SHEIN arrived to South Beach Miami for their temporary #SHEINMiami Pop Up Store early July to start the store’s set-up process. The store was opened to the public Friday July 9th – Sunday July 11th. (Yes…the popup only lasted 3 days). Here’s a inside on what you missed, what you didn’t know and what you can expect at their next pop up.
Attending the Pop Up
The tour was expected to launch in 2020 but was pushed back because of the pandemic. Prior to the Miami Popup, SHEIN first stopped in Tempe, AZ where they learned a few do’s and don’ts. In Tempe, shoppers were able to arrive at the pop up at any time and for however long but there was a cap on how many people were allowed in the store. This caused the store to be at maximum capacity at all times. Some shoppers had to wait hours in line after traveling hours to get to the popup. Others never made it inside which led to confrontations and even brawls. So for the Miami Popup, the reservation system was developed.
#SHEINMiami
In Miami, shoppers were required to have a reservation to enter the popup. Reservation were free of charge and guaranteed a hour long experience inside the popup. Shoppers were able to purchase items from SHEIN’s women line, swim line, men line, curve line and their new high end line, Motif. Shoes and accessories were also available although children’s clothing was not. The popup offered dressing rooms, where colorful neon lights lit up the halls and #SheinTryOnHaul was placed across the mirrors. But there wasn’t much time for shoppers to film a entire try on haul from their dressing rooms. The dressing room line was consistently long and staff members monitored the time each shopper spent trying on clothes. Shoppers could however, spend as much time as they wanted at the photo-op placed at the side entrance of the store. The photo-op displayed big, pink SHEIN letters, clouds hanging from the ceiling and of course tropical plants to fulfill the Miami vibes.
SHEIN provided a little over 3000 reservations for the Miami popup. That’s about 125 people per time-slot, every hour, all weekend. There was an email blast and a little bit of promo on social media and the tickets sold out in 2 hours. So if you’re beating yourself up about not getting a spot, don’t. In fact, all the items in the store were available online for the same price.
On Friday, there was a standby line for those who weren’t able to get a reservation but after that day, Standby Lines got voted out of the equation for the rest of the pop up’s weekend ; mostly because they weren’t very effective. People in standby lines ended up waiting for hours to enter the pop up because shoppers were using their full hour experience instead of the “as one leaves, one enters” strategy planned.
The VIP Night
A night before the pop up opened to the public, SHEIN hosted a VIP night on Thursday July 8th from 6pm-10pm. Influencers, bloggers, photographers, magazine editors and other PR were the only guest invited to the VIP night. During their shopping experience VIP guest had a DJ, open bar, finger foods and a $150 budget to shop. Because influencers shopped the day before the general public, they were able to get first pick on all the items in the store. Influencers were also able to bring a +1 but the +1’s only received 15% off their purchases. +1’s were however able to take advantage of the complimentary gift bags gifted to all of the attending guest. Inside their gift bags were makeup bags, headbands, swimsuits and travel kits.
Discounts & Giveaways
As Friday arrived, shoppers would have to pay full price on purchases and all sales were final—No exchanges. No returns. SHEIN influencer promo code were permitted at checkout. Most influencer codes gave 15% off purchases and shoppers who spent over $100 were gifted a complimentary gift, a makeup bag and headband. SHEIN member points we’re not allowed to use in store but after all of the other perks who’s complaining?
And then there was Sunday. The last day of the pop up. Styles were sold out and there were hardly any sizes left of anything. But Sunday night about 3 hours before closing the store granted 25% off of everything in the store.
The SHEIN Miami Popup partnered with the charity Lotus House during the popup. Any shopper who brought gently used clothing to the store was able to receive shopping credits. One approved article of clothing = $1 off your total spent in store, with a cap of $10 off. Lotus House is based in Miami so it is not expected to be at the next popup location, but there may be other charity collabs to look forward to.
Shoppers were also able to participate in a 2-5 minute survey to be entered into a chance to win a $150 SHEIN gift card. Gift cards were given to 5 winners.
What’s the hype about SHEIN ?
Thank God affordable fashion is in style. Most of SHEIN’s customers are loyal because of their prices. A basic crop top cost around $5 and a bikini set cost around $12. The SHEIN line is also made up of all of the trendy styles. A lot of their products are style dupes from high-end designers. You’re basically getting the look for less.
…And the catch?
Because SHEIN clothing is more affordable, the quality of the clothes aren’t the best. You may find defects on some items and when washing you will want to wash like-colors together to prevent the dye from bleeding on your other clothes. However, their return policies are easy and reasonable. Another disadvantage of shopping SHEIN is the long shipping times. This is probably one of the main reasons the pop up’s have been a success. Customers love the luxury of being able to get there clothes instantly. Instead of your standard 5 to 7 business days shipping time, SHEIN can take around 2 to 3 weeks. On rare occasions, your shipment can come faster but you would have to pay extra to guarantee a quick arrival date.
Overall the feed back from the first two pop ups were great! Especially the sales. Additional tour locations might be added if not this year, then definitely next. There has even been convos of pop ups in international locations. I wouldn’t be surprised if SHEIN eventually opens permanent stores. The secret isn’t out about where the next SHEIN location will be, but something’s telling me it might be on the West side of the U.S. 😉