Will pop-ups continue as part of the retail landscape?

We agree with those who say these temporary retail stores (aka pop-ups)  are to here to stay for a couple of reasons.

As people continue to rebalance their online and in-store shopping habits, we expect the “half-life” of many products and retail concepts to shorten. Pop-up stores are one way to navigate the increasingly risky environment.

For more information on the phenomenon, this article from Knowledge@Wharton is worth a read. It looks at a range of pop-up stores and what makes them work.

We found it interesting to:

• Put the pop-up phenomenon in perspective. it’s part brick and mortar retail, part communications/marketing, part virtual store (the stock often ships from off-site). This is a hybrid form we expect to see more of in the future.
• Take a closer look at some of the features of online retailing that dovetail nicely with the pop-up store concept. This is where some of the creativity shows up.

What do think of pop-up stores – fad or here to stay?