On August 31st local time, the flagship store of Miniso in the Central Park shopping center located in the western suburbs of Jakarta, Indonesia, was crowded with people, covering an area of 3000m; sup2; The store was crowded with local residents who came to purchase. A reporter from Huaxia Times saw at the scene that a long queue had formed at the cash register, and it was impossible to see the end at a glance. The on-site staff told reporters that due to the large number of people waiting for checkout, they had to urgently transport the cash registers from nearby stores. On the same day, 30 cash registers started working together, but even so, the checkout still took about 3 hours.
It is reported that on the first day of opening, the sales of the Central Park flagship store in Jakarta, Indonesia exceeded 1.18 million yuan, setting a new daily sales record for Miniso's global stores.
After seeing the hot sales scene that day, Tu Baoyan, Vice President of Miniso Group and General Manager of Overseas Business Unit 2, left a message on her WeChat Moments that read, "It's too explosive to describe in words.
Despite the sluggish growth of the retail market in the first half of this year, Chinese brands that are expanding into overseas markets have begun to enter a period of explosive growth. According to the latest financial report data of Miniso, in the first half of 2024, the group achieved a revenue of 7.76 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25%, setting a new historical high. Among them, overseas revenue was 2.73 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.6%.
Liu Xiaobin, Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Miniso Group, stated in an interview with Huaxia Times that the Central Park flagship store in Jakarta, Indonesia is a new upgrade of Miniso's "super store". The world's largest store has landed in Indonesia's top commercial district, showcasing the unique charm and strong strength of Chinese brands to the world and providing emotional value and a wonderful shopping experience for global consumers. I have full confidence in the overseas market. In the next five years, the overseas agency market and direct sales market of Miniso may be divided from the domestic market, which means that two Chinese Miniso may be replicated overseas
Sell one item in about one second
Although the consumption situation remains sluggish this year, there are still new consumption hotspots emerging against the trend, and overseas markets are one of them. According to data from the China Association for Market Regulation, listed companies achieved overseas business revenue of 3.83 trillion yuan in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 12.84%, with a growth rate of 9.93 percentage points. Overseas business revenue accounted for 10.98%, an increase of 1.39 percentage points.
Why are Chinese companies so popular when going global? Because overseas markets have discovered that Chinese products are good and cheap, while Chinese products have found that overseas markets are more profitable and have almost no close competitors.
The Jakarta Central Park shopping center, where the world's largest Miniso store is located, is not only one of Indonesia's top shopping centers, but also a golden commercial district where many consumer brands are competing to enter. As the world's largest store of Miniso, the flagship store in Central Park, Jakarta, Indonesia has a total area of approximately 3000 square meters; sup2;， A brand new shopping, leisure, and entertainment experience space has been created with an immersive full store design, redefining the "happy shopping experience".
There are over 10000 SKUs in the store, including up to 3000 SKUs for IP products. The reporter from Huaxia Times saw on site that popular IP products such as Sanrio, Disney, Loopy, One Piece, and Chiikawa are very popular. In the top IP zones of Sanrio and Disney, consumers are immersed in a scene based layout atmosphere, taking photos and cards while shopping. In addition, the store has set up eight major category zones, including beauty, entertainment, and snacks, providing consumers with a shopping space covering a wide range of categories. The setting of these zones further enhances consumers' interactive experience.
It is worth mentioning that, in order to better meet the personalized needs of local consumers, Mingchuangyoupin has continuously developed targeted localization products, focusing on launching the new No. 7 perfume series in the flagship store of Central Park in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Due to the hot sales on the first day of opening, the store applied to the mall on the same day and extended the business hours until 12 pm. 30 cash registers were opened on the same day, but the average checkout queue for consumers was still around 3 hours. Among them, blind boxes, trendy toys, One Piece and other series of products are all out of stock, selling one item in almost one second.
On the first day of opening, the sales of the Central Park flagship store in Jakarta, Indonesia exceeded 1.18 million yuan, setting a new daily sales record for Miniso's global stores.
Why Indonesia?
So, why did Miniso choose Indonesia as its primary destination for shipping?
In fact, as the largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia has become a popular destination for Chinese consumer brands to expand into the Southeast Asian market due to its continuously growing market potential and a large and youthful population structure. As early as 2017, Miniso officially entered the Indonesian market and has since opened over 300 stores in more than 130 cities across Indonesia.
"The Indonesian market has never let people down." Tu Baoyan, Vice President of Mingchuangyou Group and General Manager of Overseas Business Department II, told our reporter, "Indonesia is not only the largest economy in Southeast Asia, but also the fourth most populous country in the world. The population is relatively young, and the average age here is about 28 to 30 years old, which is very consistent with the product track of Mingchuangyou, so every time we have a new IP or a new store image, it will stir the whole of Indonesia. For example, when the Sanrio series products were listed in Jakarta stores last year, many consumers came from Surabaya and Bandung to buy them by plane."
When Tu Baoyan first entered Indonesia in 2017, she still remembers vividly. "The level of popularity at that time was unimaginable. Every day when our store opened, consumers waiting at the door immediately rushed in. How good were our bags selling at that time? Our store had just sold all night's worth of goods, and they were all sold out in 7 minutes," she said.
