Following POP MART's global success, the world has been amazed by the influence of trendy toy IPs while searching for the next Labubu. In fact, among the many players in China's trendy toy sector, few truly have the strength to join the ranks of top trendy toy brands.

From an analytical perspective, MINISO Group, which has been deeply cultivating the IP ecosystem for years, has become the most capable contender to take the baton as another pole. The dual-giant pattern of "MINISO in the south, POP MART in the north" in China's trendy toy market is gradually becoming clear.

China's trendy toy market is just getting started, and its global influence is only beginning to unfold. "In the future, China will inevitably see the emergence of platform-type IP companies with strong capabilities similar to Disney and Time Warner in the United States, and Bandai, Sanrio, and Nintendo in Japan. This is the inevitable path for a great nation's rise and the natural product of cultural confidence," mentioned Ye Guofu, Chairman and CEO of MINISO Group, during the second quarter and first half earnings call.

The trendy toy market is vast with enormous potential, and MINISO Group is indeed the next POP MART. Under the support of IP flagship stores and IP ecosystem, its value deserves reassessment by the capital market.

**IP Operations Platform: Creating the Next "LABUBU"**

In the past, MINISO Group was more positioned downstream in the IP industry chain, relying on international IP licensing from Disney, Sanrio, and others for secondary development and sales. However, the company is now continuously increasing investment in its proprietary IP layout and has achieved substantial breakthroughs.

According to reports, MINISO Group's self-incubated IP "Giftbear" is expected to generate 300 million yuan in GMV this year, while MINI FAMILY has also achieved outstanding sales performance overseas.

Additionally, MINISO Group began its trendy toy IP layout six months ago and has signed its first batch of nine trendy toy artists to date. Among them, "Youyou-chan" was launched in June this year, with sales expected to reach 40 million yuan this year and potentially exceed 100 million yuan next year.

Beyond signing artists, MINISO Group is also accelerating IP matrix expansion through capital means. Its trendy toy brand TOP TOY completed strategic acquisitions of IPs including "Nommi" through joint venture "Guoran Youqu." "Nommi" achieved over 100 million yuan in omnichannel revenue last year and is expected to reach 500-600 million yuan next year.

Simultaneously, TOP TOY received investment led by global investment institution Temasek, with a post-investment valuation of approximately 10 billion Hong Kong dollars.

This has changed MINISO Group's previous situation of relying mainly on international licensed IPs, successfully establishing a business model of "international IP + proprietary IP" with dual IP-driven development.

Many wonder why MINISO Group can still succeed with proprietary IPs when POP MART has already formed a certain siphon effect. The key lies in the fact that the trendy toy market is still in a high-growth period, consumer preferences are diverse and changeable, and no single company can monopolize all high-quality artist IP resources.

Just as the MCN industry cannot sign all top influencers, the trendy toy field will continue to see new IPs emerge. MINISO Group has precisely grasped this industry window, leveraging its "global channels + flagship store experience + data-driven" platform capabilities to provide unique soil for IP operations.

Ye Guofu believes that MINISO Group has established product development, marketing, and channel advantages through cooperation with international IPs, only lacking proprietary IPs. "With unique advantages in full-category coverage, omnichannel penetration, global layout, and full-chain operations, MINISO Group will also occupy a leading position in China's IP market."

Its IP methodology is increasingly clear: sign or incubate IP → product development → store trial sales and data feedback → selective key promotion. Leveraging the testing capabilities of over 7,900 stores globally, MINISO Group can quickly verify IP market performance and concentrate resources on creating hit products.

More importantly, IP is essentially the output of cultural soft power. MINISO Group's successful opening of flagship stores in global cities like New York, Paris, and London not only achieves commercial landing but also completes a cross-cultural influence of consumer culture and aesthetic impact. It is no longer just a Chinese retail company but has become a truly global IP operations platform with worldwide reach and trend sensitivity.

This transformation is directly reflected in performance. In the first half of 2025, MINISO Group achieved revenue of 9.39 billion yuan, up 21.1% year-over-year, with gross margin improving to 44.3%. The capital market has responded positively, with stock prices surging over 20% in a single day after the earnings release.

From a long-term perspective, accompanied by IP premiums and brand upgrades, MINISO Group is expected to continue exceeding market expectations and achieve value reassessment.

**IP Flagship Stores: Supporting the Next POP MART**

The flagship store strategy is the core vehicle for MINISO Group to deepen IP operations. By creating retail scenarios that highly match IP value, it has achieved mutual reinforcement and empowerment between channel momentum and IP experience.

In recent years, MINISO Group has vigorously promoted "opening good stores and opening large stores," no longer relying on a single small store model but constructing a multi-layered store system including MINISO LAND, MINISO SPACE, flagship stores, regular stores, and pop-up stores to accurately match different commercial districts and customer groups, continuously expanding incremental markets.

