Mingchuang Youpin has made new moves in London, UK.
On November 10th, the super symbol Wink representing Mingchuang Youpin appeared at 100 Oxford Street, the most iconic commercial street in central London, UK. It is one of the most favored shopping places for tourists and local consumers from all over the world, and also a highland that many fashion retail brands and high-end shopping malls around the world must seize.
There are not many Chinese brands opening stores on Oxford Street. Saad Usman, Chief Operating Officer of Mingchuang Youpin UK, said, "The flagship store in the UK is an important milestone in the global development of Mingchuang Youpin. I am glad that the store has promoted the brand's business philosophy" Happy Philosophy "to the world-renowned trendy business district of Oxford Street, bringing joy and pleasure to customers. I believe this is not just an ordinary retail store, but also a vibrant center full of joy and creativity
It is reported that the flagship store of Mingchuang Youpin opened this time is the 23rd store in the UK. Unlike the 30 square meter blind box themed store, the flagship store located on Oxford Street is the brand's largest store in the UK, with an area of nearly 3000 square feet (approximately 278 square meters). The store's first day performance broke the European market record.
Selling "Happiness" to Young People Around the World through Super IP
The story of Mingchuang Youpin, who has stepped onto the international stage, is not just about cost-effectiveness.
In the newly launched flagship store, in addition to displaying a large number of IP co branded products, there are also beauty products and exclusive perfume series preferred by British consumers. The pink decoration filled with dopamine, the check-in points for London subway carriages, and the self owned IP image of PENPEN giant penguin dolls all stir up the sensory nerves of every shopkeeper. Mingchuang Youpin stated that the new store has upgraded to an "IP amusement park" through immersive interactive IP domains based on traditional sales functions.
As early as 2020, Ye Guofu, Chairman and CEO of Mingchuang Youpin Group, proposed for the first time that "interest consumption" will become the mainstream trend of future consumption.
After announcing the global brand strategy upgrade of Mingchuang Youpin, Ye Guofu has also emphasized several times that Mingchuang Youpin's products should not only be "user-friendly", but also "good-looking" and "fun". He once bluntly stated that cost-effectiveness is not the core competitiveness of a product. "Today's product world is extremely rich, and there is no shortage of functional products, so I prioritize usability in the third place. What consumers need more is emotional connection
IP has become an important bridge connecting consumers and premium products, which has been confirmed in the global market. Taking the overseas market as an example, IP series blind boxes such as Sanrio and Disney are selling well, and products such as IP co branded plush dolls and keychains are also deeply loved by overseas consumers.
The IP craze brought about by Mingchuang Youpin is not only reflected in product sales. The PENPENPEN displayed in the UK flagship store is the star IP of the MINI FAMILY doll family owned by Mingchuang Youpin. On social media platform Instagram, PENPEN has over 30000 posts, and related videos have also exceeded 50 million views on Tik Tok.
In the domestic market, a series of popular co branded products such as Barbie and Pixar Happy Bakery have achieved sales results that exceed expectations. Among them, Barbie Co branded over 120 SKUs were launched for two weeks, with a sold out rate of over 70%; In the first week of operation of the Barbie themed store in Changsha, sales performance increased by 170% compared to last week.
Ye Guofu once explained the globalization of IP operations as follows: "The circle culture that young people love has global connectivity and can spread across regional and cultural differences. The global popularity of IPs such as Marvel and Disney also proves this. Young people around the world can develop closer connections and express personalized attitudes and opinions through 'interest consumption'
This may explain why Ye Guofu has personally participated in Disney's IP licensing negotiations multiple times, and also explain why Mingchuang Youpin has continuously invested resources to expand its IP cooperation matrix since 2017.
As of June 30th this year, Mingchuang Youpin has established brand partnerships with 80 IP licensors, and will also collaborate with independent artists to develop new trend IP products. Such as Disney, Pixar, Marvel, NBA, Palace Museum culture, etc.
At the same time, actively incubate self owned IPs such as "DUNDUN Chicken", "PENPENPEN", and "China Panda", and continue to build content oriented companies driven by interest consumption. Through IP co branding and incubation of its own IP blockbusters, Mingchuang Youpin has broken the ceiling of product innovation and market expansion, continuously creating a lifestyle and consumption highland that is loved by young people at home and abroad.
Occupy the core business district of overseas cities
Since the beginning of this year, Mingchuang Youpin has maintained a high profile in the process of globalization.
Firstly, there is a rapid growth in the number of stores. As of the end of June this year, the number of stores of Mingchuang Youpin brand reached 5791, and the number of overseas stores reached 2187. As the number of stores increases, the store model of Mingchuang Youpin is also being upgraded. In the brand strategy upgrade of Mingchuang Youpin in 2023, it was mentioned that the store system will add super store types such as city image stores, national flagship stores, and global flagship stores.
The flagship stores in the UK, the blind box themed stores in the UK, the limited themed stores in Sanrio, Indonesia, the flagship stores in Times Square, New York, and the three story single family stores in Ho Chi Minh City are all products of the super store upgrade. In the future, the Champs Elysees in Paris, France, and the central train station in Rome, Italy will also have the appearance of Mingchuangyou.
Behind the upgrade of new store formats, the store models of Mingchuang Youpin overseas have become increasingly mature.
Looking solely at store performance, in addition to the UK flagship store breaking the European store record on its first day of operation, the blind box store with only 30 square meters also broke the local daily performance record on the opening day, setting a new high for overseas single store daily performance. In May of this year, the world's first flagship store, which debuted in Times Square, New York, USA, set a new global monthly revenue record with sales of nearly ten million yuan in its first month of operation.
As of June 30, 2023, the total revenue of Mingchuang Youpin increased by 13.8% year-on-year to 11.47 billion yuan. Among them, the revenue from overseas markets was 3.822 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 44.6%. In the fourth quarter, overseas markets contributed over 40% of the company's operating profits, and in June, profitable stores in the United States accounted for nearly 90%, driving a significant increase in the operating profit margin of overseas direct markets.
The overseas market plays a more important role in the performance growth of Mingchuang Youpin Group. From fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2023, Mingchuang Youpin's overseas revenue increased from 1.781 billion yuan to 3.822 billion yuan, and the proportion of overseas business revenue increased from 19.6% to 33.3%.
From Chinese neighborhoods to urban core business districts, the export model of Chinese consumer goods has also shifted from initial horse racing to mature local operations and brand building.
From the perspective of Mingchuang Youpin, it has been revealed that since the brand strategy upgrade, Mingchuang Youpin has invested more resources into taking root in overseas markets and brand building. In the future, Mingchuang Youpin will continue to target global core business districts, continuously promote overseas store construction with replicable super store experience, lead global trend consumption trends with IP inclusive, and showcase the overseas strength of Chinese brands to the world