Incorporating the increasing number of kids, Beijing-based collectible toys company POP MART has taken collectors past fandoms and taken them to a new height and has created a massive phenomenon within the Chinese toy market. It is predicted that the market for collectible toys in China will grow to 47.8 billion RMB (approximately 7.41 billion USD) by 2022. There are approximately 1,500 companies participating on the market. In spite of the increasing competitiveness in the Chinese market for art toys following POP MART’s first success in 2016. The company continually seeks to remain a step over its competitors, and is a leader in the sector. Thanks to the enormous popularity with art-themed toys China, POP MART is expanding its business across the globe.
Blind Box as the Key to penetrate the Mass Market Retail
Prior to POP MART the collectibles market in China were just a subculture which became popular among niche fanatics and were available in stores that were specialized. It was the blind box which POP MART employed to market collectibles, which led to the current boom in the industry of collectible toys across the United States. A blind box purchase is similar to opening an unexpected toy, without knowing exactly what you’ll get. People are enthralled by the anticipation and excitement of collecting the rarest toys, which are then resold at more than ten times the amount of the original cost. It’s not a stretch to say that blind boxes are an essential component of collector toys, opening up the world of collectors to the general market. Blind boxes were then introduced to the brick-and-mortar market. They are found at every mall or toy store and often, being the top-selling store. Apart from collectible toys additional merchandise like stationery, as well as clothing, is also available in blind-boxes.
The sales strategy works. Based on the most recent half-year financial report POP MART generated a total of USD 275 million, which is an improvement of 116.8 percent YoY. In 2020 POP MART sold more than fifty million toy items, resulting the total annual revenues of 382 million USD and demonstrating 49.3 percent growth over the previous year.
IP Operation as the Essential
In the event that blind box were POP MART’s trigger for the trend in art toy The company’s IP (Intellectual Properties) operation, in addition to the creation and design process are the mainstays of POP MART’s growth.
Before the explosion of art-toys that was taking place in China, POP MART began its foundations in 2010 by establishing IP operations. POP MART finds talented artists who have the potential to attract large fan bases across the globe. Through an advanced and complete IP management system, the artists are able to create several popular IP series as well as new, intriguing characters to the market. In total, POP MART operates over 100 IPs which include the top 4 comprising Molly, Dimoo, PUCKY along with The Monsters.
While at the same time, POP MART has endeavoured to spread the love of art toy through the involvement of artists and consumers to create a community of art-toy enthusiasts around the world. For instance, POP MART hosts PTS (Pop Toy Show, Asia’s largest toy showcase) every year twice to bring in world-class art toys creators and their fans from all over the globe. In addition, POP MART’s online community keeps its fans involved and builds brand loyalty.
Omnichannel to Cover the Large Consumer Base
The potential and threats created by the pandemic have prompted POP MART to make significant advancements in the area of supply chain flexibility and integration with digital technology for its the customer-membership programs.
Supply chain Flexibility:
To serve a broad customer market, POP MART has adopted an omnichannel model, which includes brick-and mortar retail stores, Robo stores, online stores, and an “blind box machine” mini-app. The number of retail stores as well as Robo shops is continuously growing. The number of Robo shops and retail stores is growing rapidly. China, POP MART runs 215 retail stores as well as 1477 Robo stores. In the first six months of this year, revenue from online stores as well as”blindbox machine,” the “blind box machine” mini app saw more than a 100% increase in sales, just a little more than the offline channels.
Digital integration for customer membership programs:
There are around. 4.02 million members who have just signed up in the POP MART membership program The total membership count is 11.42 million customers. The membership program’s fan base is responsible for more than 90% of total sales and has an average repurchase of 49% during the initial six months in 2021.
Global Footprint
With the huge success it has had with its huge success in China, POP MART has focused its attention on international market. POP MART is expanding its market reach to global customers through its global website and third-party online shopping platform (Amazon, Shopee, and AliExpress) as well as through social media. The key to success is the ability to localize. For example, POP MART hires local social media teams to ensure their content is relevant to local audiences and creates unique merchandise and campaigns targeted to certain regions or countries to meet the needs of various lifestyles and cultures. POP MART cooperates with many great partners in other countries to open stores and develop more diverse business. The company currently has outlets for retail located in Korea, Singapore, Japan and Canada In the near future in the future, it is expected that the United States, Europe, and Australia could also be seeing the opening of POP MART shops.
Alongside the retail sector, POP MART also partakes in licensing. It has a partnership with some of the most renowned brands like Harry Potter, Sanrio, and many more as an authorized licensee, as well as with Fresh Kiehl’s, Fresh, and many more as licensors.
In the year 2020 POP MART’s business overseas has experienced a significant growth of 175 percent YoY.
Future Plans
From a consumer perspective, POP MART is investing more in top-quality art toys like the Xiao Genshin Impact by exploring digitisation. For instance, the MEGA Collection 1000% Space Molly launched this year comes by an NFC chip to identify. Every art toy comes with an unique ID for the product which is used to verify authenticity on the POP MART web site. In the near future POP MART plans to expand to other websites to further boost the digitization of art toys.
Additionally, POP MART plans to expand its international reach in the near future, with new stores, as well as its online reach via the e-commerce channel and through digital marketing. It will continue to expand its reach to new customers, enhancing the brand’s image through technological innovation and delighting customers by bringing out the best of artist and intellectual property.
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