ASOS Marketplace Charity Pop-Up

On Tuesday, ASOS Marketplace hosted a charity pop-up event at their offices in Camden.

Traid, Oxfam, British Red Cross, Barnardos and Save the Children collaborated to display vintage wares around a Christmas tree to raise funds for their respective causes. These pop-up charity shops are rare but highly successful, mainly kept to the confines of larger cities and festivals. More and more charities are looking to undertake more of these events to capture and engage new audiences.

The concept on Tuesday was to have a handful of charity pop-up stalls in a large space within a work environment, to which the employees were invited to browse, make purchases and learn more about the charities’ causes. Katie-Beth Gorman was the organiser of the project at ASOS Marketplace and remarked upon how much fun it was to get involved with the charities. It provided ASOS staff the opportunity to carry out some of their Christmas shopping in a different format. Not only did it raise vital funds for the charities involved but it put charity retail on people’s radars in a fun and engaging way.

“It’s disruptive charity retail at its best” says exhibitor Vicky from the British Red Cross. The charity are looking to diversify their offering to connect with a younger demographic. Gemma from Barnardos Vintage discussed the importance of evolving with the current market and keeping up with the ways in which people now carry out their shopping. This event was the first physical pop-up that Gemma had attended with her vintage treasures but said she would definitely do it again.

Millennials are propping up the environmental agenda, with re-use and recycling faring top of the list in terms of taking action. Charity retail is responding by pushing the boundaries of the traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ charity shop to appeal to this highly engaged market segment. The ASOS Marketplace pop-up is a great example of forward thinking and diversifying in charity retail.