Glocalization is a key move for Miniso to successfully enter the Indonesian market. Over the years, Miniso has successfully established its brand image in the Indonesian market through continuous product innovation and localized marketing strategies, becoming one of the "national brands" sought after by local consumers. It is reported that in the overseas market of Miniso, the performance in the Indonesian market has been outstanding, with GMV contribution consistently ranking among the top five. This year, the performance in the Indonesian market has also maintained a steady growth trend.
In addition, Miniso continues to gain insight into the market demand in Indonesia, and designs and supplies products locally according to local conditions. For example, in response to the hot climate in Indonesia, Miniso has launched localized products such as makeup that emphasize waterproof function. In addition, Miniso also conducts localized marketing based on local festivals and cultural customs, such as Ramadan mall concerts and Christmas events, which deepen the emotional connection between the brand and local consumers.
At the same time, Miniso has incorporated well-known IPs such as Sanrio, which are popular among Indonesian consumers, into the shopping scenes of its stores, successfully winning the favor of consumers and effectively enhancing the brand's influence in the local area. In 2023, Miniso's first Sanrio IP limited theme store opened at Margo City Shopping Center in Jakarta, with sales exceeding 6 million RMB in the first month, setting a new record for Southeast Asian store sales at that time. The landing of the world's largest store in Jakarta, Indonesia is a crucial step for Miniso to seize the vast Southeast Asian market.
The Road of Enterprise Globalization
In fact, it's not just the Indonesian market. As early as 2015, Miniso began to expand overseas. After 9 years of operation, we have continuously accelerated our pace of expanding into overseas markets, with footprints covering regions such as North America, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. The continuous outbreak of overseas business has also driven the overall performance to stabilize and improve.
The latest financial report data shows that in the first half of 2024, Miniso Group achieved a revenue of 7.76 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25%, setting a new historical high. The gross profit margin reached 43.7%, an increase of 4.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year, and also set a new historical high. In terms of profit, Miniso's adjusted net profit (non IFRS) for the first half of 2024 was 1.24 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18%, with an adjusted net profit margin of 16%.
The performance growth of Miniso in the first half of the year was largely due to its continuous expansion of global territory. The total GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) of overseas Miniso stores was 6.401 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41%, and same store sales also increased by 16.3%. This led to a 43% increase in total revenue from overseas markets to 2.73 billion yuan, accounting for 35.2% of the group's total revenue from 30.9% last year.
In the first half of 2024, Miniso Group added a net of 502 new stores. Miniso's overseas market and TOP TOY both experienced the fastest opening period in history, with a net increase of 266 and 77 stores, respectively. Both businesses also maintained double-digit growth in same store sales.
Among them, Miniso currently has 2753 stores in overseas markets, with 266 new stores added in the first half of the year. This is the highest number of new stores added by Miniso in the first half of the year since entering the overseas market, injecting a shot in the arm to achieve the annual target.
In addition, as of now, Miniso has exceeded 200 stores in the US market, making Miniso the Asian consumer brand with the largest number of offline stores in the US, demonstrating its significant influence and competitive advantage in the global market.
So how did Miniso become popular worldwide? Tom Harris, the chairman of the Times Square Alliance in New York, gave the answer: "In the United States, products of equal quality are expensive, while products of equal cost-effectiveness are far inferior in quality to Miniso. It is worth mentioning that Miniso has a globally unique IP design
Economist Ren Zeping believes that MINISO, a renowned brand, uses China's strong supply chain as a moat, deeply connects global consumers with "Chinese speed" and super IP, satisfies the emotional value of global consumers with IP inclusiveness, and holds the global trend discourse power.
From the data, in mainland China, Miniso tends to expand through the "Miniso Partner Store" model, while overseas it prefers the agency model. Among the 6868 stores of Miniso worldwide, there are a total of 4115 stores in mainland China, accounting for 59.92%, including 29 direct operated stores, 4063 Miniso partner stores, and 23 agency stores; There are a total of 2753 stores overseas, accounting for 40.08%, including 343 direct operated stores, 338 Mingchuang partner stores, and 2072 agency stores.
Miniso stated in the report that the Miniso partner model represents a mutually beneficial relationship between the company and Miniso partners. The company achieved rapid expansion of its store network in a light asset manner, while Miniso partners were given investment opportunities. As of June 30th, 1045 Miniso partners have invested in Miniso stores in mainland China, of which 605 have been investing for more than three years; Overseas, influenced by local markets, regulations, and other factors, the company has adopted a more flexible store operation model. Overseas franchisees sometimes transition from being partners of Miniso to agents, and vice versa.
Regarding this, Liu Xiaobin told our reporter that agents have the benefits of agency, and direct sales have the benefits of direct sales. Agents can minimize business risks as they are usually rooted locally and have a better understanding of the local market; Although direct sales have a higher gross profit margin, they are also heavy assets, so it is necessary to choose according to local conditions.
According to Tu Baoyan, two-thirds of the stores in the Indonesian market are franchise stores and one-third are directly operated stores; Currently, 90% of the stores in the US market are directly operated, and 10% are franchise stores. In order to rapidly expand in the US market, we will actively explore franchise models.