FAQ’S

Click Apply Here to register your brand with us. Once you have registered, we will be in touch to talk you through the next steps and provide you with the application form. Once your application is approved you will discuss dates and locations with a member of the pop-up team who will then need to get store managers approval.

No you don’t need to be VAT registered to take part however we will need to take VAT from all brands that go in store. This is due to us and the retailer being VAT registered.

Brands will either choose to add on 20% to their products or absorb the 20%. Please bear this in mind when reviewing your margins and pricing for your pop up shop. If you would like to talk to us about this please call 01423 229988.

Pop-up shops typically run for a week (Mon-Sun), but your GBE contact will confirm the days.  You can book more than one week should you want to. You can also host a pop-up in more than 1 location, subject to approval.

Yes, you will be responsible for manning your pop up shop for the full store opening hours including cover breaks. This is not the responsibility of the retailer.

Ourselves and the retailers encourage tastings of your product. This allows customers to try your products and interact with your brand. However, we do take Health & Safety very seriously and we do require Food Health & Safety training certifications to be sent to us prior to you pop-up. Please note, if you are serving alcoholic, or non alcoholic drink samples all members of your team will require a Level 1 Food Hygiene Certificate. If you are serving food samples, all members of your team will require a Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate.

Only ambient stable products are allowed to be sold at the Pop Up Shops.

Each space will be fitted with a card machine, payments must be made through this card machine. This will record all transactions and produce a report showing the sales value and the commission paid. We will provide you with a sales report at the end of the week and make the whole process as easy as possible.

Your GBE contact will be able to confirm electricity access for each location.

You will be provided with a pop-up space and each store will be able to provide you with a few main display furniture items. This will be confirmed during your booking. The space must then be dressed by you to display and sell your products in an attractive way to your customers. You must also bring marketing materials to brand your space.

You will be responsible for managing your stock during the event. Stock can sometimes be sent to the retailer loading bay prior to your attendance, please confirm this with your GBE contact. Some stores can provide space for stock. This will be confirmed at the time of booking.

A list can be found of all the retailer and stores we are currently working with here.

Yes, we can offer a discount of 10% when booking more than 5 weeks in store.

You can do as much, or as little of your own marketing as you would like to raise awareness of your stand and drive its success. For example, you could use your social media accounts to reach your followers and merchandise your shop with POS and props. It is entirely up to you how you promote your shop and products in advance of and during the event. The cost for any additional marketing and stand-dressing you do will be paid for and organised by you.

We also try to help where we can. We will provide you with a social media post template to help promote your pop-up to your followers. The retailer store teams have various ways of promoting you in store, each location is slightly different. This is a huge marketing opportunity and the more you promote your pop-up shop before and during your week the better. We have noticed a positive difference between those who shout about their pop-up compared to those who don’t.

Although we cannot guarantee, we like to help promote your brand across social media and interacting with our accounts certainly helps towards the success of your week. You can tag us in any posts and follow @thegreatbrandexchange on Instagram and Facebook. In store marketing opportunities are available but differ across stores, specifics to be discussed upon store induction.

• The space in store for 7 days
• Basic fixtures and fittings
• Power source
• A card machine
• Weekly sales report
• A designated account manager on hand all week
• Induction in the lead up to the event to meet the team, see the space & discuss in store marketing opportunities
• We will also introduce you to the store contact who will look after you for the week. They may be able to provide you with merchandising and customer engagement advice so you can make the most of your week in store

If a customer would like to return an item while you are still hosting the pop up shop in store they can by returning it directly to you in store. You can action the return on the card machine we provided for the pop ups.

The brand is expected to cover any customer shipment costs or can arrange a pre-paid postal label or courier collection.

The pop up shops provide the opportunity to get your brand in front of the buying team for large retailers. We also send all sales data to the buying team so they can see and review your product’s performance in store. We have had brands that have gone from having a pop-up shop to go on to stock the retailers through wholesale channels, but it is not guaranteed. Brands going into wholesale must be ready for this leap into retail. Through our Found Here  membership we can offer guidance on Wholesale. Click Here. 

We would love to hear from you. To let us know you’re interested, please follow this link. Please bear in mind there are no guarantees and the process can often be lengthy, however we will do our best to update you on progress.

A greater way of becoming visible and to retailers for wholesale is by joining our membership Found Here which is our buyers directory. Join Here.

John Lewis, Waitrose, Ocado, Harvey Nichols & Boots

We work with current trends and briefs from each Retailer to build a showcase of the best available products on the market. We even work with brands to develop new products that meet retailer requirements.

We work with brands and each line individually to get the best possible price for all involved, the brand, the retailer and the GBE.

Margins will vary from category to category and retailer to retailer. We will work with each brand to try and reach these targets. You may have different commercials for different retailers. We are very transparent.

We follow the legal requirements for each category. For example for Alcohol and Food we will also want to see any SALSA or BRC accreditation. A Compliance questionnaire will be sent out upon the price negotiations.

We can advise based on which season an estimate on volumes.

The selection process usually takes around 8 weeks.

If commercially viable we ask for 2 samples of each line for each retailer we are submitting your details to. We then forward this for selection to the buying team.

If selected the retailers will also require 2 Gold Seal samples of each line.

Once selected (depending on which retailer) a seasonal forecast is usually given 2-4 weeks after this point.

Purchase orders are usually then sent once product set up reaches a certain point and is around 2 – 4 weeks after confirmation of selection.

In most cases the seasonal forecast is split between monthly deliveries however there are times when we have to send in orders sooner

No, it is unlikely you’ll ever be listed in all stores as not all stores hold all categories. The Buying teams will work through their selection and inform us of which stores you are listed in. These can grow over time.

• The GBE will liaise regarding all necessary product information for Line creations and product set up.
• Each Line will require 1 x product shot and ideally a minimum of 4 plus lifestyle images. These all need to be a minimum of 800x 800 pixels to 5000 x 5000 pixels.
• Lines can also have a video uploaded to the site. These are no allowed to show anyone’s faces.
• All products will need to have barcode labels and BBE labels applied (If Alcohol or Food)

GBE will send you a delivery manual and will help with the setup of the case labels for your first delivery so you know what to expect from day one.

60 days from delivery into the Retailer

Yes, at the start of each season you will be sent a Supplier Funded Marketing Pack. We can also arrange for brands to liaise with retailers marketing teams.
All brands are encouraged to offer tastings in stores. Information on this will follow once the buyers confirm which stores you are stocked in.