percent of those planned to shop at smaller, independent retailers on that day, and such grassroots efforts have proven very successful in the development and operation of independent pop-up shops.
Stephen Brooks is available for interviews and consultation. For more information, please visit http://www.thepopupexpert.com.
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