IFTM students have managed to double their sales compared to expected at a pop-up store operation at the Educational Restaurant, which is part of a course assignment.
The achievements were made by a group of second-year Tourism Retail and Marketing Management (Chinese Medium) students studying the Marketing Channels and Distribution course. The course was formulated to educate students about the strategies available to conduct multi-channel marketing practices. The course also covers knowledge from upstream to downstream exposure, such as choosing the optimal distribution channel and product delivery to customers. Site visits and projects, among other elements, are part and parcel of the course.
Students have picked local retail brands from the iRetail Lab of IFTM and sold their products. At the end of the pop-up operation, one group of students made nearly MOP6,000 in revenue, nearly double of their estimated revenues of MOP3,000.
Menna Wong Choi Lin, a student-operator of the project, acknowledged the project for providing her with valuable knowledge about the products they sell, stock preparation, and workforce management. “As most of us are working students and we had noontime and evening sessions at the pop-up store, the former session was tough on our human resources,” Menna told IFTM News Portal. She also learnt how to acquire products, market products, and understand marketing trends. “It surely has helped me incorporate my theoretical knowledge.”
Jesse Ho Ka Hei, another student in the course, expressed that they learnt from the course lecturer, Ms. Daney Qiao Danyi, sharing of her experience and professional analysis, as well as inviting industry practitioners to share their experiences. They were able to use classroom knowledge flexibly with their team members to build up the pop-up store step by step, allowing them to understand the knowledge points more thoroughly.
On the other hand, Daney believed that this project would help students shape their future careers and realise their entrepreneurial dreams. “I saw happy faces on participating students [after the pop-up sale],” she said, adding that they showed a much stronger sense of engagement than in other written course assignments. She suggested that students who want to start their own businesses have already experienced what entrepreneurship is like, and they may have a clearer idea if they really want to be entrepreneurs in the future.
Students conducted various analyses to prepare for their project. They analysed the restaurant, focusing on its Michelin green star status and use of self-grown ingredients. “We have also analysed the current retail status Macao, such as the consumption preferences of tourists,” Menna added. Menna’s group chose organic body care products brand The Mossand crystal jewellery brand Crstfa. They met with brand owners at a site visit, liaising with them and familiarizing themselves with the products.
Additionally, Daney organized a field trip to visit local brands O.N.E. Products and Cloé Jewelry & Art. The trip helped students understand the challenges of establishing a brand, the impact of the epidemic, and how the owners changed their business models and strategies to cope with environmental variables during challenging times.
In the operations, Daney disclosed that the students had well-incorporated their theoretical knowledge and real-life work experience so as to smooth the progress of the project. She did not see the confusion and hustle that she estimated would happen.
Daney added that she was considering negotiating with larger brands to expand the course project to allow students to stage their pop-up sale in a real shopping mall setup.
