POP-UP STORES : The importance of physical presence in an Omni-channel world

Abstract

E-commerce has made the retail environment very competitive. Customer have abundant information, near price transparency and endless special deals. Retailers that sell books, electronics and entertainment have suffered the most in the hands Amazon and other online retailers. Even though online shopping is increasing, the importance of physical presence is also increasing. As a result, the trend in the retail market is being an Omni-channel retailer. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if retailer in Finland can use the pop-up store format, to have a physical presence in a way that creates value in a cost effective way. Two interviews were conducted with companies that are using the pop-up store format to create brand awareness and increase sales through multiple channel. One of the interviewees were the manager of Ivana Helsinki and the other was the manager of Voglia’s pop-up store in Itäkeskus. This thesis showed that pop-up stores will help Finn-ish retailers integrate their online and physical store in a way that creates value in a cost effective way. It would be interesting to further study about pop-up stores by interviews more retailers from different retail segments and adding the perspective of the costumer.