"Pop-Up" shop at Sylvia Park Centre Shows Off Popular Suzuki Models

Suzuki has joined a growing international trend with a “pop-up” shop in Auckland’s largest shopping centre and business park.

Open every day, with later closings at 7 pm on Thursdays and 9 pm on Fridays, the five-car display located in the fashion area at Sylvia Park in Mt Wellington is a new departure for Suzuki.

While “pop-up” shops will not replace traditional motor dealerships, they provide an extra dimension to exposing products to consumers. They allow people to buy into a brand culture without any pressure and also provide an opportunity for consumers who might otherwise rarely visit a dealership.

Suzuki is currently displaying popular models like the Vitara, S-Cross, Swift, Baleno and Ignis in a compact area manned by a dealer representative. The current shop will be active over the Christmas holiday period and ends early in January 2018.

Visiting large malls is more than a shopping experience. It is also a learning experience and the “pop-up” shop provides a visibility of product and increased awareness while giving visitors a taste of a car dealership in a shop location.

The temporary car shop not only initiates sales but also brings product to a venue where customers are already shopping.

The displays focus on customer and brand experience and allow visitors to explore a car in a relaxed, welcoming environment without any possible feeling of intimidation some might feel when entering a bricks and mortar showroom.

Gary Collins, General Manager of Automobile Marketing for Suzuki New Zealand, said, “This is a beneficial marketing strategy for dealerships as it positions our brand in a non-traditional setting and is building brand awareness. Pop-ups have great potential and early response has been positive.”

“With our strong bias to private sales it makes sense for us to take our vehicles to the public to showcase our great range of new models and show how affordable our model range is.”

Suzuki said “pop-ups” are becoming more popular because of changing customer behaviour. This is partly as a result of the rise in mobile technologies and social media that is redefining interaction and communication patterns.

Sylvia Park is adjacent to two major interchanges of the Auckland Southern Motorway and attracts over 13 million visitors annually.