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Pink wall featuring vertical neon lights and large black text reading "Treat yourself bij Etos" behind a service counter.

Etos pop-up store

Client: ETOSCategory: RetailLocation: BEN

Context

In a beauty market driven by trends, social media and constant newness, younger consumers are increasingly hard to impress. Gen Z doesn’t just shop for products, they look for discovery, entertainment and brands that feel playful and shareable. While Etos has strong national presence and trust, the growing number of online-first beauty brands and concept stores raised the bar for how beauty should be experienced offline.

Exterior view of the glass-walled Etos Beauty Pop-up store located in a busy train station concourse.

Keeping Relevant

To stay relevant and grow share in an increasingly competitive beauty landscape, Etos needed to bring new and upcoming beauty brands to life in a way that sparked desire, encouraged exploration and pulled a younger audience into physical retail. The challenge was to turn product introduction into an experience. One that felt fresh, indulgent and impossible to scroll past.

Woman in a pink suit using a digital kiosk at an Etos beauty pop-up store next to an elf cosmetics display.

Connection

Our research showed that Gen Z approaches beauty as play. They love to mix, test and discover, and are far more likely to engage when products feel treat-like, visual and shareable. Inspiration comes from social first, but the decision is made when they can touch, try and experience it for real. Beauty, for this audience, should feel like a candy store.
That insight shaped our solution. We translated Etos’ growing beauty portfolio into a candy meets make-up pop-up concept, designed to trigger curiosity and desire. Each brand was given its own bold, colourful area, encouraging mix & match discovery and effortless content creation. Instagrammable design, supported by on-site make-up artists and well-trained staff, turned browsing into interaction and interaction into purchase.

Woman posing inside a giant clear Etos ball pit display filled with pink and yellow balls and beauty product props.

Location

By placing the pop-ups in high-traffic city locations in Rotterdam and Utrecht, we connected social behaviour with physical retail. The result was an immersive, share-worthy store experience that introduced new beauty brands in a way that felt fun, accessible and made Etos relevant for a younger generation.

Promoter in a pink suit wearing a giant red lipstick backpack with "Treat yourself bij Etos" branding.

Impact


The pop-up stores proved that experiential retail is a powerful driver for beauty growth. Across Rotterdam and Utrecht, the stores attracted strong and consistent footfall, welcoming a total of 7,500 shoppers in a limited time frame. The high turnout confirmed the relevance of the concept and its ability to pull a younger audience into physical retail.
Beyond reach, the experience delivered real engagement. Shoppers spent time exploring, testing and mixing products, creating a playful store dynamic and strong emotional buy-in. The pop-ups successfully positioned Etos as a destination for discovery and new beauty brands, strengthening brand relevance among Gen Z and supporting Etos’ ambition to grow its beauty market share.

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