Latest / The DTC Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Direct-to-Consumer Brands, Shopify, and E-Commerce Growth / How DTC Brands Use In-Person Pop-Ups to Win Online Customers
Transcript
- Lucas: There's a stat that's been stuck in my head since I read it last week. A study from the Journal of Retailing — published in early 2025 — found that DTC brands that ran a physical pop-up store saw an average 45 percent increase in online conversion rates from customers who visited that pop-up. Luna: Forty-five percent? That's massive. But is it just the novelty factor — people are excited because it's a temporary thing? Lucas: Partially, but the data suggests it's more than that. The researchers controlled for novelty by comparing pop-ups with permanent stores. They found that the urgency of a limited-time experience actually boosted social sharing. People posted about it more, which drove referral traffic. And the in-person interaction built trust that carried over to the online store. Luna: So it's not just about selling stuff in the pop-up. It's about creating a marketing asset that feeds the digital funnel. Lucas: Exactly. And some brands have gotten very systematic about this. Glossier, for example, has been running pop-ups for years. But what caught my attention was a smaller brand, a men's grooming company called Crown Shaving. They spent about $30,000 on a three-week pop-up in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, last fall. Luna: That's not cheap for a small brand. What did they get for that money? Lucas: They tracked everything. They had a QR code at the entrance that linked to a loyalty program sign-up — 1,200 people joined. They also had a photo booth that automatically posted to Instagram with a branded hashtag. That generated about 50,000 impressions. And the kicker: over the next three months, the people who visited the pop-up had an average order value online that was 2.3 times higher than their typical customer. Luna: So the pop-up essentially pre-qualified customers. The people who bothered to show up were already more engaged. Lucas: Right. And Crown Shaving calculated that the total online revenue attributable to those pop-up visitors over three months was $2.1 million. That's a 70x return on the $30,000 cost of the pop-up. Luna: That's incredible. But I imagine the economics depend a lot on location. A pop-up in Williamsburg is going to attract a different crowd than one in a suburban mall. Lucas: Absolutely. And that's where a lot of brands get it wrong. They pick a trendy neighborhood because it looks good on Instagram, but the foot traffic doesn't match their target customer profile. Warby Parker, when they started doing pop-ups years ago, deliberately chose lower-rent neighborhoods where rent was cheaper but foot traffic was still solid. They also focused on areas where people were already shopping for eyewear — near optometrists' offices. Luna: That's smart. So it's not just about being seen — it's about being seen by the right people. Lucas: Exactly. And the best pop-ups aren't just retail spaces — they're data capture machines. One brand I looked at, a luggage company called July, used their pop-ups to collect email addresses and phone numbers in exchange for a chance to win a free suitcase. They got 3,000 sign-ups over two weeks. That's a customer acquisition cost of basically zero, compared to their usual cost per lead of $12 on Facebook. Luna: So the pop-up is effectively a way to lower customer acquisition costs at a time when digital ads are getting more expensive. Lucas: That's the thesis. And the Journal of Retailing study I mentioned earlier found that the effect is strongest for brands that are less than five years old. For those brands, a pop-up can increase overall brand awareness by 30 percent in the local market, and that awareness persists for months after the pop-up closes. Luna: It makes sense. People trust a brand more when they've touched the product. But I'm curious about the operational side. How do you set up a pop-up without a retail background? Lucas: There are now companies that specialize in turnkey pop-up solutions. Storefront, for example, is a marketplace where brands can rent short-term retail spaces. They handle the lease, the insurance, even the furniture. Another company called PopUp Republic offers a similar service. And some brands are experimenting with what I'd call 'pop-up lite' — like, renting a booth at a farmers market or a craft fair for a weekend. Luna: That's a much lower-risk way to test the concept. You're spending maybe a few hundred dollars instead of thirty thousand. Lucas: Exactly. And the metrics are the same. You can track foot traffic, sign-ups, and subsequent online purchases the same way. One brand I spoke with — a candle company called P.F. Candle Co. — started with a booth at the Rose Bowl Flea Market in LA. They spent $150 for the space. Over the course of one Sunday, they collected 200 email addresses and sold $2,000 worth of candles. But the real payoff came later: those 200 people had a 60 percent higher repeat purchase rate online than their average customer. Luna: That's a great example. It shows you don't need a fancy space to get the benefit. You just need to be where your customers are. Lucas: And that's the core insight. A pop-up — whether it's a full store or a flea market booth — is fundamentally a trust-building exercise. It gives people a reason to believe in your brand. And that belief translates into higher conversion rates, higher average order values, and lower acquisition costs. Luna: It's almost like the opposite of the traditional retail model. Instead of using a store to sell directly, you're using it to drive online sales. Lucas: Right. And I think that's why this approach works so well for DTC brands. They're already set up to fulfill online orders. The pop-up is just a marketing channel — a very effective one. Luna: If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used — like, maybe you're thinking about testing a pop-up for your own brand — that's exactly why we keep these episodes ad-free. It's listener support that makes that possible. Lucas: Yeah, it's a small ask that makes a big difference. If today's episode was useful to you, you can help keep it going at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: And that support lets us dive deeper into topics like this, without any sponsor constraints. Lucas: So back to pop-ups — one more stat I want to share. The same Journal of Retailing study found that the effect is cumulative. Brands that ran multiple pop-ups in the same city over the course of a year saw a 60 percent increase in online conversion from that city, compared to a 45 percent increase from a single pop-up. Luna: So frequency matters. It's not just a one-and-done tactic. Lucas: Exactly. And it suggests that pop-ups can be a core part of a brand's customer acquisition strategy, not just a one-off event. For a DTC brand with a limited marketing budget, a recurring pop-up program might be more effective than another round of Facebook ads. Luna: That's a compelling argument. I'm curious — are there any downsides? What about brands that have tried it and failed? Lucas: Sure. The most common mistake is treating the pop-up like a traditional store — trying to maximize in-store sales instead of focusing on data capture and brand experience. One brand I read about, a direct to consumer mattress company, spent $100,000 on a pop-up in SoHo. They had a beautiful showroom, but they didn't collect any customer data. They didn't have a sign-up incentive, they didn't track who came in. They sold a few mattresses, but within two months, the effect had completely faded. Luna: So they missed the whole point. The pop-up wasn't a marketing channel — it was just an expensive store. Lucas: Right. And that's why the best pop-ups are designed around the data capture loop. Every visitor should leave with a reason to engage with the brand online. Whether it's a loyalty sign-up, a social media follow, or an email opt-in — you need to bridge the physical and digital experience. Luna: It sounds like the future of DTC might be more physical, not less. Just in a different way. Lucas: I think so. The barrier to entry for pop-ups is lower than ever, and the data shows they work. For a brand that's struggling with rising digital ad costs, a well-executed pop-up might be the most cost-effective customer acquisition channel available. Luna: Lucas, this has been really eye-opening. I'm definitely going to look into the Rose Bowl option for a few brands I know. Lucas: Glad to hear it. And if anyone listening wants to share their own pop-up experience, we'd love to hear about it. Until next time.