Analysis of Pop Mart’s Private Domain Operations

The blind box craze has made Pop Mart popular, making it a leading company in China's trendy toy industry. Its success is not only due to the fact that it seized the blind box trend, but also because of its good private domain operations .

1. Case Introduction

1. Industry Background

Pop Mart is a leading company in China's trendy toy industry. In 2019, its market share in the blind box field was 8.5%, ranking first. According to iMedia Consulting data, the scale of the global trendy toy industry reached 149.3 billion yuan in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 19.7%.

According to data compiled by Frost & Sullivan, in 2019, the CR5 of China's trendy toy industry was 22.8% in terms of retail value, and the concentration was still relatively low. The market shares of the top five participants were 8.5%, 7.7%, 3.3%, 1.7% and 1.6% respectively. Among them, Pop Mart is the largest trendy toy brand, with a market share of 8.5%.

2. Company Profile

Pop Mart is a trendy toy brand with its own IP assets. It was founded in 2017 and was in a loss-making state before 2016.

17 years later, it achieved a net profit of 450 million yuan through the [blind box + own IP] model, and its revenue increased tenfold in two years, gaining market attention.

3. User portrait

Blind box players are mainly young women aged 18-29. According to Guyu Data’s survey of Pop Mart users, female blind box players account for as high as 75%, with young people aged 18-29 (58%) as the main consumer group; most users are white-collar workers with certain consumption power, and users with an income of 8,000-20,000 yuan account for 90%; in addition, students are also a core purchasing group. Self-pleasure consumption is the main feature of young people's purchase of blind boxes, including pursuing the excitement of blind draws, paying for appearance, and satisfying social collection needs.

4. Product Overview

There are four major types of Pop Mart products, including blind boxes, figures, BJD and peripheral derivatives.

2. Overall Operational Strategy

By satisfying users' deep emotional and interest needs, using products as a link and social topic, continuously updating new IP products and mini-program activities, and building a brand's private domain operation position with user recognition.

In this regard, Pop Mart's private domain operations seem to have reached another level. Based on the user group's love for the trendy play atmosphere and their recognition of products and brands, we provide them with such a communication platform (whether it is the platform's official community or a community built by users themselves).

I will discuss this part in the later expansion. Below is an analysis of some of Pop Mart’s operational actions on the global platform.

1. Grabbing users from the public domain

Pop Mart has more than 10 million fans on many traditional e-commerce platforms (Tmall, JD.com), Weibo, Xiaohongshu and Douyin. In addition to contributing to GMV output, these fans can also be deposited in private domain platforms as a source of private domain traffic. The following figure shows the fan data of some platforms:

2. Platform diversion of users

In addition to acquiring customers online, Pop Mart has also set up offline stores and robot stores to divert traffic to private domains.

Most of Pop Mart’s current stores are located on the first floor or basement level in core business districts, and the stores have high display value.

Since blind boxes are non-essential products with high emotional premium, they will be more dependent on in-store experience and services . At the same time, the store clerk will also provide guidance during the service:

The first is to draw boxes and check inventory online . If the blind box you want to buy is out of stock in our store, the clerk will guide you to follow the official account and then go to the mini program to draw a box online; at the same time, the clerk will also remind you that you can check the inventory of offline stores in the mini program in the future to confirm that there is stock before buying, so as to avoid disappointment;

The second is to guide registered members when making payment . When paying, the clerk will ask you if you are a member. Members can accumulate points and redeem limited edition blind boxes, peripherals and cash coupons. If not, the clerk will strongly guide you to register on the mini program.

Through store promotion and staff guidance, the ultimate goal of offline stores has been achieved, that is, to attract users online and facilitate omni-channel penetration of users.

3. Private domain user accumulation

The traffic directed from online and offline will be taken over by the official account. The official account serves as a news channel for new product releases, and is also the entrance to corporate WeChat and mini-programs, achieving unified distribution of traffic.

3. Private Domain Construction

The entrance to Pop Mart’s private domain traffic is divided into two paths:

Path 1: Follow the official account - Add corporate WeChat - Enter the community

Path 2: Mini Program Entrance - Entering the Community

Note: My entry has been closed by me. I found a picture on the Internet. If it infringes on copyright, it will be deleted.

Path 3: Video Account - Add Corporate WeChat - Enter the Community

4. Private Domain Operation

Overall idea of ​​private domain operation:

Wang Ning, the founder of Pop Mart, once said: Pop Mart has never been a blind box company, but a trendy toy company based on blind boxes. The ultimate goal is to create a "consumer tribe" based on users. Perhaps the key to achieving this is the operation of private domain traffic, or the operation of the community.

The highest level of community operation is to achieve self-activation of the community. When a group of people with the same interests gather together, interesting content will be generated from the users.

1. Personal account

1.1 Personal account positioning

1.2 Nickname

I have added 2 corporate WeChat accounts, and there is no unified format for the nicknames. Examples: European Air Deliveryman, Space Observer No. 5.

1.3 WeChat Avatar

There is no unified avatar for the time being, but all use pictures of blind box figures, which is consistent with the Pop Mart brand (the avatar gives people an urge to buy, it’s really super cute).

1.4 WeChat background & one sentence introduction

The WeChat background is various series of Pop Mart figures, and there is no one-sentence introduction yet.

The background image highlights the personal IP positioning, echoes Pop Mart’s main business, and conveys the brand image.

1.5 Automatic welcome & delayed message

In this stage, we will focus on the group entry rate indicator to improve the conversion rate from adding friends to joining the group.

Pop Mart manages user groups based on region. Use information such as irregular blind boxes, coupons, 0 yuan grabs, communication and mutual assistance (baby swapping, communication), and new product releases to guide users into the community.

After clicking the link, the user’s geographic location information will be obtained and the user will be guided into the group. And the QR code is only displayed once, that is, a user can only scan one QR code to enter one Wayou group.

2. Friends circle

Pop Mart has one piece of content on its Moments every day.

Sending time: around 11:00 noon

Content sent: Player show photography (events), wallpapers, new products, discounts, figurine recommendations, etc.

Sending format: Recommendation for the model + HD picture + link to the mini program in the comment area

3. Community

Group nickname: Pop Mart Beijing Kids Group xxx

Group positioning: Official welfare group, push some daily welfare, lucky draw, etc.

Group structure: Group owner*1+Group management*2

Welcome message: Every time a new user enters the community, a welcome message will be triggered. The content of the welcome message includes new user rights, community exclusive benefits, group rules, etc., and the user will be directed to the mini program.

Contents sent: Discounts, flash sales, new products on Wednesday, flash sales on Friday, daily draws

Sending form: text, picture, video, mini program

Sending frequency: 3-5 times/day on normal days. During holidays or flash sales, the frequency will be adjusted according to specific circumstances.

Sending time: Reach users during the prime time periods of 12 noon, 5-6 pm, and 7-8 pm

The community is a small trendy toy community where users can help each other, share trendy toy information, sell second-hand goods, etc. For the die-hard fans of Pop Mart's blind boxes, exchanging, selling and buying dolls is an eternal topic.

4. Membership system

In addition to analyzing the user path, operational ideas, and private domain construction, let’s talk about Pop Mart’s membership system. As of now, Pop Mart has accumulated more than 10 million members in the WeChat private domain, and the effect of the membership system is obvious: in the first half of 2021, members contributed more than 90% of sales, and the member repurchase rate was 49% .

Pop Mart’s membership system is divided into two categories, namely paid members and growth members. Growth-type membership does not cost money, you become a member once you register; while paid membership requires payment, the annual price is 699 yuan. Let’s talk about the different systems for different members separately.

Growth Members:

Pop Mart divides users into four levels according to their bubble values: newbies in trendy play (VIP1), advanced players (VIP2), newcomers in the doll circle (VIP3), and collectors (VIP4). The bubble value has a separate scoring system, which we will discuss in detail later.

The Bubble Value is a member value score calculated based on the consumption amount, consumption frequency, sharing and interaction behaviors of Pop Mart members in the past 180 days. The bubble value consists of two parts: [Consumption Points] and [Reward Points].

The consumption score is a comprehensive score of the amount of consumption of Pop Mart members in Pop Mart in the past 180 days. The reward points are a comprehensive score of consumption-related behaviors in the past 180 days, consecutive purchase months, and task completion rewards. The reward points are positively affected by the consumption points. The higher the consumption points, the higher the reward points.

The rights and interests corresponding to each level of users are shown in the following figure:

5. Bubble Points System

As mentioned earlier, the bubble value is composed of [consumption points] and [reward points], so the bubble value will be composed of [purchase items] and [completion of tasks].

As the name suggests, buying a product means buying a blind box product, and you will accumulate 1 point for every 1 yuan spent.

There are many contents in completing the tasks, including signing in to receive gifts, limited-time tasks, today's tasks, weekly tasks and challenge tasks.

Sign in to receive gifts: You can sign in on WeChat. The sign-in cycle is 7 days. If you miss a sign-in, you will start over from the first day. After completing 7 consecutive sign-ins, you can get an extra consecutive sign-in gift package on the 7th day. There is a certain chance that the gift package will drop bubble points, points, bubble reminder cards, 5 yuan coupons for bubble box machines, 10 yuan coupons for bubble box machines, free shipping coupons for the member center points mall, etc.

Limited-time task: includes first-order reward and completing information. The first order reward is 10 points, and completing the information is 20 points.

Today’s task: Earn 10 points for membership purchases, 10 points for daily blind box purchases, and 10 points for shopping in the official mall.

Weekly tasks: 30 points for offline store shopping and 30 points for robot store shopping

Challenge task: Use the WeChat lottery machine to accumulate points by drawing boxes, and each draw will earn you 10 points.

Paid Members:

The name of Pop Mart’s paid membership is Pop Mart Premium Card, which costs 699 yuan a year. Apart from the rights and interests setting, I personally feel that this part is not done particularly well. Users should experience the rights and interests of paying members, that is, they earn money as long as they buy it, and have the urge to activate it immediately after seeing the membership card. However, this version of the premium card design did not give me much impulse.

Let’s talk about the benefits of paying members: new product discounts + double the luck + accelerated growth + member day carnival

6. Conclusion

Based on my experience and that of my friends in buying blind boxes, we don’t particularly care about membership upgrades. We are more concerned about the fun brought by buying blind boxes itself. Membership benefits are the icing on the cake.

5. Summary of Private Domain Operation

1. Points for reference

1. The first is the private domain construction stage. Pop Mart has mobilized almost all its strength to divert users to the private domain in all scenarios where users can be diverted to the private domain. Every time a tweet is posted, a screenshot is sent to Weibo to guide users to follow the official account as much as possible. At the entrance of the offline store, there is a poster of the latest new products, and under the poster there is a box for picking up promotional brochures. In addition to brochures, almost all the signs in the store have the shadow of the mini program code. In addition to the in-store display, there are also various guidance words from the store staff.
2. Complete membership system and points system. It can be said that Pop Mart's membership system is very complete, forming a complete closed loop, including point earning and point consumption, and different membership rights are designed according to user needs;
3. Overall, Pop Mart's private domain operation system is well-established and divided into two major sections: the main transaction site (stores & box-drawing machines) and promotion and diversion. It is also linked to offline stores, making it comprehensive and prioritized.
4. The design of Pop Mart's box-drawing machine perfectly reproduces the offline box-drawing scene, and it is a great mini-program product;
5. The support for the entire business model behind it. Many commercial media and critics have tried to attribute the popularity of Pop Mart to "emotional value" and "blind box gameplay", but in fact, the story behind it is far more complicated than that. Why do users buy it and why are they willing to continue repurchasing? This is no longer just about the practical needs of food, clothing, housing and transportation, but users will have more emotional needs for surprises, companionship, etc., as well as lifestyle choices from a social perspective. We will elaborate on this in more detail in the final extended thinking section.

2. Optimizable points

In fact, Pop Mart’s achievements in the private domain are enough to show that private domain operations have been done very well. There is actually nothing that can be optimized on my side. If I really have to say, it may be Pop Mart’s paid membership system.

The paid membership of Pop Mart is 699 yuan a year, but as a user, I may not have much urge to buy a membership card immediately. Can we change the approach? For example, 59 yuan a month, if you like it, you can activate the continuous monthly subscription function.

6. Extended thinking

1. The deep-seated needs of users behind the emergence of new things. We mentioned earlier that some media attributed Pop Mart’s success to “emotional value” and “blind box gameplay”, but should we go a step deeper to analyze what exactly the users’ needs are? Users need some personalized and differentiated products; they need brand value propositions that allow them to express themselves; they need product capability designs that allow them to please themselves and relieve stress; they need a variety of social personalities; they need key elements that help them relieve social pressure and increase emotional interaction.

2. Mini programs are the brand’s largest innovation venue. The Pop Mart box-drawing machine mini program is a very important innovation in the trendy toy industry. It not only continuously optimizes the experience of the purchasing link, but also enables the operation of the relationship between the brand and the user. It is not just over after the payment is made. Their purchasing experience, surprise or disappointment, all need to be shared.

On many social media channels, you can see the content promoted by Pop Mart doll friends. For brands, the purpose of operating communities today is not only to retain users in the brand pool, but more importantly, to find a scenario for consumers to express their emotions and communicate with each other.

3. Build a brand’s private domain operation position through user recognition. Crowd is strategy, and building a private domain operation position through user recognition is how Pop Mart understands private domain operation. By improving product and service capabilities, the attractiveness to users is 1, while the scale of traffic and the degree of refinement of traffic operations determine how many zeros can be stacked after 1.

Author: Private Domain Deep Operation

Source: Private Domain In-depth Operation