The pop-up retail store is not a new concept, but it’s a powerful one. Over the past few years, we at The Practice have witnessed the boom in pop-up shops, restaurants, and show spaces peppering the London scene, and revolutionising the way businesses market their brand’s identity. So which have been successful in facilitating their brand image, and how have they changed the way we, as consumers, are marketed to?

Pop-up stores are a great direction for niche and large, international brands alike, to head in. They can help extend a company’s image, grow brand presence and awareness, and generate both online and offline buzz- and all at less cost than renting a permanent space. Smaller businesses can definitely benefit from jumping on the trend if they wish to grow their brand. Men’s fashion label, Pretty Green, for example, owned by Liam Gallagher, started life as a Carnaby Street pop-up, but has since become a chain following great success. For larger brands, pop-ups can also be used as showcase spaces or to create event buzz. For instance, when online luxury fashion retailer, Net-a-porter, wanted to enhance their innovative digital stance and celebrate Fashion’s Night Out, they set up pop-up spaces entitled “Window shops” in London and New York. The retailer created an app which users could download, before scanning the digital window displays in order to make purchases.

So are pop-up shops the next word in retail? Angela Wang, cofounder of pop-up marketplace, Republic Spaces, certainly thinks they offer the consumer a unique perspective. “The pop-up shop trend is the future of retail. It reflects a shift from the selling of goods and services to the value of experiences and transformations,” she argues. Indeed, pop up retail is about connecting with customers, as much as it is about driving sales. And in the current economic climate, brand advocacy has never been more useful for ensuring shoppers continue to spend. For instance, it’s evident that more and more companies are using pop up shops to test the water when it comes to reaching out to fans and generating sales. This summer, we’ve seen the launch of PopUp Britain, a scheme which aims to help high street start ups sell their products in several central London locations. Across eight retail spaces and over a 6-week period, the initiative hopes to allow new brands to promote their products- perfect for giving entrepreneurs a sense of their offline target audience.

But can pop-up stores offer real lasting value, or are they little more than PR stunts for brands to utilize to their advantage? Perhaps from a consumer perspective, some pop up retail spaces aren’t designed to bolster direct sales. For example, when John Lewis launched a QR code pop-up display back in 2011, their aim was to alert customers to the company’s online “click and collect” service. Uniqlo is another example of a retailer who used the pop-up store concept to create buzz rather than drive sales. Earlier this year, the clothing company set up a pop-up space entitled UT-LON on Dalston’s Kingsland Road, featuring art, music and selected clothing in attempts to connect with fans. As gimmicky as these may seem, this trend for reaching out to customers via temporary retail spaces seems to go beyond a mere publicity stunt- could pop-ups be the answer to the struggling high street? After all, earlier this month, a London Council report found there to be 7000 empty retail units on the capital’s streets alone, with a 9% decrease in consumer spending since the year 2000. If anything, we believe that the increase in pop-up stores whether for PR or sales can only have a positive effect on reinvigorating the high street, and surely, that in itself gives this trend long lasting value.

Which pop-up outlets have you particularly admired? And do you think they’ve been instrumental in adding an extra dimension to your city’s retail scene? We’d love to hear your comments, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your thoughts on our Facebook page too.