In an economy that is constantly evolving and moving towards flexibility in every sense, being able to match pace with the changes is pertinent for brands and businesses to not only flourish today but sustain value in the long-term. As a consequence, more and more brands today are thinking about flexible short-term options for marketing and retail.

Co-retailing is fast emerging as the next big thing in retail globally. The concept is literally what the name suggests, a phenomenon where multiple brands set up shop next to each other, with the aim of building a community of interesting brands and the intermingling of customers. While this might seem like the exact definition of a mall or shopping arcade, which have been around for tens of years now, there’s a twist – Flexibility! Flexibility in terms of duration, space use as well as the shop setup. The time-frame and the atmosphere are what makes it different from regular multi-brand stores. While these require long-term lease agreements, higher rents and an almost permanent situation, Co-retailing can be thought of as an amalgamation of Pop Ups and multi-brand presence.

What this basically would entail is that several brands would be marketing and selling their products and services at the same physical space. This could be for a day or weeks or months depending on the budget, requirement and convenience of each brand. You could set up a shop for 1 week at a neighbourhood mall and then just move out, or 1 month at a premium high street – Flexibility – Low Costs & benefits of being part of a vibrant community!

A popular adaptation of this model are Pop-Up / Flea Markets which happen regularly at malls, hotels and expo centers, however they’re not able to provide this level of flexibility in terms of dates, since they would happen on specific days decided by the organizer!

Stay tuned for our upcoming series on this rising trend and how it has the potential to change the retail industry forever!