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UK: pop-up retailing amounts to GBP 2.1 billion in retail turnover in 2013

Thursday 31 July 2014 14:36 CET | News

Pop-up retail stores in the UK produced GBP 2.1 billion in retail turnover in 2013, according to a study issued from a joint partnership between digital communications company EE and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), evigo.com reports.

Moreover, the resulting study predicts that the pop-up industry could register a growth of 2.5 times faster than the traditional UK market. Pop-ups gather up to 23,400 people staffing 10,000 emergent stores.

The pop-up sector is also expected to grow by 8.4% in 2015 as compared with the 3.4% growth in the UK’s wider retail sector. Research points that the average spending at local pop-up outlets reach nearly GBP 110 per visit, projected at GBP 120 within a year.

According to the study, Cardiff is a hotspot for pop-up visitations as around 73% of consumers make purchases in pop-up stores. Moreover, the most popular kinds of pop-ups are in farmers’ markets, with over 40% of customer visitations, while other pop-up categories are fresh foods, beverages and not surprisingly fashion stores.

Conversely, the study points out that difficulty in finding store locations, securing leasing contracts, the lack of knowledge in setting up a pop-up store, time schedules in arranging technological operation setup and longer contract times on point-of-sale devices and other technological payment methods are among the obstacles to be overcome by pop-ups.

45% of customers involved in the study said they would prefer to shop in stores that provide online payment, while 65% of customers said if the stores were in a suitable location they would visit them more frequently.

Since most of the equipment needs to have a minimum 12 month lease, stores are forced to use cash, making them a target for potential theft. As well as that, electrical outages could further hinder profits if a pop-up is completely dependent on card. EE recommend upgrading 3G technologies for 4G to help manage real-time issues.

The study also highlights that pop-ups can create extra jobs in the industry and stimulate the economy.


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Keywords: UK, retail, pop-ups, turnover, stores, ecommerce, digital communications, online purchases, Customers, merchants
Categories: Payments & Commerce
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Countries: World
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Payments & Commerce