Pop-Ups are lively, short-term retail areas that “pop up” here and there to introduce your concept, retail venture, or promote holiday products or a new product launch. They’re fun, colorful, and dramatic ways to bolster word-of-mouth while offering a taste of everything tea-ish you sell. At TeaSmart, we love checklists, so here’s our Pop Up Checklist:

WHY STAGE A POP-UP?

Accent holiday or occasion shopping (Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Christmas, etc.)

Product Testing or Launch

Test the idea of a retail business

Grow your client base via the exposure at a local event

WHAT’S YOUR BUDGET?

List every single thing you need to pay for, from staff to set up to cleaning crew. Write it ALL down.

WHERE TO POP-UP?

Location is EVERYTHING: an established store or restaurant or pop-up in a public arena; seasonal or regular events, farmers’ markets, or other gatherings where you could engage with an audience; inside a mall or pedestrian area zoned for pop ups are all possibilities depending on your space requirements.

ELIMINATE SURPRISES

Check traffic, street closures, or construction around your selected venue during the time you’d like to stage your pop-up.

The Nitty Gritty Stuff for SPACE RENTAL:

Check the contract for what is included in the rent and what is extra: security personnel, insurance, permits, zoning requirements, licenses, codas to leases. Is the space furnished or empty of fixtures, furniture, lights, and decorations; kitchen or counter space for demonstrations or preparation; dishwasher or sink for cleanup, refrigeration for perishables; garbage cans or bags. (Note where pickup containers are and if you can use them or take garbage with you.) Is there Wi-Fi? Utilities for video equipment or for appliances like electric kettles?

DESIGN FOR EXPERIENCE!

Who will design your pop-up? Professionals, you, or local artists? Student interior designers, architects or marketing enthusiasts can bring a lot of imagination and innovation to the table for a theme or story to tell about your product. Hire the best.

GIVE ‘N TAKE

GIVE SWAG! Who doesn’t love free stuff? Whether it’s a tasting cup or a teabag, make sure the items have your web site address on it. If there’s room, add email, twitter or IG handles. Got a tight budget? Design a fun sticker with pop up info on it.

Will you offer an educational component for visitors? Will that need videos, demonstration space, the opportunity for hands-on use by the visitors? Can you hire a known actor or chef who loves tea to introduce a new product? Will music, art, tastings, new ways to order/pay draw folks in?

TAKE names! Have a guestbook or interactive software available to capture emails, Instagram or twitter handles. Offer exclusive discounts for the information for a LIMITED time to create a sense of urgency for followup sales.

PROMOTE. PROMOTE. PROMOTE.

Give out colorful stickers promoting the event with just enough info to spur curiosity.

Pass out descriptive literature about your business, including any new products, and include ordering info. Make it colorful, exciting, READABLE.

Promote for several days to several weeks prior to the pop-up event, depending on your existing social media followers.

Create a hashtag exclusive to this pop up. Inform everyone: influencers and bloggers, social media, web site optimizers, in-store posters.

Consider a pre-event launch for influencers, bloggers, and press.

Promote DURING SET UP. Folks love to see how a “blank page” turns into a pop-up.

Promote DURING the event, especially be asking customers permission to use photos of them in your social media. Make them stars for the day! Brag about your results! If appropriate, mention when the next pop up will occur to sustain interest.

SET UP EARLY

Arrange for your pop up to be delivered in plenty of time for set up. Or, deliver it yourself by arranging for the right vehicle. Hire the best people to set up (and break down at the end of the pop up session.) Inform the venue coordinator or landlord of your schedule, especially if you need keys or opening accommodation.

TEST TEST TEST

Dress rehearsals WORK. Check everything that requires an electrical outlet from music to lights to appliances. Check Wi-Fi for video or power-point presentations, online ordering or website interactions. Check for space requirements, especially for large items. DO NOT ASSUME.

HAVE an IT person on site or a phone call away for emergencies or last minute needs.

Know in advance how to take credit card orders without Wi-Fi.

PLAN for the What Ifs and “Where’s the Bathroom?”

Decide in advance how to handle visitors with pets; help anyone who gets ill or injured, and how and when to connect with security.

Does your city require limiting visitors for social distancing? Require mask wearing? If so, post signage with clear content about these two requests prominently on a sandwich sign at the entryway.

Kiosk-style pop-ups don’t provide restrooms, so post signage of where the nearest restrooms are. (Saves a lot of questions to staff!)

STAFF WISELY:

You need people who understand your products, know how to use any necessary equipment (rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!) and who love engaging with complete strangers. (Actors are great at this!)

Establish schedules with allowances for food and rest breaks with the understanding that the flow may ebb and flow mightily. Make restroom facilities available for staff with local venues.

SELL EASILY:

Your POS tools must be portable, professional, and current. Update as appropriate to use with phones or tablets.

Be prepared to take and scan tickets if you’re part of an event; to use credit and ATM cards, ship or deliver, and (gulp!) handle cash, or offer alternatives.

CLEAN UP!

Leave the area cleaner than when you arrived. Seriously. Ask your venue coordinator or your landlord whether you need to hire a cleaning crew. Pack up, take down, move or remove everything from the pop-up. Have a vehicle available to take to a pre-arranged storage place if these are reusable, or recycle or dispose of them responsibly. Lock up and return keys, as appropriate.

SAY THANK YOU

Thank your venue host, your landlord, or the city rep who hosted you. Thank your customers by contacting everyone who gave you contact information and remind them to take advantage of the limited discount.

HOW DID YOU DO?

Did sales meet expectations? What sold? What didn’t?

Were there requests for things you didn’t offer?

How many hits on your various social media did you receive?

How many email addresses or media followers signed up?

PLAN FOR THE NEXT ONE!

What did you learn? What would you change, eliminate, add? What have customers said? What do staff think?