Instagram’s @shop account celebrated its recent feat of garnering 1 million followers with a Pop-up in the heart of Meatpacking. This one-day-only pop-up joins the list of other tech companies (see last week’s Apartment Therapy post) hosting IRL spaces to merge consumers' shopping habits of browsing online and shopping offline. While Instagram is predominantly known for discovering brands/products/influencers, IG shop hopes to inspire more purchases via its app.
The IRL Instagram Shop pop-up showcased its “greatest hit” for spring/summer, celebrating its favorite minority-owned small businesses in the home, beauty, and lifestyle categories (including Ami Colé, Next Chapter Studio, Hillhouse, Sunday Forever, Nette, Emi Jay, BONBONWHIMS, Fifth & Ninth, The Nice Plant, Estelle Colored Glass, & Pineapple Collaborative).
From afar, the bright modular outdoor fixture quickly identifies as Instagram adjacent because of its use of its primary branding colors (magenta, purple, yellow). Enter this sturdy but temporary outdoor minimall and start snapping pics. The overall design of the carved wood, bright colors, and cut-out doors is instantly instagrammable. Each small business stall displayed its “best of” products placed around the edges of the installation, leaving a hollow for visitors to merge, take a selfie, and even chat with some of the small business owners mingling around.
The IG Shop pop-up was well designed, straightforward, and, while temporary, felt like it could become a mini destination if @shop decided to continue featuring new businesses each weekend. Other online marketplaces should take note. The RealReal has seamlessly evolved from its tech platform beginnings to becoming one of the most well-known brick and mortar vintage/consignment businesses. How come we’ve never seen an IRL pop-up of Etsy (who notably uses IG’s shop app) most popular brand or best finds, and how come Amazon still hasn’t managed to find its footing offline (see our Amazon Go post).
Until tech companies figure out how to translate their online business plan to a bankable in-person retailer, temporary pop-ups to trial and error are the way to go.