Pop goes the collectibles craze, as retailer chases mainstream

Cult Chinese retail brand Pop Mart is ready to drive growth locally with a plan to open new stores and target a mainstream audience.

Pop Mart limited edition drop of Labubu blind boxes

Pop Mart, the Chinese retailer behind cult collectable characters, is set to open more stores across Australia as it targets a mainstream market.

The retail brand has more than 500 stores and 2300 Robo Shops, which are giant vending machines, across 30 countries globally. Its products include collectibles from global brands such as Disney and Sanrio, as well as its own characters such as Labubu and Scout Panda.

Pop Mart has built a passionate and highly-engaged global fan base of 18-35 year olds through social media and online channels and has expanded into theme parks and digital entertainment.

Pop Mart has built a cult following around its limited-edition drops and the hype of queuing for products.

Pop Mart’s cult following is fuelled by its scarcity strategy which combines limited-edition product “drops” and “blind boxes”, mystery boxes where customers don’t know what they are purchasing, which contribute to the hype and popularity around the brand. The product drops create high engagement for fans. Last year an exclusive drop of 300 Labubu blind boxes sold within one hour at the brand’s store in Sydney CBD Westfield and a drop at Melbourne’s Doncaster store this year had people queuing from 4am.

Pop Mart plans to leverage this engagement to entice new customers to experience the brand and its products.

Central to this strategy is boosting overall awareness of the brand and its products via a store expansion strategy, according to Pop Mart Australia general manager Yuki Wu.

While Pop Mart currently operates 11 physical stores, in addition to the Robo Shops, across NSW, Victoria and Queensland, Ms Wu plans to increase this footprint significantly. “We have only 11 stores in the whole of Australia,” said Ms Wu.

“It’s still a newborn baby in the market. Not many people know about Pop Mart, even though we have the weekly queue.

“We need to be more focused on the local market, so we want to open more stores and some of the stores will be regional. We have a plan that we are trying to bring to more audiences in the Australian market.”

Pop Mart blind boxes are a sought after item

The brand will open a new store in the Melbourne Walk development in July and has ambitious growth plans to push into regional areas, as well as plans to launch more shopping centre kiosks across the country.

To help the brand target mainstream audiences, Pop Mart has engaged creative agency Rasic & Partners to help bolster awareness.

“Those who know Pop Mart, love Pop Mart,” said Rasic & Partners creative partner Dejan Rasic.

“The big focus right now is increasing brand awareness, not just for Pop Mart as a whole, but also for the large portfolio of characters that bring the experience to life.

“We’re working on creative ideas to share the unique story with the masses, across social and out-of-home. This will include both brand messaging and new store announcements.

“There’s already a passionate fan base that absolutely loves Pop Mart and is super loyal. But we see a big opportunity to broaden the audience, bring more people into the experience, and push it into the mainstream.”