Pop Mart

Last updated
Pop Mart International Group Limited
HKG:9992
Industry Toy industry
FounderWang Ning
Headquarters
Beijing
,
China
Area served
Global
Total equity 25.092B (2023)

Pop Mart is a Chinese toy company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Contents

The company is known for selling collectable 'designer' toys, often sold in a 'blind box' format. [1] [2]

The Financial Times has described the company as having "elevated toy-buying to an act of trendy connoisseurship among China’s young affluent consumers", [3] and as having been 'credited with creating the market for so-called designer toys'. [2]

Around half of its sales are made at physical outlets, with the rest finished online. [4] The company additionally operates a social media and toy-trading app as part of its marketing strategy. [5] Its toys are known for selling to collectors on the second-hand market; venture capital firms have been known to invest in its second-hand products. [6]

History

The company was founded in China in 2010 by Wang Ning. [7] The brand's initial marketing strategy engaged with youth culture trends in China. [8] Over time it grew to 288 outlets and 1800 vending machines in that country. Its success in the 'blind box' format drove a $676m USD listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2020 giving it a market capitalisation of $7b at the time. However its revenue growth slowed and its shares slid below offer price. [9]

The company later expanded its growth strategy beyond mainland Chinese markets, with the Financial Times reporting on plans in 2022 to open between 40 and 50 overseas outlets. [10] It first expanded to the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, and Taiwan, and the U.K. in 2022. [11] [12] [13] In 2023 it expanded to Malaysia, and France. [14] [15] In 2024, it opened its Philippine store. [16] Some equity analysts have expressed scepticism at the company's ability to expand into the West, [17] while executives of the company have described developing that growth market as the company's 'most important development focus'; and argued that the company's product offering is differentiated from existing western markets. [18]

The success of the company has spawned multiple imitating blind box toy companies in China. [19]

Products and stores

In China, the toys are sold for typically between 59 and 69 RMB each, in a 'blind box' format credited with 'driving repeated purchases from customers seeking to secure the rarest collectables'. [1] [8] Its customers in China are typically affluent teenagers and young adults. [20]

The company works with designers and artists to develop characters. In 2021 it released a collection themed around the U.S. artist Keith Haring, and has collaborated with Moncler. [21] Other designers include Pucky, Ayan, and SKULLPANDA. [22]

One of their product series, Labubu, gained popularity in 2024 after Lisa, a member of the South Korean girl group, Blackpink, uploaded a photo of herself holding the doll on her Instagram account. [23]

Stores

The company has both staffed outlets, as well as vending machines known as 'roboshops'. [24] [12]

Apps

The company has launched social media apps as a means to promote its products. In December 2021 it launched 'Pop Mart Global' in the United States. [25]

Controversy

Chinese media has described the toy company's products as 'addictive'. [26] In recent times, the company has been increasingly regulated; within China, the company has come under domestic regulatory pressure after regulators banned the sale of mystery boxes to children under eight years; and required guardian consent for older children. [27] In Singapore, a S$100 prize limit on mystery boxes has been proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs. [28]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walmart</span> American multinational retail corporation operating department stores

Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other countries. It is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company was founded by brothers Sam and James "Bud" Walton in nearby Rogers, Arkansas in 1962 and incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law on October 31, 1969. It also owns and operates Sam's Club retail warehouses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beanie Babies</span> American brand of stuffed toys

Beanie Babies are a line of stuffed toys created by American businessman Ty Warner, who founded Ty Inc. in 1986. The toys are stuffed with plastic pellets ("beans") rather than conventional soft stuffing. They come in many different forms, mostly animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hot Topic</span> American retail chain

Hot Topic, Inc. is an American fast-fashion company specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, and most of their audience ranges from teens to young adults. Approximately 40% of Hot Topic's revenue comes from sales of licensed band T-shirts. The majority of the stores are located in regional shopping malls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toys "R" Us</span> American international toy, clothing and baby product retailer

Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids and various others. The company was founded in 1948; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters located in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pet Rock</span> Collectible toy

Pet Rock is a collectible toy made in 1975 by advertising executive Gary Dahl. They were rocks packaged in custom cardboard boxes complete with ventilation holes and straw bedding imitating a pet carrier. The fad lasted about six months, ending after a short increase in sales during the Christmas season of December 1975. Although by February 1976 they were discounted due to lower sales, Dahl sold over one million Pet Rocks for $4 each, and became a millionaire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamleys</span> British multinational toy retailer

Hamleys of London Limited, trading as Hamleys, is a British multinational toy retailer, owned by Reliance Retail. Listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's oldest toy store, it was founded by William Hamley as "Noah's Ark" in High Holborn, London, in 1760. It moved to its current site on Regent Street in London's West End in 1881. This flagship store is set over seven floors, with more than 50,000 lines of toys on sale. It receives around five million visitors each year.

<i>Gashapon</i> Vending machine toys

Gashapon (ガシャポン), also called gachapon (ガチャポン), is a trademark of Bandai. Among the variety of vending machine-dispensed capsule toys that originated in the 1960s, it became popular in Japan and elsewhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FamilyMart</span> Japanese convenience store chain

The FamilyMart Company, Ltd. is a Japanese convenience store franchise chain, and a subsidiary of Itochu, a Japanese trading company. It is Japan's second largest convenience store chain, behind Seven-Eleven Japan. There are now 24,574 stores worldwide in Japan, Taiwan, China, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Its headquarters is on the 17th floor of the Sunshine 60 building in Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo. There were some stores in Japan with the name Circle K Sunkus under the operation of FamilyMart. FamilyMart currently has franchise stores in Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, China, and Vietnam.

K·B Toys was an American chain of mall-based retail toy stores. The company was founded in 1922 as Kaufman Brothers, a wholesale candy store. The company opened a wholesale toy store in 1946, and ended its candy wholesales two years later to emphasize its toy products. Retail sales began during the 1970s, using the name Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lotte Mart</span> South Korean hypermarket chain

Lotte Mart is a South Korean hypermarket that sells a variety of groceries, clothing, toys, electronics, and other goods, with headquarters in South Korea. Lotte Mart is a division of the Lotte Co., Ltd. which sells food and shopping services in South Korea and Japan. Lotte Mart, part of the Korean conglomerate "Lotte", opened its first branch at Guui-dong, GangByeon, Seoul, Korea on April 1, 1998. In 2006, Lotte Mart opened its first overseas branch. As of August 8, 2011, Lotte Mart had 199 branches. Store brands include Herbon, Wiselect, Withone, Basicicon, Tasse Tasse, and Gerard Darel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Funko</span> American toy company

Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures licensed and limited pop culture collectibles, known for its licensed vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces licensed plush, action figures, apparel, accessories and games. Founded in 1998 by Mike Becker and Claudia Becker, Funko was originally conceived as a small project to create various low-tech, nostalgia-themed toys. The company's first manufactured bobblehead was of the Big Boy restaurant mascot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reliance Retail</span> Indian retail company

Reliance Retail is an Indian retail company and a subsidiary of Reliance Industries. Founded in 2006, it is the largest retailer in India in terms of revenue. Its retail outlets offer foods, groceries, apparel, footwear, toys, home improvement products, electronic goods, and farm implements and inputs. As of 2023, it has over 245,000 employees at 18,000 store locations in 7,000 towns. Apart from physical stores, the company also sells products on its e-commerce channels.

