MoonFox Analysis | Pop Mart’s Cyclical Resilience Shines as It Accelerates Toward the Global Market

About us: Aurora Mobile (NASDAQ: JG) established in 2011, is a leading customer engagement and marketing technology service provider in China. Its business includes notification services, marketing growth, development tools, and data products. As its sub-brand, MoonFox Data is a leading expert in data insights and analysis services across all scenarios, aiming to help companies gain market insights and empower precise decision-making.

SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Against the backdrop of slow global economic recovery, Pop Mart, as the “first stock in the pop toy industry”, has demonstrated remarkable market performance and robust growth momentum. According to public financial reports, Pop Mart’s revenue and net profit reached historic highs in 2023: annual revenue reached CNY ¥6.3 billion, a YoY increase of 36.5%, while net profit was CNY ¥1.1 billion, a YoY increase of 128.8%. Facing a volatile and fluctuating global economy over the past year, Pop Mart has steadily progressed in the market torrent with its distinctive counter-cyclical capability, showcasing remarkable market vitality. Pop Mart has already achieved impressive results in the domestic market, winning the love and pursuit of consumers and setting a benchmark in the industry. Now, Pop Mart is actively embracing the wave of globalization, accelerating toward the global market with an unstoppable attitude. With its product appeal and brand strength, it is emerging as a formidable new force in the international pop toy arena, gradually sparking a “pop toy culture” trend originating from China on a global scale.

I. Focusing on IP Incubation and Operation, Deepening the Influence of Self-Owned IP Brands

In terms of product segment performance, Pop Mart continued to focus on IP incubation and operation in 2023, expanding the influence of its core IP business. According to public financial reports, its revenue from artist IP and authorized IP products in 2023 reached CNY ¥4.822 billion and CNY ¥1.036 billion, respectively, a YoY increase of 32.5% and 88.4%. Self-owned products accounted for 93.0% of total revenue, expanding by 2.2% YoY. This significant growth highlights Pop Mart’s success in self-owned IP development and reflects its excellent effectiveness in authorized IP cooperation. Specifically, Pop Mart’s IP matrix consists of multiple tiers, with top classic IPs like SKULLPANDA and MOLLY attracting a large number of loyal fans with their unique artistic styles, becoming popular collectibles in the market. Their revenue in 2023 exceeded CNY ¥1 billion. Meanwhile, Pop Mart is constantly nurturing emerging IPs such as HACIPUPU and PINO JELLY, which have rapidly risen in a short time, with their revenue more than doubling YoY in 2023, becoming new favorites in the market. The rapid growth of these emerging IPs not only enriches Pop Mart’s product line but also brings new growth points for the company. While maintaining the strong competitiveness and influence of classic IPs, Pop Mart has also demonstrated its flexibility and innovation in IP incubation.

In terms of authorized IPs, Pop Mart has introduced a series of popular IP products through cooperation with well-known domestic and international brands and artists. These products not only broadened Pop Mart’s product categories but also brought new consumer groups. Through careful selection and localization adjustments, Pop Mart successfully integrated these authorized IPs into its own product system, achieving complementarity and synergy with its self-owned IPs. Pop Mart’s IP development strategy reflects its profound understanding of brand diversification and market segmentation. By building a diversified IP ecosystem, Pop Mart can meet the needs of different consumers and cover a broader market.

Furthermore, Pop Mart’s online and offline channel layout also strongly supports its IP promotion and sales. According to MoonFox data, the customer UV index of Pop Mart’s offline stores continues to rise, demonstrating its strong market attraction and brand influence. In 2023, Pop Mart’s retail store revenue reached CNY ¥2.479 billion, a YoY increase of 46.6%. At the same time, the monthly active users (MAU) of Pop Mart’s online applet also showed steady growth. In May 2024, Pop Mart’s applet recorded an MAU of 1.793 million, a YoY increase of 34.0%, while Pop Mart’s blind box machine applet recorded an MAU of 1.455 million, a YoY increase of 73.6%. This applet achieved revenue of CNY ¥729 million last year. Pop Mart has created a powerful brand ecosystem through its carefully nurtured IP matrix, innovative product development, diversified market strategies, and deep integration of online and offline channels.

