As we head into 2022, the Pop-Up industry has certainly experienced changes in the last year and like many other areas of the business has evolved to adapt to the new retail environment. It has been inspiring to see many new opportunities arise for small businesses as they adapt and the emergence of many new start-ups proving that Pop-Up is most definitely alive and well and even more relevant than ever.
Stockland’s ability to be agile in this new environment, providing businesses with nimble, experience-led, customer-centric brand presence in a flexible setting, saw the emergence of more bespoke, localised partnerships. With the ability to tailor them to be as local or as national as you desire, these integrated experiences and activations resulted in engaging business partnerships that resonated more with consumers.
While we have seen significant growth in online shopping due to the pandemic, bricks and mortar remains equally important as restrictions ease. The area where we are seeing opportunities and exciting new potential is in blending these two spheres together, creating curated, customer-centric experiences to facilitate the evolution of small businesses to take that next step.
The flexibility and versatility that Pop-Up offers has been a big attraction for small businesses and new online start-ups seeking a physical ‘showroom’ or low-risk environment for customers to trial their products and services in a retail environment in a way that doesn’t have to be daunting or complex.
Stockland enjoys a loyal and engaged shopper base of over 111 million* visitations per annum, we see nearly 4.2 million* total foot traffic in a fortnight. S Connect has introduced new brands to their communities through product launches, brand experiences demonstrations and product trials to connect and engage brands with new markets.
We’ve welcomed a range of new start-ups, from new culinary offers to beauty products, ethical clothing and bespoke accessories, who enjoy the versatility and opportunity that Pop-Up offers, allowing businesses to grow inside Stockland’s extensive network of shopping centres, relevant to their customer base.
With research revealing more than 50 per cent of Australians wanting to buy local, it showed more Australians are choosing to shop locally, supporting of local retailers and preferring their local suburban or neighbourhood centre*. Stockland’s portfolio of retail town centres are perfectly positioned in the heartland of our local communities to leverage this growing trend.
S Connect is tapping into this strength of community to create new retail opportunities and it’s a great time for local businesses and start-ups to trial in-centre activations to allow their customer base to interact with them, their brand and their products. With the ability to create bespoke local partnerships with our in-house experts that connects seamlessly with these brands, Stockland specialises in weaving them into our customer-centric town centres in high footfall and relevant environments. S Connect offers multiple brand activation and experiential sites available, businesses can select those which are best aligned to their customers purchase behaviour and product nature.
Learn more about the power of Pop-Up or read about our retail incubator initiative online at Stockland.com.au.
* Correct as at 30 June 2021
**Source: CommBank Consumer Insights Report 2021 https://www.commbank.com.au/content/dm/caas/newsroom/docs/CommBank%20Consumer%20Insights%20Report.pdf.
