What to know about the hottest pop-up retailing trend in China

Unlike in the US and UK, where pop-up stores are often on the street, pop-up stores in China are mostly set up in shopping malls due to strict regulations. For example, the regulations of the Shanghai Municipality on urban road transport clearly state that the government will not grant any applications from companies to operate a business in front of their stores or on either side of the road. Many cities have adopted similar practices, which leaves brands little choice but to set up their pop-up stores in shopping malls.

Nonetheless, these locations might actually give brands an edge. Shopping malls have a huge amount of foot traffic, attract the right demographics, and offer more convenient setups as amenities are already in place.

In addition, China’s has plenty of shopping malls—the number of large to medium-sized shopping malls in China surpassed 4,000 by the end of 2016, and the number is currently increasing at the rate of 600 to 700 new malls each year.

3. How to do it if you are not in China yet

There are all kinds of pop-up stores—some for sales, some for brand awareness, and some for gaining market insights.

For those who are interested in direct sales, China’s laws and regulations require brands to have a corporate presence in China in order to conduct sales directly. That means brands need to have a Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise or Foreign Invested Partnership Enterprise in China in order to have a pop-up store to sell products. Brands can also conduct sales through partners, such as distributors or agents.

However, for those brands who do not have the right to conduct sales in China, they can still set up a temporary store just for the sake of outreach to Chinese consumers by letting them experience products.

If brands can successfully entice consumers with their samples, they can direct consumers to place orders on their websites.

Having consumers take pictures and share location on WeChat Moments is a must.

On the one hand, consumers want to demonstrate online that they have been to cool places. On the other hand, by giving consumers incentives—gifting them or rewarding them complimentary services if they post pictures online—brands will gain more lasting attention.

Another way to increase exposure and gain traffic is by partnering with celebrities and KOLs. This has been practiced by local brands such as Suning Ecommerce Group and has achieved a great success.

5. Food is customers’ best friend

Many brands are engaging customers with food and beverages.

Bobbi Brown and Kenzo have opened pop-up stores that offer coffee. Chanel opened Coco Café in Shanghai to sell lip glosses in April 2017, but it also provided consumers complimentary coffee and dessert. A report carried out by BFG-blueview shows that food pop-up retailing is the best way for brands to make waves.

While skin-care, cosmetics, and fashion brands can use pop-up stores to expose more millennials to their products, combining the experience with food and drink will certainly help brands draw a larger crowd.