Catch Group Doubles Size of Concept Pop-Up

Catch Group has reportedly had trouble controlling crowds at its Chadstone pop-up store, with the business claiming it’s doubled the size of the store and the amount of stock it can hold to ensure customers are able to safely stock up on their Christmas gifts over the busy festive season.

“We’ve had so many people visiting our store that we’ve sometimes had to control the crowds… we’re so thrilled with the success of the store”, said Catch Group CEO, Nati Harpaz.

“Entering the busiest shopping season of the year, we hope we will help get shoppers on top of the Christmas shopping early, with great brands at Australia’s greatest prices, across beauty, tech, fashion, toys and more,” he continued.

The online marketplace opened its clicks-to-bricks pop-up store in October at Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne’s south-east to “provide an exceptional shopping experience”.

“We’re taking what makes Catch famous online to an in-store, clicks-to-bricks, and have created a pop-up shop designed for the digital age,” Harpaz said at the time.

Originally, the pop-up featured Catch’s top 500 products from its website, with the amount of stock held in the store now expected to double.

“As always, customers will get the very best prices on a huge range of products at the Catch store, with fresh deals added daily,” Harpaz said.

The digital-focussed CEO also explained that the pop-up store will offer a true omnichannel experience, offering click and collect services from mobile devices, where consumers can purchase goods online while in-store and then collect their goods from the counter.

“As well as allowing customers to shop the traditional way, we will introduce an innovative way people can shop in our pop-up concept store on their own device. It’s instant click-and-collect, this is a real insight into the future of retail.”

Catch Group has been going through a rapid period of growth over the last 12-months, also announcing the opening of a new 22,000 sqm warehouse near its current facilities in Truganina in Melbourne. According to the business, the extra space will provide the online marketplace with enough operational capacity to cater for the next five years of growth.

The business also reported strong results for Q1 FY19, with its results statement stating GTV increased 72.9 percent in Q1 to $99.39 million, up from $57.49 million in 2017. During this time, the company saw a bigger boost in its marketplace performance, with its GTV rising 843 percent when compared to the same period in 2017, finishing at $433.85 million for the quarter.

Active customers on the platform also rose to 1.2 million in Q1, representing a growth of 50 percent YOY.

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