Travelex International Limited is a foreign exchange company founded by Lloyd Dorfman and headquartered in Peterborough, United Kingdom. Its main businesses are foreign currency exchange, issuing prepaid credit cards for use by travellers, supplying central banks with foreign currency and global remittance. Travelex operates more than 1,100 stores and 900 ATMs in over 20 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bic Camera</span> Japanese consumer electronics retailer

Bic Camera, Inc. is a consumer electronics retailer chain in Japan. Currently, it has 45 stores in 17 prefectures. Bic Camera has a 50% ownership of former rival store Kojima with 143 stores and full ownership of computer store chain Sofmap with 24 stores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H Mart</span> American chain of Asian supermarkets

H Mart is an American chain of Asian supermarkets operated by the Hanahreum Group, headquartered in Lyndhurst, Bergen County, New Jersey. The chain has 84 stores throughout the United States, operated variously as H Mart, H Mart Northwest, and H Mart Colorado; two stores in the Pacific Northwest operate as G Mart. It also has stores in Canada and two in the United Kingdom. H Mart is the largest U.S.-based grocery store chain that specializes in Asian-style products and caters to Asian-American shoppers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MINISO</span> Chinese variety store chain

MINISO Group Holding Limited, trading as MINISO is a Chinese retailer and variety store chain that specializes in household and consumer goods including cosmetics, stationery, toys, and kitchenware featuring IP design. Its headquarters are in Haizhu District, Guangzhou. In 2023, the company's sales revenue reached $1.9 billion. In March 2019, MINISO began a collaboration with Marvel Entertainment to sell its branded products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dodo Pizza</span> Russian pizza chain

Dodo Pizza is a multinational pizza сhain founded in 2011 in Syktyvkar, Russia. Operating under the umbrella of QSR group Dodo Brands, the company has more than 1000 restaurants in 21 countries across Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Jazwares, LLC is an American company headquartered in Plantation, Florida that designs and manufactures toys and other consumer products. As of 2022, the company is owned by investment holding company Berkshire Hathaway. The company is best known for its Squishmallows plush toy line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Squishmallows</span> Brand of stuffed toys

Squishmallows is a brand of stuffed toy that was launched in 2017 by Kelly Toys Holdings LLC and is owned by Jazwares, a Berkshire Hathaway company. Squishmallows are round and come in a variety of colors, sizes, animals, and textures. The brand has created over 3,000 Squishmallows styles.

References

  1. 1 2 Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times . Retrieved 2023-07-11. The company is known for its trademark "blind boxes", which contain an unidentified character and sell for Rmb59-Rmb69 each.
  2. 1 2 Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11. Launched in 2010, Pop Mart has been credited with creating the market for so-called designer toys and last year made gross profits of Rmb2.8bn ($424mn). The company has 288 outlets and more than 1,800 vending machines known as "roboshops" in China and earned Rmb4.5bn in revenue last year.
  3. ↑ Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11. Pop Mart has elevated toy-buying to an act of trendy connoisseurship among China's young affluent consumers. Now it wants to emulate fellow domestic brands such as social media platform TikTok and online fashion retailer Shein by capturing the attention of western consumers.
  4. ↑ Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11. About half of its revenue comes from its shops and vending machines, with most of the rest coming from online sales.
  5. ↑ Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11. Pop Mart spawned a frenzied market for its toys by successfully navigating China's powerful but fickle youth culture trends, even launching a social media and toy-trading app where toy hunters can show off their latest hauls and swap tips on the newest trends.
  6. ↑ Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11. Some of the most desirable smaller Pop Mart toys often sell to avid collectors for Rmb1,000 or more on the second-hand market, a space that has seen investment from prominent venture capital groups including Sequoia.
  7. ↑ "Video | Explained: Pop Mart, the company behind 'blind box' toys". KrASIA. 2021-02-10. Retrieved 2023-07-11. The company's founder and CEO, Wang Ning, saw his own wealth nearly triple in 2020.
  8. 1 2 Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  9. ↑ Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11. The trend catapulted Pop Mart to a $676mn listing in Hong Kong in December 2020, giving it a market capitalisation of $7bn.
    But the group's revenue growth slowed in the six months to December 31, with sales 60.3 per cent higher year on year compared with 116.8 per cent growth in the previous six months. Its shares are now trading below their offer price.
  10. ↑ Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11. Pop Mart opened its first European store in London in January and has plans to reach a total of between 40 and 50 overseas outlets this year. Including the London store, it already has 18 outlets outside China.
  11. ↑ Dong, Irene (2022-09-13). "Pop Mart opens its first Taiwan store". Inside Retail. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  12. 1 2 Pandaily (2022-06-20). "Pop Mart Opens First Pop-up Store in the U.S." Pandaily. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  13. ↑ Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11. Pop Mart opened its first European store in London in January and has plans to reach a total of between 40 and 50 overseas outlets this year. Including the London store, it already has 18 outlets outside China
  14. ↑ Dong, Irene (2023-05-23). "Pop Mart opens its first physical store in Malaysia". Inside Retail. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  15. ↑ Van, Tong (2023-02-27). "Pop Mart expands into France". Inside Retail. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  16. ↑ Tunac, Hermes Joy (November 3, 2024). "Marian Rivera graces Pop Mart's pop-up launch in Pasay". GMA Network . Retrieved November 3, 2024.
  17. ↑ Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11. Gaujacq said that while there was a market for Pop Mart's toys outside China, it was hard to tell how far a growth model based on spurring a consumer trend could fuel the company's expansion in the west.
  18. ↑ Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11. International growth was Pop Mart's "most important development focus", said Moon, the vice-president, adding that while he acknowledged the "massive challenge" of convincing foreign consumers to buy into a Chinese trend, strong sales at the UK store gave him reason to be confident.