The reason for MINISO Group's bold evolution is not difficult to understand. Flagship stores not only serve the channel promotion function for IP products but also deeply participate in IP incubation and long-term operations, helping extend IP lifecycles and value appreciation.

Especially in modern society, consumers' emphasis on "experiential value" has exceeded pure product functionality. For a store or IP to achieve long-term profitability, it cannot rely on unchanging business models. How to innovate in scenarios has become the outlet for brand image and experience innovation.

For example, MINISO LAND provides emotional value to consumers through "theme park-style" immersive experiences by incorporating various modern trendy design elements. Under the support of rich layered experiences, MINISO LAND has become a place for consumers to socialize, shop, and check in.

MINISO SPACE focuses on breaking down barriers between luxury commerce and interest consumption, leveraging this to tap into the interest consumption trend. Taking Nanjing Deji Plaza MINISO SPACE as an example, entering Deji also means trendy consumption breaking through in quality commerce, injecting youthful consumer vitality into luxury retail.

Here, IP is not just the product itself but integrates with the flagship store's scenario, forming richer content expression and bringing deeper emotional interaction and experience to consumers.

Data confirms the success of the flagship store strategy: MINISO LAND Global Store No.1 achieved sales of over 100 million yuan within nine months of opening and set a new record for MINISO Group's global single-store monthly sales with 16 million yuan in August this year.

As of June 2025, 11 MINISO LAND stores have opened nationwide, covering core cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Chengdu, with average monthly revenue per store reaching millions of yuan and efficiency far exceeding regular stores.

Particularly, the significance of flagship stores goes beyond innovative experiences. As brand image upgrades, the explosive points created by flagship store models will spread to regular stores, achieving volume expansion and effectively driving sales growth across all stores.

Looking at same-store GMV, a key indicator measuring retail enterprise operational capability, MINISO Group's domestic same-store GMV turned positive in the second quarter. The company expects China mainland same-store GMV to achieve positive growth for the full year 2025.

It can be seen that MINISO Group has a unique advantage that other trendy toy companies find difficult to replicate - once IP is validated through flagship stores, MINISO Group can promote IP to 7,900 stores globally, five times the number of POP MART stores.

Relying on its powerful global channel network and agile supply chain, MINISO Group has demonstrated efficient capabilities in discovering, incubating, and promoting IPs, which has become its core "moat" for challenging global leading trendy toy brands.

You might say Labubu is also a benchmark product for emotional consumption while providing social currency value. In fact, MINISO Group can also establish deep emotional connections with consumers completely.

At MINISO Group, you can not only shop but also socialize and check in. Besides emotional value, MINISO Group offers unique spatial experiences, representing a more three-dimensional way of interest consumption.

For consumers, purchasing trendy toys from MINISO Group is more like embracing a new trendy lifestyle. From an experiential perspective, store types are more diverse, catering to broader demographics.

With channels, supply chain, and global influence, MINISO Group has the capability to become the next POP MART. This marks MINISO Group's evolution from scale growth to quality growth.

Looking beyond the brand itself from a grander perspective, MINISO Group has redefined trendy toys, and through new experiential forms, has enriched brand image, increased brand-consumer interaction, and further enhanced brand influence.

**MINISO Group and POP MART: Entering the Same River**

Despite impressive performance, as of September 3rd, MINISO Group's P/E ratio was only 23.8, significantly lower than POP MART's 57.2.

From an analytical perspective, supported by both "IP flagship stores" and "IP ecosystem," MINISO Group's value as an IP operations platform representing "the next POP MART" remains severely undervalued, with considerable appreciation potential in the future.

Looking at the macro environment first, the more economic structural adjustment occurs, the stronger the emotional consumption trend becomes, meaning trendy toy brands represented by MINISO Group and POP MART are actually far from reaching their ceiling.

As a core segment of emotional consumption, China's trendy toy market is growing rapidly. According to Frost & Sullivan predictions, it will exceed 110.1 billion yuan in 2026, while the overall emotional consumption market is expected to exceed 2 trillion yuan in 2025, providing vast incremental space for the trendy toy sector.

Although POP MART and MINISO Group have entered the same river, with abundant opportunities for all, they are not in a zero-sum competitive relationship but rather allies mining gold together. Both will jointly expand the trendy toy industry's market space.

Additionally, the wave of Chinese culture going global brings strong tailwinds for MINISO Group. Consumer brands' success in international markets not only reflects companies' own competitiveness but also mirrors the enhancement of national cultural soft power.

POP MART has already swept global markets, and MINISO Group's powerful channel network spans 112 countries and regions worldwide. Both create synergistic effects overseas, jointly enhancing Chinese trendy toy brands' global influence.

With everything in place, for MINISO Group, the explosion of proprietary IPs is only a matter of time. Currently, due to business diversification, the capital market has not fully released the valuation of its trendy toy IP business. From a long-term perspective, as trendy toy IP business grows, its P/E ratio is expected to align with POP MART's.

As the next POP MART, MINISO Group stands on the eve of a value reassessment breakthrough.