At the end of August, Miniso opened a global flagship store in Jakarta, Indonesia, covering an area of 3000 square meters, with "crowds of people on the opening day," "30 cash registers operating simultaneously," and "two to three hours of queuing for checkout. At the same time as sparking a rush of purchases, it once again verified its popularity overseas.
On August 30th, Miniso Group (NYSE: MNSO, HKEX: 9896) released its first half 2024 performance report, which also showed that during the period, Miniso Group's revenue increased by 25% year-on-year to 7.76 billion yuan, with a gross profit margin of 43.7%, an increase of 4.1 percentage points from the same period last year, reaching a historical high. After adjustment, the net profit was 1.24 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18%, and the adjusted net profit margin was 16.0%.
Against the backdrop of weak global consumer recovery, Miniso still maintains high performance growth, demonstrating the strong resilience of its business model.
As of the end of the reporting period, the number of Miniso Group stores exceeded 7000, including 6868 Miniso brand stores and 195 TOP TOY stores, with a net increase of 502 stores during the period. Among them, Miniso's overseas market and TOP TOY both experienced the highest number of store openings in history in the first half of the year, with a net increase of 266 and 47 respectively, and same store sales also maintained double-digit growth.
Ye Guofu, Chairman and CEO of Miniso Group, said, "The retail industry is a long and snowy track. Miniso hopes to continue to bring 'good-looking, fun, and easy-to-use' products to global consumers, competitive career development opportunities for employees, and long-term sustainable returns to shareholders in the future
According to the financial report, Miniso will distribute a mid-term cash dividend of 620 million yuan.
Overseas store opening accelerates, super stores re-enter top business districts
As a global consumer brand, the rapid expansion of overseas markets has become an important driving force for the overall performance growth of Miniso.
In the first half of the year, the total GMV of Miniso's overseas stores was 6.401 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41%; The overseas market achieved a revenue of 2.732 billion yuan, an increase of 42.6% compared to the same period last year, mainly due to a 21.8% increase in the average number of stores and a strong 16.3% increase in same store sales. Among them, the revenue from the direct sales market increased by over 70% year-on-year, accounting for 56% of overseas revenue, surpassing the agency market.
In the first half of the year, the proportion of overseas market revenue to the group's total revenue further increased to 35.2%, and in the same period of 2023, it was about 30.9%.
The sustained growth in performance is partly due to the continuous expansion of overseas store scale, and on the other hand, Miniso continues to open "super stores" overseas, improving the average single store efficiency.
As of June 30, 2024, Miniso has 2753 overseas stores, with a net increase of 266 stores in the first half of the year, which is the highest number of new stores added by Miniso since entering the overseas market. It is reported that the company has set a target of 550-650 new overseas stores for the whole year.
In one of the largest overseas markets for Miniso's performance, the United States, its stores have exceeded 200, and Miniso has become the Asian consumer brand with the largest number of offline stores in the United States, entering 40 major states. In May last year, Miniso became the first Chinese brand to enter Times Square in New York, with its stores achieving a new global monthly revenue of nearly 10 million yuan.
This year, Miniso has continued to open "super stores" in top global business districts, providing strong impetus for Miniso's overseas revenue growth.
On June 22nd, Miniso's largest flagship store in Europe made its debut on the Champs - É lys é es in Paris, becoming the first Chinese brand to settle on the Champs - É lys é es. The first day's performance reached 576800 yuan, once again breaking the overseas single day performance record. In addition, in the first half of the year, Miniso successively opened benchmark stores such as Singapore Changi Airport Store and American Dream IP Collection Store in the United States.
In terms of the domestic market, Miniso's revenue in mainland China in the first half of the year was 5.027 billion yuan, an increase of 17.2% year-on-year. As of June 30, 2024, the number of Miniso stores in mainland China was 4115, with an average unit price increase of 0.9 yuan to 38.5 yuan year-on-year and an average selling price of 14.6 yuan.
Apart from the removal of the Chuangyoupin brand, another brand of the group also maintains a high growth trend. According to financial report data, TOP TOY's revenue reached 430 million yuan in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 38%, and achieved profitability for three consecutive quarters. As of June 30, 2024, the total number of TOP TOY stores has increased to 195, with a net increase of 47 stores in the first half of the year, including 21 directly operated stores and 174 partner stores.
IP co branding builds commercial barriers
At present, the recovery of global consumer demand is still in a climbing period, and consumers still have a certain degree of caution. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the total retail sales of consumer goods in the first half of the year reached 2.3596 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%.
With the trend of quality price ratio consumption, on the one hand, people's consumption behavior tends to be rational, but at the same time, consumers have shown loyalty beyond reason to brands that carry ideas and emotions. Therefore, brands that can provide emotional value, relying on emotional connotations such as happiness, relaxation, and sharing, continue to establish stable emotional connections with global consumers.
In the past two years, from new tea drinks and fast fashion to beauty and jewelry, brands have closely linked their products with consumers' emotions through IP co branding, establishing deeper levels of user loyalty and brand identity, thereby stimulating consumer behavior.
In the global brand strategy upgrade in 2023, Miniso will position itself as a global IP co branded collection store. With its IP strategy, Miniso not only establishes emotional connections with global consumers, but also utilizes its large IP to increase product prices and gross profits, avoiding price wars with e-commerce.
According to financial report data, Miniso's gross profit margin in the first half of the year increased from 39.6% in the same period last year to 43.7%, an increase of 4.1 percentage points and reaching a historic high.
Specifically, following the popularity of IP collaborations such as Barbie and Loopy, Miniso became the first Chinese brand to collaborate with chiikawa in the first half of this year, launching over a hundred joint products including plush toys, daily necessities, and bags. Since the second quarter, Miniso x chiikawa themed pop-up stores have successively appeared in core shopping malls in cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong, triggering a consumer buying frenzy.
In addition, in the first half of the year, Miniso launched new series of products such as Disney Pixar Fruit Market and Barbie 65th Anniversary. By upgrading and revitalizing the classic IP image, it extended the IP operation cycle and created more sales opportunities. Overseas, the BT21 series IP products have been specially launched, breaking multiple overseas market IP sales records.
As of June 30, 2024, Miniso has partnered with over 100 globally renowned IPs such as Disney, Sanrio, Marvel, Barbie, and more. In the first half of 2024, the sales proportion of Miniso IP products exceeded 30%. Among them, the proportion of domestic IP has further increased to nearly 30%, with a year-on-year increase of nearly 40% in sales, and the proportion of overseas IP sales has increased to nearly 50%, doubling revenue growth.
With IP as its characteristic, Miniso has successfully transformed from offline retail to IP economy in the Chinese consumer market; With the global IP image of Barbie, Snoopy, Disney, etc., Miniso has become more international and culturally inclusive in overseas markets, reducing the obstacles to its expansion overseas.
At present, the retail market for IP products is huge and continues to grow. The Global Licensing Market Report released by the International Licensing Industry Association shows that global sales of licensed goods and services reached a record high of $356.5 billion in 2023, an increase of 4.6% compared to 2022. And this trillion dollar market not only injects new vitality and growth points into consumption, but also builds commercial barriers for enterprises, constantly breaking through the ceiling of global growth.
At present, young consumers are increasingly focusing on the sense of experience. Miniso continues to upgrade its global brand strategy around the trend of interest consumption, positioning itself as a "global IP co branded collection store" and continuously moving towards a global super brand, demonstrating the strong strength of Chinese brands.