    Moon said that while consumer "tastes are completely different" in the west, "you can't find anything like our products in these places. To local people these things are really fresh." He added that while initial uptake of Pop Mart characters was quicker in east and south-east Asian countries, where the group is also opening outlets, ultimately "our products don't have national borders".
  19. ↑ jknotts (2022-02-23). "The Rise of Pop Mart Closely Resembles the Rise of Crypto – Coincidence?". www.thebeijinger.com. Retrieved 2023-07-11. Just about every major company operating in China – from Xiaomi to McDonald's – has attempted a blind box marketing ploy in one form or another. But certain brands build their entire business model around blind boxes, and chief among these is the toy brand Pop Mart.
  20. ↑ Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11. Pop Mart's typical customers are China's increasingly affluent teenagers and young adults.
  21. ↑ Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11. The company works with designers and artists to develop its characters, ranging from wide-eyed alligators to canine astronauts. It released a collection last year themed around the work of US artist Keith Haring and recently launched a collaboration with designer skiwear label Moncler.
  22. ↑ "POP MART Australia opens first physical store in Melbourne - PR Newswire APAC". en.prnasia.com. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  23. ↑ Goh, Amanda (August 27, 2024). "The rise of Labubu: Why are people obsessed with this plush toy accessory?". Tatler Asia. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  24. ↑ Langley, William (2022-05-04). "Pop Mart: toymaker behind China's collectibles craze looks to the west". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-07-11. The company has 288 outlets and more than 1,800 vending machines known as "roboshops" in China and earned Rmb4.5bn in revenue last year.
  25. ↑ Pandaily (2022-06-20). "Pop Mart Opens First Pop-up Store in the U.S." Pandaily. Retrieved 2023-07-11. In December of the same year, Pop Mart's app "Pop Mart Global" was officially launched in the U.S. with its main functions including an online shopping mall and community. Users can purchase products directly through the application and share their experience while interacting with the community.
  26. ↑ jknotts (2022-02-23). "The Rise of Pop Mart Closely Resembles the Rise of Crypto – Coincidence?". www.thebeijinger.com. Retrieved 2023-07-11. Since its rise, Chinese media has taken note of the peculiar effect Pop Mart has on its fans, often describing their shopping behavior as addictive.
  27. ↑ Standard, The. "China issues rules on mystery boxes, regulates sales to children". The Standard. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  28. ↑ "#trending: TikTok users awed by granny with 'super powers' in choosing desired toy from Pop Mart mystery boxes". TODAY. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.