Panmuean showing off the selection of soft toys she bought at Miniso Land in Guangzhou.
There are two reasons why Beijing Road is on tourists’ list of “must-visit” places in Guangzhou, China.
One is its historical draw. The shopping destination is also known as “Ancient Avenue” and is recognised by the Chinese government as a Cultural Tourism Zone.
Preserved sections of the city street, some parts dating back to as early as the 7th century, lie protected under thick transparent panels for public view.
Beijing Road was on the radar of Thai tourist Panomporn Panmuean, 39, as it’s where Miniso Land is. It is the outlet where she can buy the latest plushies.
Playful Miniso Land is the company’s flagship store in Beijing Road, designed to look like an amusement arcade.
“I love soft toys and all cute things. They make me feel happy,” said Panmuean, hugging a Disney character-shaped pillow.
There is even a section for pets where Hessie Zheng, 28, a public relations executive, was seen choosing a mini cowboy hat for her dog.
“I love dressing my dog up in cute outfits,” said Zheng.
On what it takes to trigger such emotional responses from customers, Miniso global public relations director Chen Chang, 35, said it all boiled down to strategic planning.
Zheng choosing for her dog a mini cowboy hat at Miniso Land, Guangzhou.
At the global retailer’s headquarters on Pazhou Avenue in Guangzhou, the average age of its 3,000 employees is only 29.5 years.
Miniso Land is its flagship store and it’s designed to look like an amusement arcade.
The brand’s main draw is in intellectual property (IP) goods, like plush toys, stationery or cosmetics that are either shaped or bear their logos or images of popular animated characters.
It is one of the several retail concepts taken on by the company which operates on a franchise basis.
To date, it has over 7,900 stores worldwide, adopting varying concepts to suit the location’s market segment.
“To ensure the stores are able to thrive in their respective markets, we will identify what are the products that will appeal to that particular segment.
“For example, scents and candles are popular in India, waterproof make-up in South-East Asia, and in the Middle East, pocket-sized wet wipes,” said Chen.
Since its founding in 2013, the company has been banking on the popularity of IP goods.
“Over 50% of our sales are from this segment. To maintain momentum, new product launches are carried out every seven days. Every year, we have 10,000 new products from our global chain of over 1,500 suppliers,” said Chen.
The first IP rights partner the global retailer tied up with was Sanrio, the Japanese company that owns Hello Kitty. Others like Disney, Marvel, Barbie, Pokemon and One Piece followed suit.
Among Miniso’s latest collaborations is Chiikawa, a character from a Japanese web manga series which made its debut as a sketch on Twitter in 2017.
The reason behind the company’s partnerships with IP product owners lies in Miniso’s established branding and strong consumer demand, said Chen.
“This is a budget and energy saver for us where marketing and advertising are concerned.”
To date, Miniso has partnered with over 150 globally renowned IPs.
It has also signed on nine artists with the aim of creating in-house IP brands like Dun Dun, which main character is a yellow fluffy chick; Pen Pen, a penguin; and Gift Bear and Friends that features a teddy bear, dog and rabbit.
Since its launch in 2023, Gift Bear and Friends has garnered RMB200mil (about RM118mil) in sales.
In Malaysia, there are 57 Miniso stores, of which, 32 are located in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
In August, it was announced over social media that Malaysia’s first Miniso Land would soon open at Sunway Pyramid, Petaling Jaya.
Miniso Land is bigger and more elaborately set up than regular Miniso stores.
Miniso entered the international market in 2015. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock code “MNSO” in 2020. In 2022, it went on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, listed as “9896.HK”.