II. From “Local Specialty” to “Pop Mart of the World” 

Pop Mart is not content with just their domestic success. Although the Chinese retail market is still growing steadily, it has set its sights on overseas markets, and Pop Mart’s globalization pace has always been solid and rapid. Public financial reports show that Pop Mart’s revenue in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas regions doubled in 2023, soaring from CNY $454 million to CNY $1.066 billion, with a growth rate of 134.9%, accounting for 16.9% of the company’s total revenue. The importance of overseas markets to the group’s growth is increasingly prominent. From a channel perspective, overseas market growth relies heavily on offline stores, with offline revenue increasing by 323.8% YoY in 2023.

In terms of global operations, Pop Mart’s overseas expansion strategy is comprehensive, with the key lying in localization and integration strategies. Before its classic self-owned IPs establish a larger global influence, Pop Mart conducts in-depth research on local culture and consumer preferences, carefully planned localized product lines and launches IPs that align with local cultures to meet the consumption preferences of different markets. According to public reports, Pop Mart has adopted a multi-channel market development strategy, combining offline stores, online malls, pop-up stores, and robotic stores with various sales channels while actively using social media and digital platforms to expand brand influence and user stickiness. Through the Direct-to-Customer (DTC) model, Pop Mart establishes direct connections with consumers, providing more personalized and customized services. It is not difficult to see from both financial performance and operational strategy that Pop Mart is emerging from the domestic market, with its robust branches reaching towards the global market, striving to take root as an iconic brand of global pop toy culture.

III. More Than Toys and Blind Boxes: How Far is Pop Mart from Becoming the “Chinese Disney”? 

Beyond the growing retail market, Pop Mart has bigger and more ambitious business aspirations. According to media reports, in September 2023, Pop Mart created its first immersive IP theme park in Beijing – POP LAND, moving from a single toy retail sector towards a diversified and comprehensive cultural tourism industry. The opening of POP LAND is a concentrated display of Pop Mart’s IP culture and a brand-new expansion of its business model and brand influence. Through this platform, Pop Mart has further consolidated its leading position in the pop toy market and extended the influence of IP culture to broader fields. While enjoying the joyful time in the park, visitors unconsciously deepen their cognition and love for the Pop Mart brand. In terms of ecosystem positioning, although the public believes that Pop Mart has the grand goal of becoming the company most similar to Disney in China, from its operational core, operational scale, and ecological positioning, it seems unable to fully benchmark Disney in the short term. For Pop Mart, the role of theme parks is still far from being seen as a revenue growth engine. Its role is to provide an IP-centered immersive experience, interaction, and co-creation with fans, thereby driving the brand influence and revenue growth of its offline and online toy retail business.

Whether in the domestic retail market, overseas consumer market, or theme park ventures, as a leader in the pop toy industry, Pop Mart has occupied an important market position with its versatility and innovation capabilities, demonstrating a strong ability to traverse economic cycles. Facing fierce market competition and constantly changing consumer demands, Pop Mart always maintains keen market insight and rapid innovation capabilities. From product design to marketing strategies, from offline experiences to online interactions, Pop Mart continuously explores and attempts to bring surprises and value to consumers in various fields. As the industry leader, every step Pop Mart makes is particularly important. Its success not only concerns its own development but also affects the future direction of the entire pop toy industry. With the continuous deepening of its globalization strategy and ongoing optimization of localized operations, Pop Mart is expected to establish a stronger brand influence globally, becoming a bridge connecting different cultures and consumer groups and promoting the spread and development of pop toy culture worldwide.

MoonFox Data is a leading expert in all-scenario data insights and analytics services. With a comprehensive, stable, secure and compliant mobile big data foundation, as well as professional and precise data analysis technology and AI algorithms, MoonFox Data has launched iAPP, iBrand, iMarketing, Alternative Data and professional research and consulting services of MoonFox Research, aiming to help companies gain insights into market growth and make accurate business decisions.

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SOURCE Aurora Mobile Ltd