Mariah Samir Mansuri

IR3002

 Etsy’s very first pop up store in India aims at giving exposure to Indian sellers in setting up a business from their hobby. Our country reflects a distinctive kind of richness in arts and crafts is provided with a platform. The marketplace lies in the middle of the High street Phoenix mall which delivers the specific needs of any person with creativity who wants to start up a business on its website. Located in the center of one of the most hyped malls in Mumbai, the pop-up store will attract high footfall. The 6000 sqft of the project comprises different activities for the sellers and also buyers who make the brand a community. People from the age of 18-45 who are passionate about handmade items or belong to the arts and crafts community will be the aspired target audience for the pop-up store. The spaces are categorized into three parts: Learning, Creating & Meeting The outperform will be a gallery of the top-rated products of Etsy with some interactive screens. In the middle of the collage of products, screens, solid and transparent panels is a three-meter wide entrance that takes the visitor inside. Two large screens host the stories of sellers and their journey on Etsy with a platform in the middle where the brochures will be kept, behind them lies personal story pods where the visitor can browse a story of their choice. The primary focus of the pop store is the seller community, the spaces designed are to address the uncertainty of an individual through series of experiences which takes them through the different steps of becoming a seller, answering their queries, and mainly demonstrating the ease of the process. These will also be a means to inspires an individual to take big steps towards their entrepreneurial journey. The first step will be a hobby tunnel, where there will be hanging shapes wherein different hobbies will be written, the visitor will be given an opportunity to write their own quirky hobby on the wall. The other steps include turning a hobby into a brand, product photography, product naming, and finally packaging and shipping. In the center of the space lies a spherical installation with a platform in the middle, the visitor is provided with colorful wires with which they write a word or make anything expressing what handmade products mean to them and hang it on the sphere. The installations will help to make a statement of the global brand helping locals to sell their products worldwide. On the outer periphery of the sphere are discussion tables where Etsy advisors will address the personal faqs and can also be used for sellers to chat. The secondary focus will be to emphasize the interconnection between the sellers and the buyers which predominantly is the brand’s USP. The brand believes in keeping commerce human, it allows a direct connection between the sellers and buyers. The pop-up store will host workshops and events, have discussion areas where both the groups come together. The pop-up acts as a forum to meet like-minded creative people. The workshop area of the space will have DIY stations hosted by sellers and two large walls to paint, on creating an art piece they can click its photograph with props provided by the pop-up store. They can also write a letter or make a card and put it in the letterbox. The store will provide a service of packaging their product or card and shipping it to anybody living in the same city. For the buyers, there will be a website screen displayed with limited products with an opportunity to video call with the sellers to personalize a product. This will help develop trust in the product quality and buying process. The meeting area will have a lemonade bar that says “Products on Etsy are sold as quickly as lemonade in summer”. Visitors can make their own drinks with different ingredients displayed on the table. They can take it to the discussion tables or event area. The event area will host the seller’s storytellers, musical sessions, etc. The goal of the pop-up store is to spread awareness about the brand and increasing the community. Registering on Etsy is an easy process, the registration booth at the end of the journey is accompanied by a souvenir shop. Etsy supports small businesses and launches them to a large audience, hence a launch platform photo booth at the corner of the store which can be used after registering into Etsy.