My name is Rebecca Waldron. I am a CEO and product development specialist. I love converting your business ideas into products that sell so you can live the entrepreneur life you love.
Making money at a pop-up shop can be a little tricky, but is a great way to drive sales and increase brand awareness. Today I’m sharing the tips I’ve learned over the last couple of years that help me make more money at these pop-up markets.
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Pop-up shops or pop-up markets can mean different things to different people, so let’s clarify. I am talking about the type of pop-up market where a bunch of brands come together, everyone has a booth, sets up their display, and sells their products directly to the customer. This is different than a tradeshow where you would sell your products to retail stores. Pop-up shops are a way to sell direct-to-consumer.
Read More: Should I Sell Direct to Consumer or Wholesale?
These events take place at several different types of locations. Sometimes they happen at farmer’s markets or swap meets, schools, parking lots outside of shopping malls, parks, coffee shops, or even at people’s houses. Those are some of the different places where I’ve done pop-ups.
There are most likely companies in your area that host these events. I follow several of them on Instagram and sign up for their emails to stay up to date. You’ll pay these companies a fee so your brand can have a booth at their pop-up event.
I’m in Southern California and some of the groups that I use here in Orange County are:
I just recently did Mermade Market for the first time. That one was good. Some of my most successful pop-up markets have been at schools. My son’s elementary school and the local high school. These are usually organized by the schools themselves.
One thing that I’ve noticed about pop-up shops is that you’ll see a lot of the same brands doing them. Once you’ve done a few, you start to notice the same people showing up and they kind of become your friends. I’ve learned that a lot of people do just pop-up shops for a living. They might have an online store, but pop-ups are their main source of sales. I’ve talked to a few that do 3 to 4 a week. That sounds overwhelming to me because it’s a lot of work and physical labor, but people do really well with it.
In fact, there’s one brand called Cactus Jane Emporium (she’s very nice and I always want to buy all her products, but I try to refrain because I have to make money instead of spend money at these markets) that I noticed recently opened up her own brick-and-mortar store. I thought how cool it is that she used pop-ups to grow her brand until she was ready for a brick-and-mortar store.
So I know a lot of people find success with these events. They can be a great way to grow your brand, increase awareness, and get potential customers into your sales funnel so that they can learn more about you and your products.
My first tip to make money at a pop-up shop is to try several to see what fits your brand. I have made a lot of money at some pop-up markets and then I will go to a new one thinking, “This is going to be a huge success!” and I walk away with only $200 profit. When it’s your first time at a market you don’t know if it’s going to be a good fit for your brand. It varies depending on if it’s where your target market shops, if it’s near a certain holiday, or if the event was well marketed by the host and other brands. It’s just trial and error.
If you try out a market and it goes well, it will probably be a good one for you in the future.
But some pop-ups are a flop of and you can’t beat yourself up over that. It feels a little bit like rejection sometimes when you do a pop-up shop and it’s not your target market and people just keep walking on past your booth. That’s happened to me before, and it felt like high school. Like, “Can I sit with you? Can I be your friend?”
But, you just know that that’s not your people and you move on to the next one. I’ve had great success at other markets, so I can usually remind myself, “It’s not you. It’s not your brand. It’s not your designs. It’s just not a good fit for you.”
My second tip is related and it is networking with the other vendors around you. Start chatting with them and become friends with them. Tell them what’s been working for you, what markets haven’t been working for you. Exchange information about that because some of these people are very seasoned. They know which pop-up shops have the best returns and which ones might be a good fit for your brand. It’s great to have those mutually beneficial relationships where you can share tips with each other.
This can save you a lot of money too. If other vendors tell you to stay away from a certain market because nobody sold anything there. For example, maybe they didn’t market the event well so nobody showed up, etc.
Additionally, when you’re friends with vendors, you can recommend each other to customers. If you make a sale to someone and you see that they wear jewelry, you could say, “Oh, I like your ring! Did you see this booth over here? They do permanent jewelry.” You can help lift each other up in that way.
My third tip and one that I have learned the hard way is to not overspend on your booth display. It can be hard to not buy all the things that you know will make your booth beautiful. And a little bit of that is good, but my advice is to build up your booth display over time. As these markets become successful for you, take some of the profit from one market to buy a piece of display furniture for the next market, etc. I have personally made the mistake of thinking, “I need to buy this ahead of time,” but then I don’t sell enough at that market to pay back the supplies that I purchased. I once bought an expensive 10 x 10 canopy that I only used once or twice. So, be aware of how much you’re spending on your booth.
Along with that, consider how much you’re being charged to be a vendor at these pop-up shops. Compare the registration fee to your average pop-up revenue to ensure it’s going to be worth it for you to be at that market.
I recently did one pop-up shop that was pretty expensive, but I had talked to other brands that said they had sold a lot there. These brands had similar target markets to mine, so I felt confident making the plunge and it paid off. So consider your display fees and registration fees to make sure that it’s worth it.
