[Image Source: LinkedIn]

Aussie e-commerce giant, Catch Group, has doubled the size of its Melbourne pop-up store from 500 sqm to 1,000 sqm, following reports of strong consumer demand.

Speaking to Inside Retail, Catch Group CEO, Nati Harpaz, asserts crowd control measures have sometimes been used to manage customers.

The e-commerce seller opened its click-to-bricks pop-up store in Melbourne’s Chadstone Shopping Centre in October this year – a shop “designed for the digital age.”

Whilst originally stocking the top 500 products on Catch’s website, the store will now double its floor space and stock volume.

The concept pop-up store is said to offer a ‘true omnichannel experience’, enabling consumers to purchase goods onlline whilst in-store, and then collecting from a counter.

Consumers can purchase via traditional methods (browse in-store and purchase), or engage in ‘instant click and collect’ (shopping online in-store, then physically collecting).

Catch Group asserts active online customers have soared 50% year-on-year to 1.2 million in Q1Y18.

It follows mounting rumours the e-commerce giant is preparing for an IPO, despite the expanding growth of Amazon Australia.