The Best-of Series: Tech Pop-Up Shops
Tech is all about the new and improved, the exciting and anticipated, the experience and innovation, and brick-and-mortar solutions have never been more futuristic. Time for a quick recap of 2018’s best Tech Pop-up Shops.
With major tech companies like Samsung entering the physical retail technology game, we are beginning to see why brands ‘old school’ or ‘new school’ alike should be opening a pop-up. By offering real-time analytics, Samsung is bedazzling the classic shopping experience. Pop-up shops themselves will have data on customer traffic in real-time, and other data comparable to that of an online retailer.
This just proves that the pop-up shop realm just keeps getting more ‘techy’, and so many big names went brick-and-mortar this year. So which tech tycoons already dabbled in the fleeting excitement and customer experience of a pop-up shop in 2018? Let’s take a look at the list!
American multinational technology company that specializes in Internet-related services and products
Goal: Brand Awareness and Consumer engagement
Where: Birmingham and Manchester, UK
When: 2018
Having seen success with their competitive marketing strategy campaigning its way across the USA in 2017, Google has recycled their unique travelling pop-up experience in the UK for 2018. The Google Home Mini Donut Shop travels promoting the new Google Home Mini – conveniently the size of a donut. Decorating their temporary shop front as a high tech 50’s style donut shop, with bright pinks and yellows, and real life donuts to boot! Customers have been lining up to have a try at ordering a donut and receiving the Google Home Mini in their box in its place. Upon entering the pop-up shop, customers ring a bell and test out the device by asking the Home Mini a question, then you simply take your box. It will contain either a sprinkled donut OR a new Google Home Mini, making for an eccentric and quirky experience for the whole family.
American online social media and social networking service company
Goal: Supporting small businesses, PR
Where: Macy’s Department Stores NYC, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, USA
When: Winter 2018
Capitalizing on the their own branding and consumer awareness, Facebook did their civic duty to the small-business world by offering thriving small businesses who base their sales on the social media tycoon’s news feed, a physical pop-up shop space inside Macy’s Department Stores across the country. At no expense to the small business, Facebook fronted the cost of the space to Macy’s, allowing businesses to maintain 100% revenue. Facebook even assisted in the pop-up shop formatting and setup providing a familiar frame display for products – that of the newsfeed square, featuring their signature ‘like’ and ‘comment’ buttons. While walking by, despite the products being created and owned by up-and-coming brands, Facebook’s branding is hard to miss.
Sony
Japanese multinational technology conglomerate corporation
Goal: User experience and Sales
Where: New York City, USA
When: 2018
Sony’s Lost in Music NYC pop-up shop focuses on music and sound, with their new immersive NYC tech- experience based location. By night, they are offering weekly showcases from Sony’s top performing artists, celebrity interviews, and the latest in Sony technology and music. By day, enjoy one of the most techy musical experiences on the scene, by stepping inside the making of a track, created from your own movement, interactions and heartbeat. This experience coined ‘Me Mix’ draws attention from the street, filling the air with an amazing audio-visual experience. Open from 12pm-10pm they’re also offering the Sony ‘360 Reality Audio’ providing visitors with the experience of being immersed in sound from all directions. This is a must-go experiential pop-up, reinstating our faith in Sony’s background of creating cutting edge technology (you DO remember the walkman, right?).
Amazon
Multinational technology company focusing in e-commerce, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence
Goal: Sales and User experience and engagement
Location: Nationwide, USA
When: 2018
After Amazon, the grandfather and mogul of online retail, has made a bold move by acquiring Whole Foods in 2017, it continued to expand its footprint in brick-and-mortar retail in 2018. Aside from rolling out its “Amazon Go”- concept , Amazon opened brick-and-mortar pop-up shop locations all across America. Recognizing their lack of immediate customer support (a vital consumer offering when selling technology) and product experts, and having launched their own home-assistant devices (Alexa) in recent years, there has been a demand for some ‘in-store TLC’. Showcasing Smart Home products in action, providing Amazon consultants to help consumers understand Alexa products and other Amazon services such as Prime, Kindle, and Prime Video, and providing ‘take-home’ products with no delivery wait, Amazon has single handedly managed to cover all of the retail basis now!
Bumble
Women-centric location-based social and dating application
Goal: User experience and engagement, App sign ups
Location: Los Angeles, USA
When: Spring 2018
The Bumble Hive is a great pop-up concept with no immediate sales goals in place, but is simply holding strong to their brand value statements, of women-centric empowerment in the dating-app industry. This pop-up serves the immediate purpose of providing women a space to relax, connect, and interact with entrepreneurs and influencers. By offering drinks, snack and entertainment, this brand has managed to use their platform for social efforts in supporting comfortable and accessible spaces for networking opportunities, and providing attendees with exclusive access to brands and products loved by Bumble. So what’s the secret password? Your entrance fee is simply to show your Bumble profile at the door and voila! You’re in.
Visa
American multinational financial services corporation
Goal: User experience and engagement
Location: Washington DC, USA
When: July 2018
Enter the Visa simulation of ‘A Day In the Life of Kate’ and follow a busy mom-on-the-go around as she navigates the tech driven world with the ‘hands full’ mindset many hard-working American parent’s find themselves in on a daily basis. Visa has managed to showcase their new contactless payment technology using a pop-up shop disguised as a real-life situation simulation, engaging customers and providing a unique, futuristic and relatable experience. Visitors experience the ease that contactless payments brings to ‘Kate’s’ life, and get a sneak peek into the future of card payments from the cafe where ‘Kate’ can skip the line and tap her phone to leave with her purchased cookie, or rush through the turnstile without having to purchase a ticket using her watch to pay the subway fee.