As we all know, time is money. Your time, effort, and energy really add up when you’re doing these pop-up markets. I basically disassemble my office here and I throw it all in my minivan. There is a very strategic, Tetris-style organization where I know that everything’s going to be able to fit. I have learned from experience what things I need to bring and what things I actually never use and just waste my time and energy packing. Now I don’t bring my whole product line like I used to, but I’ve learned what things sell. Sometimes I’ll bring one or two of my bigger items, but most of my pop-up sales are the more affordable items in my assortment.
My number one seller online is a bigger diaper bag. I have found that when people buy diaper bags, they’ve usually been doing a lot of research and they put it on their baby registry. It’s not as common to buy one on the spur of the moment. My more affordable smaller bags and straps are more spur-of-moment buys which I sell more of in person. Those are most of what I bring with me.
I used to bring two big shelves with me and now I just bring one. I’ve figured out how to display all the things I need on that one shelf which saves me so much time and my back thanks me.
So here’s a list of the things I’ve learned that you need to bring with you when you’re doing a pop-up.
You will want a wagon. Like one of those little wagons that people take their kids to Disneyland or the beach in. It folds up. Get one on Facebook Marketplace or Offerup. You will want that because where you park is not necessarily always close to where your booth is and you’re going to make multiple trips. The wagon saves you.
Whatever you need to display your product nicely. Usually, you’ll bring your own table and tablecloth. Your event host will tell you what they provide for you. Many people bring shelves that can fold down to fit in their cars. I have an IKEA shelf that just barely fits into my minivan without being disassembled.
Mine is a photo of my products being used. It expresses the lifestyle that fits my brand and it has my logo on it. Some people just have big signs with their brand name on it.
I bring lots of business cards and also the inserts I put in my shipping boxes that tell a little bit about my brand. This way if people decide they don’t want to buy that day, they can take those items with them. Hopefully, they’ll follow you on social to stay up on your brand and get in that funnel to learn more about your products.
I have a couple of succulents, some little metal decorations, and some coral. Just some fun decorative items that fit my brand and make my booth inviting.
I use Shopify POS, which stands for Point of Sale. It links directly to my Shopify account and my inventory. So whenever I sell an item, it automatically deducts it from my inventory.
Many customers choose to pay with Venmo.
Bring some sort of cash box with change because people do still pay with cash. Not many people, but some do and how sad would it be to not get a sale because you didn’t have change?
I have noticed a lot of people using Zelle lately. I haven’t yet set up a Zelle, but have heard that they have lower (or possibly no) service fees like credit cards and Venmo do.
I have a little external battery and a cord to connect my phone to it if it dies.
If you’re running your booth by yourself, you probably won’t want to walk away from all your merchandise to go stand in line and get some food.
I just buy simple kraft shopping bags. It’s cute to have bags with your logo on it too. If you have that money to spend then go for it, but plain shopping bags are fine.
I have forgotten a chair before. It’s never fun to stand for five or six hours straight.
If you’re facing the sun, it’s the worst. So it brings some kind of sun protection, like a hat or sunglasses and sunscreen. That’s just the mother in me reminding you all to take care of yourselves so that you don’t have a miserable experience out there.
Some people just have a knack for sales. I am not one of those people, but I have found after doing many of these events that you get better at it. My technique now is just to be friendly and try to make conversation with people. Ask them about themselves, like what they’re doing that day. Then I spend time sharing information about my products.
For example, some people are initially confused about what the straps are for. So when people are walking by my booth looking at my straps, I’ll say, “These are straps for any bag! You can hook them on any bag. As long as your bag has these loops, you can clip them on.” And people are like, “Oh, that’s so interesting!” Sometimes people think they’re guitar straps or dog leashes. So just be informative about what your product does or what it’s made out of etc.
I’ve learned from experience what kind of questions people have and what type of conversation to make. The more you practice your sales techniques, the better you’ll get at it. Just be friendly and share information about your products.
Dress in a style that fits your brand to show who the target customer is. And that inspires people to understand your brand a little bit more and to buy.
Also, If your products are wearable or usable at that moment, use them. I always wear one of my bags and straps to show people how you can wear it and that you can transform it from cross-body into a fanny pack or wear it across your chest.
And my last point is to lift others up around you. It’s hard work out there at a pop-up shop. Encourage those around you. Help others to make sales. Share the information. I think that will come back to you. If you help others, others will help you and people will be wanting to support your brand.
I hope this information really helps you and that you find success doing pop-up shops. Please leave a comment or question if there’s something I left out that might help you.
If you enjoyed this episode then you’ll love the Free Product Launch Guide that goes into more detail about the process of launching and scaling a product-based business.
Should I Sell Direct to Consumer or Wholesale?
Pop-Up Event Companies in Orange County:
My Bag Company Bodomint
My name is Rebecca Waldron. I am a CEO and product development specialist. I love converting your business ideas into products that sell so you can live the entrepreneur life you love.