Shopper Discounts and Rewards: the rise of show-rooming
Thanks to a new partnership coming out of the StartUp Britain campaign, new online traders will have the chance to ‘show-room’ their goods via a pop up concept which went live last month.
‘PopUp Britain’
Last month, ‘PopUp Britain’ offered a number of two week slots to a variety of specially selected start-up and micro businesses. The programme is planned to run for approximately two years with the aim of allowing retailers the chance to test out their own premises. Many believe that such a campaign is an ideal solution to the number of empty stores found on the UK high street.
StartUp Britain co-founder Emma Jones says:
“Around 60 per cent of new businesses are now started at home, often by one person. They need to meet their customers, find out what people think about their products face-to-face and work with fellow entrepreneurs to get a physical feel for the retail landscape. They need to effectively ‘show-room’ their own online brand in order to take it to the next level.”
boosting empty high streets
PopUp Britain last month filled a former electronics store on the famous Kings Road, where it will be for 12 months. The store has the capacity to house up to 12 start ups at any given time. Each business that participates will contribute to the running costs – at about £200 per business. Jones adds:
“As more big brands exit the high street, it’s becoming clear that they are not going to come back. We want to use these empty shops to give local businesses a boost, as well as offering the British shopper a new experience and a chance to support the British economy.”
Mark Little, UK Managing Director of PopUp Britain sponsor Intuit added:
“PopUp Britain has clearly found a model for regenerating the high street that benefits landlords, retailers and customers alike and it is great to see the project going from strength to strength. We’re proud to have been supporting pop-up retailers from the start of the project by providing a low cost way for them to take card payments.”
“We all know the High Street is struggling, from the competition of out of town and online shopping, with record numbers of empty shops. The PopUp Britain concept is an excellent project, not only in getting rid of the unsightly hoardings, but most importantly giving an opportunity to small entrepreneurial businesses to experience working on the high street. In the past these small businesses would have been precluded by the onerous terms of the landlord and tenants act.”
Have you heard of or even gone to visit the PopUp experience? Let the Shopper Discounts and Rewards team know.
Sources:
PopUp Britain’s Website
Internet Retailing: PopUp Shop on London’s Kings Road
