Dive Brief:
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Google is set to unveil a "Made by Google" pop-up shop on Spring Street in New York City on Oct. 20, according to the company’s website.
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At an Oct. 4 event, Google debuted a series of new devices, including its new Pixel phones, an Amazon Echo-like Google Home device, a Chromecast streaming device, a Google WiFi router, a new VR headset and upgrades to its Google Assistant software, which are expected to be sold at the physical location.
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A pop-up store is by its nature temporary and it’s not yet clear if Google will eventually open more permanent locations. The company runs a store within store in a Dixons Carphone’s Currys PC World location in London.
Dive Insight:
With a series of new devices unveiled earlier this month, Google is following the path that Amazon — which is moving assertively in sales of its own hardware devices — and Apple have taken. The move comes after the failure of the company’s much-vaunted Google Glass eyewear, which never gained traction with consumers.
Devices from all three companies are now integral to their sales, considering how they help invite and keep customers active within their ecosystems to create a virtuous cycle of loyalty and purchase. Physical store locations are especially key to electronics sales like these because customers want the opportunity to see and try devices, which even at comparatively reasonable prices often carry higher price tags than most undifferentiated merchandise.
Pop-up shops can be seen as incubators of sorts, allowing brands to try out locations, products or marketing campaigns before pulling the lever on a final idea — an opportunity to “fail fast, and succeed faster,” Michael D. Decker, vice president of marketing strategy at boutique marketing agency Medallion Retail, told Retail Dive earlier this year.
“You don’t have to worry about groupthink and quantitative focus groups," Decker said. "If you put the concept up to test out on the street and you’re selling like crazy, you can probably assume that people are going to want your product."
