Grow Your Fashion Brand with a Trunk Show, Pop up Shop, or Shop-in-Shop

trunk show pop up

Guest post by Syama Meagher, the CEO of Scaling Retail, a fashion retail and brand-consulting firm. Follow her @ScalingRetail. 

As a startup fashion brand it can be challenging to decipher the world of modern retail. You very well could find yourself asking “what is the difference between a pop up shop, a shop-in-shop, and a trunk show?  Well, I’ll tell you.

Trunk Shows

Its one of the easiest ways to get market feedback, set up for a few hours, and sell product. There is minimal time commitment, and a huge opportunity if you can align with the right organizers.

Cost to Entry: Varies depending on cost to participate and setting up at the event.

Syama’s Secret Tips:

  1. Align with fellow designers to create an event together to share the cost.
  2. Find a store you want to sell at, and offer to do a Trunk Show to test your product.
  3. Look at previous successful events in your area, find those event organizers.

Pop-up Shops

The opportunity to rent a space for an evening or a month is revolutionary and has changed the game for small businesses. You can test collections, sell off old inventory and market to a customer base.

Cost to Entry: Anywhere from $200 to $7000 per day depending on location, size and what amenities are provided

Syama’s Secret Tips:  

  1. Keep your eye on Storefront to find low priced properties.
  2. Partner up with 2-3 brands that are in your niche, create an event.
  3. Market like crazy. Identify key bloggers and media channels to help get the word out.

Shop-in-Shops

Ever see a store inside a store? Shop-in-shops are how larger retailers can add newness, can attract new customers, and test new products.

Cost to Entry: Lease, Revenue Shares, and Partnerships.

Syama’s Secret Tips:  

  1. Go on LinkedIn to find the organizational directors who you need to contact.
  2. Read the news to find out which retailers are doing shop-in-shops.
  3. Stay persistent. This is a tough arena to break into, but very rewarding.

How can you take advantage of these opportunities and what does it mean? We discuss in this edition of the Retail Roundup: Macys, Pop-up Shops, and Shop-in-Shops.

Scaling Retail works with emerging to medium size businesses from sales, to marketing and financial strategy. To Schedule a free 30 minute consultation contact Syama@ScalingRetail.com and mention StartUp FASHION.

Image via The Urban Scot, cropped via StartUp FASHION

Contributor

StartUp FASHION is an online community where independent designers and emerging brands are coming together, helping one another, forming friendships, collaborating, letting off steam, sharing victories, and belonging to a network of people who get it; who are doing it too. We’re a place to access and discover the tools and information you need to build your fashion business. We help you define your path and give you the guidance, encouragement, and resources to follow that path.