Pop Mart is a Chinese toy company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The company is known for selling collectable 'designer' toys, often sold in a 'blind box' format. The Financial Times has described the company as having "elevated toy-buying to an act of trendy connoisseurship among China’s young affluent consumers", and as having been 'credited with creating the market for so-called designer toys'. Around half of its sales are made at physical outlets, with the rest finished online. The company additionally operates a social media and toy-trading app as part of its marketing strategy. 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.

History

The company was founded in China in 2010 by Wang Ning. The brand's initial marketing strategy engaged with youth culture trends in China. 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. 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. It first expanded to the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, South Korea, and Taiwan, and the U.K. in 2022. In 2023 it expanded to Malaysia, and France. In 2024, it opened its Philippine store. Some equity analysts have expressed scepticism at the company's ability to expand into the West, 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. The success of the company has spawned multiple imitating blind box toy companies in China.

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'. Its customers in China are typically affluent teenagers and young adults. 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. Other designers include Pucky, Ayan, and SKULLPANDA. One of their product series, such as The Monster Series, like Labubu and Zimomo, they 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.

Stores

The company has both staffed outlets, as well as vending machines known as 'roboshops'.

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.

Controversy

Chinese media has described the toy company's products as 'addictive'. 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. In Singapore, a S$100 prize limit on mystery boxes has been proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs.