MINISO’s private domain traffic growth method

In 2020, the offline industry was hit by the epidemic, store business was hindered, and the vast majority of brands began to close stores and go bankrupt. Under the black swan effect of the epidemic, brands were mired in negative growth!

But there is a brand that has successfully achieved a 300% growth in its e-commerce business despite closing 50% of its offline stores, opening up a new era of private retail. It is MINISO !

Last year, when all industries were still mired in the shadow of the epidemic, MINISO made a comeback and was officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange. As of now, MINISO’s global stores have expanded rapidly to 3,500 (data is still being updated) , and the number of store members has reached 42 million.

But do you think that it has only started to be laid out in the past two years? In fact, as early as 2017, MINISO started its private domain expansion!

Today, Xiaoka will take you to take a look at what is worth learning from MINISO’s private domain strategy.

1. Traffic diversion: store traffic diversion to the official account

1. Offline traffic to online

As a brand with a huge user base, MINISO has no shortage of private seed users. The difficulty lies in how to unify the scattered users into the store's private traffic pool and carry out subsequent refined operations. This is also the pain point of most retail stores.

After realizing this, MINISO began its road to fame – directing customers entering its stores to its official account.

Set the bait: meet users’ immediate needs.

After users place an order in a store, when they check out and pay, the cashier will guide them to scan the code and follow the official account to receive a free 1 yuan shopping bag, which meets the users' current needs very well and stimulates them to scan the code and follow.

Compared with scanning codes to earn points, users are more likely to take action because they can enjoy the benefits immediately.

There are also techniques for setting bait, and it is not set in stone. MINISO's selection of traffic-generating products is also constantly adjusted according to user needs, from shopping bags in the beginning to giving away masks during the epidemic, constantly understanding needs and truly resonating with users.

2. Online coupons to attract new customers

Sharing fission is the most commonly used means of attracting traffic. It is simple and crude but also the most effective. Attract new customers by purchasing for free, attract new customers by using information packages, attract new customers by using coupons...

When brands conduct traffic-generating fission activities, the prizes are diverse and rich in form. Some activities can easily become viral fission, while others cost a lot but end in failure. In fact, there is a lot of mystery in the activity settings.

Taking MINISO’s coupons as an example, there are at least two points that are worth learning from for many brands:

(1) Prize selection: coupons promote conversion

Different from the form of giving away free products in exchange for recruiting people, MINISO mainly chooses store discount coupons as prizes.

On the one hand, large half-price coupons of "200-100" can stimulate user participation to the greatest extent, giving users strong psychological hints both visually and psychologically.

On the other hand, coupons can directly bring about sales growth, connecting the process from attracting new customers to repeat purchases in one step, greatly reducing the probability of users leaving after receiving physical prizes.

(2) Number of new invitees: 3-5 people to lower the participation threshold

When planning a new customer acquisition campaign, the number of people invited by users is also crucial and directly determines the effectiveness of the campaign. The larger the number of people, the lower the user participation, and if the number of people is too small, the expected effect of the activity cannot be achieved.

To attract new users to MINISO, users only need to invite 3 new users to get a half-price coupon, which greatly reduces the threshold for user participation.

In addition, friends who are invited to help can also receive large coupons after successfully helping, which can shorten the time for new users to place their first order and improve user loyalty.

2. Retention: Community + Official Account + Video Account

After store traffic diversion and sharing fission, a good foundation for traffic has been laid. The next step to consider is user retention and conversion. As a die-hard fan of MINISO, I have discovered at least three retention channels and methods - official accounts, social networks, and video accounts.

1. WeChat Official Account: Building a Personalized Brand

Although also built on personal character, MINISO’s official account stands out. Functionally, it undertakes the acceptance and retention of external traffic; it is more refined in terms of IP image, and more diverse cartoon characters are derived according to the content of the article, which goes deep into the hearts of users;

Little M, who can be either a boy or a girl, mainly provides brand-related content, with a warm and cute image, and shares food, drink, entertainment tips and good things with users.

M Xiaomei, which focuses on beauty and fashion, provides comprehensive beauty strategies and product recommendations on beauty, dressing, skin care, etc. for women who love beauty.

M Xiao Zhai——represents people who love food in the second dimension, are not sociable or have social phobia.

Different from Perfect Diary’s fixed Little Wanzi image, MINISO’s IP characters are more refined, basically covering all target users, allowing users to see their own shadows in these IPs, which are closer to users’ hearts, bringing a stronger sense of involvement, and ultimately enhancing stickiness with fans.

Community: Push welfare benefits.

There are a large number of accurate users accumulated in the community, and community users play a vital role in the sales conversion rate. After going undercover in the MINISO community, I summarized its entry path and functions:

(1) Path to join the group

Scan the QR code in offline stores → Follow the official account → Reply "Community" → The official account automatically replies to the personal account QR code of the enterprise WeChat account → Scan the QR code to add the personal account → The personal account automatically replies to the group QR code → Users scan the QR code to join the group;

(2) Benefits

I have to praise MINISO’s group welcome message, which is indeed worthy of reference for many brands. It strictly follows the principles of “community positioning + community value + new member benefits”.

From the setting of the welcome message, users can clearly know what benefits the community has, such as 0 yuan trial benefits, flash sales, live shopping, member day discounts, etc., giving users enough reasons to stay.

At the same time, a 10-yuan coupon is given to new users through the mini program, which can be used immediately after receiving it, shortening the time for the user to place the first order and directly facilitating the transaction.

2. Video account: Regular live broadcast to promote conversion

As an important tool for private domain live streaming, MINISO’s official account and video account use two-way traffic to promote conversion.

At the beginning of each article in the official account, a video account QR code is set. Users can scan the code to be directed to the video account. At the same time, the video account homepage is also associated with the official account. New users recommended by the video account mechanism can follow the official account to achieve two-way guidance.

Through the three-party links of official accounts, social communities, and video accounts, the entire link from traffic generation, retention to conversion promotion has been opened up, truly maximizing user value and firmly binding it to the brand's private traffic pool.

3. Conversion: Mini Programs Shorten the Order Path

With a Tmall store online and offline stores, how does MINISO change user consumption behavior and guide users to place orders within the mini program? Here, I summarize the following two points:

1. Arrival in as little as 1 hour

MINISO has cooperated with two major food delivery giants, Meituan Waimai and Ele.me. Orders placed through the mini program can be delivered in as fast as one hour. Users do not have to bear the time cost of 3-5 days. This fully grasps the user's desire to receive goods quickly and meets their immediate needs.

At the same time, free delivery coupons are regularly distributed within the mini program to cultivate users’ ordering habits.

2. Mini Program Distribution

A distribution fission hierarchical commission function has been designed on the mini program, and sales promoters are recruited nationwide, so the distribution profit model can be started at no cost.

Users can choose any product in the mini program and share it with their friends or friends. As long as their friends successfully place an order through the link, the system will automatically settle the commission.

In the mini program, you are not only a buyer, but also can become an online shopping guide for MINISO and gain opportunities to make money.

IV. Conclusion

After digging deep into MINISO's private domain growth strategies, we can easily find that whether it is store traffic diversion in the early stage, public account retention in the mid-term, or mini-program conversion in the later stage, everything is based on user needs, getting close to users and meeting their needs.

With a strong insight into user psychology and the help of external private domain operations, we will integrate both internal and external factors to maximize growth.

Author: Liankashuo

Source: Liankashuo