From selling gear they love to wear to finding a cause they support; it has never been easier to build a store focused on what matters most to you. Let’s talk about your goals for your next pop-up shop today!
What is a pop-up shop and why should I consider using one?
Maybe you have found yourself in this position before, or maybe with the rise of work from home and all things digital, you’ve started wondering – could my company benefit from having a personalized webstore, and how would I go about launching one? Well, allow us to explain what a pop-up shop is, the purpose they serve, and how we can help you get the store off the ground and running in no time!
Let’s start with the basics: Pop-up shops are custom online stores. You can choose a selection of branded products that you can gift or sell to your employees, your clients, fans or followers. Gone are the days of compiling orders using spreadsheets, trying to gather sizes for apparel items, and guessing at accurate ship-to addresses. The site does the work for you, in a secure environment. Orders can be placed from your desktop, mobile device, or tablet.
Getting Started
First, it is important to ask yourself what you are looking to accomplish. Think through all your goals for this pop-up shop. Doing so will help determine if you’re really looking for a pop-up shop or a company store. They are very similar, but each has distinct differences!
Questions to consider:
- Is this for an event?
- Is there a firm in-hands date?
- Who is the purchaser? Is the purchaser also the end-user?
- What is the projected or goal sale amount?
- Will you or your client handle distribution?
- Do you want to offer multiple gift options?
- Thinking about a fundraiser? Have a cause-driven event to earn money for a local charity?
Pop-Up Shop vs Company Store
The biggest and simplest distinction between a pop-up shop and a company store is time. Pop-Up shops offer options to employees for a limited time, say for example, an upcoming team event. We publish the link to the store and the team members have a limited start and end date to place orders on the site – which allows you to gather sizes and place a bulk order for the branded merchandise. A pop-up can be also used for company fundraising events and allows donations to be made. The alternative is a Company store. Company stores offer an ongoing solution, allowing inventoried stock merchandise or supplier minimums to be ordered upfront, and then drop ship immediately and directly to the requestor upon an order being placed through the company webstore.
Below is a detailed view of what is included in pop-up shops vs. company stores.
| Features | Pop-Up Shops | Company Stores |
| Customizable Store Designs | X | X |
| Store Security | X | X |
| Custom Checkout | X | X |
| Order Collection | X | X |
| Order Management | X | X |
| Reporting | X | X |
| Donations sites | X | |
| Temporary stores | X | |
| TaxJar Integration | X | X |
| Payflow Pro integration | X | X |
| Advanced store design tool | X | |
| Custom emails | X | |
| Custom payment methods | X | |
| Inventory management | X | |
| Product catalog | X | |
| Product categories | X | |
| Pricing and product groups | X | |
| Supplier Management | X | |
| Customer management | X | |
| Points Program | X |
The Logistics of Creating a pop-up shop
Now that you’ve determined which is best for you, a pop-up shop or a company store, GACO Sourcing can help you set either of them up very quickly. With a dedicated pop-up shop expert, we work side by side to make sure your pop-up shop/company store looks like an extension of your website, matching images and to follow company branding.
Our sales team will work with you to find the perfect items, make sure it is ready to launch on time and on budget.
