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ByLeo Victor

How to Create a Successful Online Pop-Up Shop For Employees

Rewarding your employees is a great way to encourage higher productivity and improve retention. So why wait until the end of the year to celebrate all their hard work? A pop-up shop is a great way to reward your employees anytime of the year. You could launch one during the holidays to offer up unique and useful corporate gifts—but it’s just as easy to set one up to surprise your team in the middle of the summer for a special company celebration or event.

With iPromo, It’s easier than you may think to build and launch a successful online pop-up shop for your team. From benefits to implementation, here’s what you need to know to make this fun incentive a reality.

What is an online pop-up shop? 

The most important thing to understand is that these are NOT physical brick and mortar pop-up shops. 

An online pop-up shop is temporary and can be used in a variety of ways. The most common form is redemption stores, where companies usually stock the site with a select number of corporate swag items for employees to choose from. These redemption pop-up stores are usually done close to the holidays and each employee is given a unique promo code that expires after a set amount of time to encourage engagement on the site. 

Online pop-up stores are basically a smaller version of your standard online company store, but with an expiration date. This time sensitivity adds a bit of urgency and is perfect for seasonal events or company milestones and celebrations. Online pop-up shops can be set up very quickly, and they typically have very high conversion rates, in addition to boosting employee morale! 

Online Pop-Up Store

How long does an online pop-up shop typically last? 

A typical online pop-up shop lasts for just 30 days or less, but the timeline is up to you. This gives people enough time to scope out the goods, plan their purchases, and remember to push through their orders. You can set it up for a longer time period if you think your team needs a bigger window. You could also limit the purchasing window to a very small period of time, like one or two weeks. The choice is yours.

After the term is up, the online shop (and the associated redemption codes) expire. Those items won’t be up for purchase again unless you choose to open up shop once more. Online pop-up shops are so popular because they’re customizable and successful. You can pick the time period that works best for your company!

Benefits of running a short-term pop-up store

There are a ton of benefits for owners and employees alike when running a short-term online store. A pop-up shop is a wonderful way to boost employee engagement with the gratitude shown from your company. Corporate branded swag is impactful and builds loyalty and morale.

A temporary online store is beneficial for owners and brands, too. The excitement around purchasing branded merchandise is great for building camaraderie among team members. Nothing adds fun and pride like a department wearing matching hoodies. This type of team identity can increase retention and improve productivity on a daily basis.

Finally, branded goods are always a smart way to increase recognition of your company wherever your employees go with them. Whether it’s tumblers, sweaters, or blankets, your logo will get lots of impressions during their commute and or hanging out with friends and family outside the office. 

Custom Apparel

Best Times to Launch Online Pop-up Shops

Still not sure if it’s the right time to do an online pop-up shop? Here are a few examples of how it could work. 

  • Winter holiday pop-up shop: Celebrate the holidays and the end of another successful year by opening a temporary shop with company-branded swag of your choosing, or we’re happy to help curate product ideas too!. 
  • Sales milestone: Honor the hard work of your sales team whenever they hit a major milestone with incentive gifts. 
  • Welcoming a new crop of employees: When new people join the team, it’s more important than ever to focus on positivity and team spirit. Nothing achieves this faster than company-branded merch as surprise. Open up a temporary pop-up shop to celebrate the new energy and talent coming into the company.
  • Mark the end of a busy season: No matter your industry, there’s probably a time of the year where everything gets super busy. People are working long hours, with tons of meetings and extra hustle to get things done. When the busy season comes to a close, reward your team by opening an online pop-up shop with thoughtful gifts they’ll love!

Creating Online Pop-Up Shop

How do I create an online pop-up shop?

Ready to create your own online pop-up shop? It’s easy, we promise. Our team at iPromo can build out a site quickly and customized to your brand. Online pop-up shops are hosted by iPromo, but the url can be customized, along with the items selected. The site is a one-stop-shop, literally. We can help you with all the essential tasks of running the temporary store, so you can focus on running your own company. 

Step 1 – Create your site 

Work with a skilled iPromo company store expert to help gather your ideas and needs. You can add your logo, branding colors of the site, font, and a short description of why the shop is open. Just let us know the type of site you’re looking and for how long the pop-up shop should be open. 

Step 2 – Select the items 

Now, it’s time to select the specific items you’d like to showcase. With iPromo, we’ll guide you through the product selection and help you identify the best options for your store and brand. The right selection for you depends on the size of your company and the occasion of the launch. All the items get presented on a single-page storefront for super easy navigation; no need to click through several sub-categories to see the entire selection of products.

Select Items

Step 3 – Spread the word

Finally, the fun part! Launch the site and let your team know! iPromo can handle the email marketing as well. If you’re running a redemption site, we can create a dynamic email campaign where every employee gets a unique code and the store link, to redeem for the specific swag they like the most. It’s a great personalized experience, but also a great way to manage your whole team.

Once launched, your site will show a countdown clock to let people know how much longer they have to purchase merchandise. There’s also the option to display a sales goal, once they hit the goal, then the product becomes available to them.

The iPromo team is here to help make sure every employee from your company gets a personalized message so that they feel appreciated. Our templates are easy to use, so you can email employees directly, and even send a reminder to complete their order before the site closes.

Redemption Site

Step 4 – Manage inventory

Let iPromo do the heavy lifting when it comes to the products chosen for your site. Instead of worrying about customizing all the items and fulfillment, we take care of it for you. iPromo will track and manage all orders through the backend so you don’t have to worry where things stand.

Order Management

Payment options are easy. You can either offer a single, customized payment method or work with a credit card gateway. We offer flat rate shipping, which helps streamline the purchasing process for your team.

Rewarding people should be easy, and with iPromo, it is. Launch an online pop-up shop for employees by following the steps above and enjoy benefits like increased engagement, improved retention, and positive team morale in the workplace. Contact us today to see how we can make your next online pop-up store a success!

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