Incorporating the increasing number of kids, Beijing-based collector toy manufacturer 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 segment of collectible toys in China will grow to 47.8 billion RMB (approximately 7.41 billion USD) in 2022. This will include approximately 1,500 companies participating that are in the market. Despite the growing market competition within the Chinese market for art toys following POP MART’s success in 2016. The company continually seeks to remain a step over its competitors, and is a leader in the market. Thanks to the enormous growth that art toy toys have enjoyed in 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 collecting toys in China were just a subculture which became popular among niche fanatics and were available in stores that were specialized. Blind boxes which POP MART employed to market collectibles that led to the boom of the industry of collectible toys across the United States. A blind box purchase is like unboxing an unexpected toy, without knowing exactly what you’ll get. The customers are in awe of the excitement and suspense of collecting collectibles that 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 the most important element in collector toys, opening up the world of collectors to general market. Blind boxes are then distributed across the brick-and-mortar market. They are available in all shopping centers or toy store and, sometimes, being the top-selling store. Apart from collectible toys additional merchandise such as 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 revenues of USD 275 million which was an improvement of 116.8 percent YoY. In 2020 POP MART was able to sell more than fifty million toy items, which resulted an annual total revenue of $382 million 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 of art toys Their IP (Intellectual Properties) operation, in addition to the creation and design process are the mainstays of POP MART’s growth.
Prior to the boom in art toys such as Xiao Genshin Impact within China, POP MART began its business’s foundation in 2010 by establishing IP operations. POP MART finds talented artists who have the potential to gain a large following all over the world. With a highly sophisticated and comprehensive IP management system, the artists are able to create numerous series of well-known IPs and brand new, exciting characters to the market. In total, POP MART operates over 100 IPs which include the top 4 including Molly, Dimoo, PUCKY as well as The Monsters.
In the same way, POP MART has endeavoured to spread the love of art toy through consumers and artists to build a community art-toy enthusiasts around the world. For instance, POP MART hosts PTS (Pop Toy Show, Asia’s biggest art toy showcase) every year twice to bring in world-class art toys creators and fans across the globe. Additionally, the POP MART online community keeps its fans involved and helps build brand loyalty.
Omnichannel to Cover a Large Consumer Base
The opportunities and challenges created by the pandemic have prompted POP MART to make significant advancements in the flexibility of its supply chain and digital integration of the customer-membership programs.
Supply chain Flexibility:
To reach a broad consumer market, POP MART has adopted an omnichannel design, which includes brick-and-mortar stores, Robo shops online stores, and the “blind box machine” mini-app. The quantity of retail stores and 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 half of this year, revenues from online shopping as well as”blind box machine” mini apps “blind box machine” mini-app has seen more than a 100% increase in sales, barely exceeding 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 fan base accounts for more than 90% of total sales and has an average repurchase of 49% during the beginning of the year 2021.
Global Footprint
Due to its massive success through China, POP MART has established its sights on international market. POP MART is expanding its market reach to global customers through its global website and third-party E-commerce marketplaces (Amazon, Shopee, and AliExpress) as well as social media. The key is the localization. For example, POP MART hires local social media teams to ensure their content is relevant to the local community and creates unique merchandise and campaigns targeted to particular regions and countries that match the needs of various lifestyles and cultures. POP MART cooperates with many wonderful partners from around the world to establish stores and build an expanded business. Today, the company operates shops across Korea, Singapore, Japan and Canada as well as in the future in the future, in the future, the United States, Europe, and Australia could also be seeing locations of the company.
Apart from retail, POP MART also partakes in licensing. It has a partnership with some of the most renowned brands, including Harry Potter, Sanrio, and many others , as licensedes, as well as Fresh Kiehl’s, Fresh, and many more as licensors.
In the year 2020 POP MART’s business overseas has seen a dramatic growth of 175 percent YoY.
Future Plans
From a consumer perspective, POP MART is investing more in premium art toys through digitisation exploration. This year’s MEGA Collection 1000% Space Molly that was released in the year 2000 comes by an NFC chip to identify. Every art toy comes with an unique ID for the product which is used to verify authenticity through the POP MART site. In the near future the company will extend its reach to additional online platforms to further encourage the digitalization of art toys.
Additionally, POP MART plans to extend its reach to other countries in the near future, which includes new stores, as well as its online presence through online marketing and e-commerce channels. The brand will continue to reach new customers, enhancing the brand with technological innovations and bringing joy to customers by bringing out the best of artist and intellectual property.
