Illustration photo
In a video released by the renowned magazine Vanity Fair last month, BLACKPINK’s Lisa shared her great love for Pop Mart toys – (Pop Mart International Group), a Chinese toy company.
“I’m crazy about Pop Mart toys and look for stores everywhere I go, from New York to Paris. It’s like a treasure hunt,” she said as she unboxed a doll from the PUCKY Roly Poly Kitty toy set by the manufacturer.
Lisa is not the only one enamored by Pop Mart’s offerings. This year, the Beijing-based company has transformed from a well-known brand among China’s Generation Z to a global phenomenon. In the US and Australia, fans are said to have queued for hours, sometimes even at midnight, to snap up newly launched products. Stores have sprung up in cities including Paris, Milan, and New York. Overseas sales have increased fivefold.
This passion for diverse toys has made Pop Mart China’s most captivating growth story, with its stock surging 368% this year, outperforming most peers on the MSCI China Index. The company reported a domestic sales increase of at least 55% year-over-year in Q3, while overseas sales surged over 400%.
Experts refer to it as an “emerging global brand.”
Pop Mart often sells dolls in blind boxes, meaning consumers don’t know which specific character is inside until they open it. This element of surprise arouses curiosity and transforms the unboxing process into an exciting experience, leading to a “blind box addiction.” This mystery not only attracts fans but also creates a unique shopping experience, fostering an emotional connection to the brand.
Take the retailer’s signature character, Molly, a short-haired girl often pouting. This character may appear as Space Molly, an astronaut traveling through space, or Baby Molly, depicting her as a three-year-old child. For foreign markets, the company creates exclusive designs, such as a Mona Lisa-like monster sold at the Louvre in Paris.
The toys typically retail for 69 yuan ($9.50), while larger, limited-edition pieces can fetch thousands of yuan. There’s also a thriving black market operating on Chinese e-commerce platforms and apps in Southeast Asia, where toys are sold for many times their original price.
Citigroup expects Pop Mart’s global revenue to account for half of its total revenue next year as the company expands into North America and Europe. As of June 30, the company had 92 physical stores and over 160 vending machines abroad.
Founded in 2010, the company derives most of its revenue from exclusive intellectual property products. They collaborate with artists, established IP providers, and an in-house design team to create their dolls. The toy manufacturer also licenses brands from companies like Disney and Universal Studios.
In China, the government prohibits the sale of blind boxes to children under 8 due to addiction concerns. Before authorities implemented such guidelines in 2023, legal risks were a primary concern for investors.
However, consumer enthusiasm for Pop Mart remains unabated. As of June, the company had 39 million registered member customers in China, with a repeat purchase rate of 43.9%. China also accounted for approximately 70% of total sales in the first half of 2024. On TikTok, the hashtag #popmart has been used in over 667,000 posts, and 1.8 million users follow the company’s official account.
According to SCMP
