MINISO held its Global Brand Strategic Upgrade Results Launch Conference 2024 in Shanghai on October 29. Earlier in 2023, the company announced its goal to become the World’s leading IP design retail group. To achieve this ambition, MINISO has made significant strides in product innovation, store expansion, and brand building, cementing its leading position in the global retail market.
The interest-driven strategy brings IP empowerment
MINISO’s founder Jack Ye has previously pointed out that changes in the global retail industry mean great opportunity for MINISO to become globally competitive and influential.
As early as 2020, Jack Ye envisioned “interest-driven consumption” as a key to the brand’s growth, predicting that fulfilling consumers’ emotional needs and desire for self-expression will become the driving force of future consumption. MINISO has successfully led this trend globally as the pioneer of the ‘Global IP Collection Store’ innovative business model, by incorporating popular intellectual properties (IPs) into its products, store designs, and marketing.
This approach strengthens the brand’s emotional connection with users, addressing the rising demand for interest-driven consumption and enhancing its overall value proposition. Ye further emphasised the idea of combining essential items with IP-themed non-essentials, a concept he refers to as ‘essential + optional consumption’. MINISO aims to create a distinctive retail giant that focuses on quality retail while meeting the genuine needs of consumers.
To date, under this strategic layout, MINISO has partnered with over 150 globally renowned IPs, including Harry Potter, Disney, Sanrio, Chiikawa, Barbie, Snoopy, and Zanmang Loopy, to create collections that have enjoyed significant popularity and generated impressive numbers. Global IP product sales exceeded 10 billion RMB, with more than 10,000 new IP products launched each year and cumulative sales of more than 800 million IP products.
At the conference, MINISO officially announced that MINISO and Warner Bros. Discovery Global Consumer Products to launch the Harry Potter-inspired collection. The co-branded products will be launched globally across all MINISO sales channels from October 31. The collaboration had already launched successfully in Hong Kong, Irvine, and Jakarta greeted with strong enthusiasm from fans and setting new sales records.
Innovation drives MINISO’s growth. By focusing on pleasing design, fun, and quality products, MINISO continues to push the boundaries of IP design innovation, centring its creative efforts in China while also leveraging design centres in Korea, Japan, and the USA to bring fresh ideas and products to a global audience. In the future, MINISO aims to support 100 Chinese IPs to go global and reach a worldwide consumer base.
Beyond IP collaborations, MINISO’s product innovation is reflected in its exploration of new categories. The brand has ramped up investments in research and development, expanding into areas such as pets and ACG besides plush toys, blind boxes, fragrances, and travel accessories. To swiftly turn innovative designs into quality products for the global market, MINISO is also continually enhancing its global supply chain and building strong partnerships with leading suppliers.
Innovative store formats flourish worldwide
The rise in IP product influence strongly relates to innovative channel development. Through continuous innovation and optimization strategies, MINISO has expanded its footprint to over 111 countries and regions, operating 2,753 stores outside of mainland China. Furthermore, MINISO has implemented a seven-tier store format to meet diverse customer needs, including IP-themed experiences and product-focused scenarios.
At the conference, MINISO officially introduced a new store format – MINISO IP LAND. Two days before the conference, on October 27th, MINISO opened the world’s first scenario-based IP collection store, MINISO LAND, on East Nanjing Road in Shanghai, which achieved record-breaking sales in its first month of soft opening.
Jeff Kou, Vice President and Chief Growth Officer of MINISO, said, “As the highest-level store format of MINISO, the MINISO LAND Global Flagship Store not only embodies the brand’s vision but also marks the milestone of MINISO’s global channel upgrade.”
Additionally, MINISO has introduced another store format, MINISO FRIENDS, targeting Gen-Z customers. These themed stores, ranging from 600 to 800 square meters in size, focus on plush toys, blind boxes, pets, and ACG, fostering a culture of community and belonging for younger audiences.
Growing with users for a better future
By leveraging IP innovations and channel upgrades, MINISO has strengthened its brand and built a deep emotional connection with over a billion users worldwide, transforming customers into users.
According to Robin Liu, senior vice president and CMO of MINISO, the brand’s mention rate and preference have grown significantly over the past two years compared to other brands in the category. As MINISO deepens its focus on user engagement, it has successfully unlocked greater user value, leading to increased brand value. This is evident in the steady rise of both average unit price and customer spending. The membership number also explains. As of now, MINISO has more than 100 million registered members in major markets around the world. The number of overseas members has increased by 63% since 2024.
Moreover, MINISO has proactively undertaken social responsibilities to bring a positive social impact. In the past two years, the brand has invested two 10 million RMB funds to support women through the Marriage and Maternity Incentive Scheme program and promote animal welfare through the MINISO Pet Protection Foundation.
Setting sights on global dominance
In the future, MINISO will continue to deepen its overseas expansion, creating more representative stores with innovative interactive devices and immersive experiences to cater to younger customers. With an open and inclusive approach, MINISO is embracing the global market. The brand looks forward to partnering with global partners and consumers to spread the “Joy Philosophy” worldwide, allowing everyone to experience the allure of the MINISO brand.
