Recognizing the rising number of Kidultsin Beijing, Beijing-based collectible toys company POP MART has taken collectors past fandoms and taken them to a new height that has led to a widespread trend within the Chinese toy market. It is predicted that the segment of collectible toys in China will be 47.8 billion RMB (approximately 7.41 billion USD) by 2022. There are around 1,500 companies operating 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 constantly strives to stay one step over the competition and be an innovator in the sector. Due to the huge growth that art toy toys have enjoyed in China, POP MART is expanding its operations around 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 attained popularity among niche enthusiasts 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 market for collectible toys in the United States. The buying of a blind box is similar to opening an unexpected toy, without knowing exactly what you’ll get. The customers are in awe of the excitement and suspense of collecting collectibles that could be sold for more than ten times the amount of the original cost. It’s not a stretch to think of blind boxes as the most important element in collecting toys, opening the world of collectors to larger market of consumers. Blind boxes were then introduced to the brick-and mortar channel. They are found at every mall or toy store and, sometimes, becoming the most popular spot for sales. Apart from collectible toys additional merchandise such as stationery and even clothing, are available in blind boxes.

This strategy for sales is efficient. Based on the most recent half-year financial report POP MART generated a total revenues of USD 275 million which was the increase being 116.8 percent YoY. In 2020 POP MART was able to sell more than 50 million of toys which resulted the total annual revenue of $382 million and demonstrating 49.3 percent growth year-over-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, along with design and creation are the foundations of POP MART’s growth.

Prior to the boom in art toys that was taking place in China, POP MART began its foundations in the year 2010 by establishing IP operations. POP MART is able to identify talented artists who have the potential to attract large fan bases across the globe. With a highly sophisticated and comprehensive IP management system, artists develop numerous series of well-known IPs as well as new, intriguing characters to the market. In all, 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 increase awareness of the art of art toys by involving consumers and artists to build a community art toy enthusiasts across the globe. For instance, POP MART hosts PTS (Pop Toy Show, Asia’s biggest art toy showcase) each year for two days to bring in world-class art toys creators and fans across the globe. In addition, POP MART’s online community keeps its fans involved and builds 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 area of supply chain flexibility and digital integration of customers’ membership programs.

Supply chain Flexibility:

To reach a broad consumer range, POP MART has adopted an omnichannel design, which includes brick-and mortar retail stores, Robo shops online shops, as well as an “blind box machine” mini-app. The number of retail stores as well as Robo shops is constantly growing. For China, POP MART runs 215 retail stores as well as 1477 Robo stores. In the first half of this year, revenues from online stores as well as”blindbox machine,” the “blind box machine” mini-app has seen an increase of more than 100% in sales, barely exceeding the offline channels.

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Digital integration for customer membership programs:

There are approximately. 4.02 million new members of the membership program offered by POP MART The total membership count is 11.42 million customers. The membership program’s fan base is responsible for more than 90% of total sales, with an average repurchase of 49% for the initial six months in 2021.

Global Footprint

Due to its massive success with its huge success in China, POP MART has established its sights on international market. POP MART is expanding its international reach by launching its own website that is accessible worldwide and third-party E-commerce platform (Amazon, Shopee, and AliExpress) as well as social media. The key to success is the localization. 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 tastes of different lifestyles and cultures. POP MART cooperates with many wonderful partners from around the world to open stores and develop an expanded business. Today, the company operates outlets for retail located in Korea, Singapore, Japan and Canada as well as in the future in the future, in the future, the United States, Europe, and Australia might also have 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 others as licensing partners.

In 2020, POP MART’s business overseas has seen a dramatic growth of 175 percent YoY.

Future Plans

From a product standpoint, POP MART is investing more in premium art toys by exploring digitisation. For instance, the MEGA Collection 1000% Space Molly launched this year comes by an NFC chip that allows for identification. Each toy is equipped with an individual product ID which is used to verify authenticity through the POP MART web site. In the near future the company will expand to other websites to further boost the digitalization of art toys.

Additionally, POP MART plans to extend its reach to other countries in the near future, which includes new stores and its online presence through the e-commerce channel and through digital marketing. The brand will continue to reach new customers, enhancing the brand’s image through technological innovation and bringing joy to customers with unique, vibrant creators and trademarks.