As large urban centers become denser, the amount of land and available space for retail establishments becomes more sparse—and thus, more expensive.
Unsurprisingly, retailers have increasingly looked for cost-effective and creative solutions that allow them to get their products and services in front of consumers, without spending a fortune on rent, utilities, and other overheads that traditional retail space demands.
That’s where shipping containers come in. Repurposed from industrial transportation, shipping containers provide the perfect template for a portable, safe and secure store, without burdening the retailer with unnecessary costs.
In addition to cost-effectiveness, let’s look at a few of the other benefits of using a shipping container for a pop-up shop or market space.
1. Shipping Containers are Easily Modified
One benefit that shipping containers have over traditional retail spaces is that it’s very easy to make modifications to shipping containers, allowing you to customize them however you see fit.
In traditional retail spaces, there are a number of hurdles that prevent retailers from customizing and designing their stores as they see fit, including building codes, restrictive landlords, and consideration of any neighbors.
Shipping containers provide retailers with a blank canvas on which to paint. The opportunities to modify your container are almost endless, allowing you to craft exactly the type of space you want your customers to enter.
2. Shipping Containers Can Be Easily Moved
Of course, one of the biggest differences between a shipping container store and a traditional store or retail space is location flexibility. When your shop is based in a portable container, you can go to where the customers are, instead of hoping customers come to you.
The ability to easily relocate your store provides retailers with a huge advantage. Shipping containers can be set up near trade shows, festivals, parks, markets and other spaces where people congregate, making it easy to generate foot traffic for your store.
3. Containers Have Better Protection Than Tents
While tents can also be mobile and allow retailers to set up almost anywhere, they have a significant disadvantage when it comes to weather.
Anything from a small amount of rainfall to strong winds can make setting up and selling retail merchandise in a tent very difficult—and that’s assuming you can get people to show up in the first place. Inclement weather causes people to stay indoors and avoid the sort of open-air markets or spaces where tents are usually set up, resulting in a lot of lost business.
By contrast, shipping containers are made of steel and fully protected from the elements, allowing you to keep both your merchandise and your customers safe.
4. Containers Can Be Easily Customized
Another advantage that shipping containers have over tents is the ability to set up and display merchandise inside. Because shipping containers have a strong frame and foundation, it’s simple to mount shelves to the walls or set up display cases, making it easy to set up and take down your store every time you move.
Tents, on the other hand, have to be fully set up and dismantled each time, which not only takes much more time but can also result in higher costs.
5. Shipping Containers Can Be Temperature Controlled
In addition to protecting against rain and wind, shipping containers can also be temperature controlled, allowing you to operate them year-round. Tents may be nice to use during the summer — as long as it’s not raining, of course — but here in Canada, the number of summer days is unfortunately fairly limited.
Because shipping containers can be outfitted with air conditioning and heating units, you’re able to operate them all year-round, as opposed to a few short weeks in the summer.
6. Containers Make It Easy to Move Inventory
Shipping containers don’t just make it easy to move your store, but also the merchandise you’re selling within it.
Using a tent for your temporary store actually adds to the number of things you have to transport. In addition to all of your merchandise, displays, and other supplies, you also have to ship the tent itself and all of the equipment needed to set it up.
With shipping containers, your merchandise remains in the container as it moves, making transportation much less hassle.
Shipping Containers Make Great Pop-Up Shops
It’s no coincidence that shipping container pop up shops and markets have proliferated over the past few years.
They provide retailers with a perfect middle ground between traditional retail space, which is inflexible and expensive, and portable tents, which are subject to the elements and difficult to operate year-round.
At Secure Container Solutions, we not only provide you with the right container but can also help you modify it to suit the specific needs of your shop or store.
To learn more about using a shipping container for your store, call Secure Container at 416-817-3216 or contact us here.
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