Latest news with #Miniso
Business Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
How Chinese consumer brands are muscling into South-east Asia
EVERY tourist arriving in Ho Chi Minh City visits the 110-year-old Ben Thanh Market. Its surrounding streets pulse with local eateries, coffee joints, and souvenir shops. Yet amid these Vietnamese staples stands a branch of Miniso, a lifestyle chain that may appear Japanese but is actually Chinese. Since entering Vietnam in 2016, the brand has grown to 66 locations, taking prime spots in malls and bustling street corners. It's not the only one. Number of outlets of Miniso, PopMart, Cotti, Haidilao as of 30 June 2025; Luckin, Chagee as of 30 March 2025, Mixue as of 30 September 2024. SOURCE: TECH IN ASIA RESEARCH Chinese consumer brands are expanding at breakneck speed across South-east Asia, snapping up flagship corners and turning passers-by into fans. That said, the region is far from being one single market, and brands sticking to a particular homegrown playbook could stumble. Scale advantage Chinese consumer brands are not new to South-east Asia. Haidilao, China's largest hot pot chain, entered Singapore 13 years ago. Meanwhile, Mixue, now the world's biggest F&B player by outlet count, picked Vietnam as the site for its first overseas store in 2018. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up SOURCE: TECH IN ASIA RESEARCH Yet Chinese brands have only started expanding aggressively across the region in the past three years. By the end of 2024, more than 60 Chinese F&B brands were operating over 6,100 outlets in South-east Asia. That's triple the 2022 figure of less than 2,000, according to research firm Momentum Works. With China's consumer market still flat post-pandemic, South-east Asia, with a population of 700 million people, 30 per cent of whom are aged 15 to 34, has become a good target for brands, said Lina Yan, consumer analyst at HSBC Global Investment Research. SOURCE: OVERSEAS COMMUNITY AFFAIRS COUNCIL OF TAIWAN, WORLD BANK Cultural ties play an important part here. Four of South-east Asia's six biggest countries have the world's highest ethnic Chinese population shares. 'Southeast Asian markets are definitely more China-friendly than the US and Western countries,' Jason Yu, managing director at Beijing-based CTR Research, told Tech in Asia. Among Chinese brands, Mixue stands out in scale, with 4,700 outlets across South-east Asia as at September 2024, according to its prospectus. Over 84 per cent of them are in Indonesia and Vietnam. Mixue sells ice cream and cold drinks for under US$1, with all its stores in the region run by franchisees. Most of its revenue comes from selling supplies to them. The company's scale of 40,000 outlets in China gave it a foundation of a low-cost, reliable supply chain that no competitor can match. Its optimisation level is simply in a league of its own. That operational edge lets it keep franchise fees low to scale fast and earn from ingredient sales, according to Jason Ong, master transformation strategist at Axxelerated Transformation, a Singapore-based consulting firm specialising in retail innovation. 'It's intensely competitive in China,' he said. 'Anyone who survives there and expands abroad must already have a strong playbook.' Other Chinese beverage chains such as Luckin and Cotti also ran tens of thousands of stores in China before entering South-east Asia. In contrast, the region's biggest homegrown coffee brands – Thailand's Cafe Amazon and Indonesia's Point Coffee – have around 4,400 and 1,200 outlets, respectively. Beyond sheer numbers, some Chinese brands are making South-east Asia the centrepiece of their global push. For example, Miniso's largest store in the world is not in China but in Indonesia. Opened in August 2024, the flagship spans 3,000 square metres. New approach Miniso began by positioning itself as Japanese-influenced. However, it later ditched Japanese elements in its styling after a backlash in China driven by consumer nationalism. Now it touts itself as a global lifestyle brand. Its makeover has signalled a bigger shift. Chinese consumer brands, long deemed budget copycats of Western or Japanese labels, are winning on their own paths. Leading Chinese brands are reshaping their image by investing heavily in design, R&D, and customer experience, said Mark Greeven, professor of innovation and strategy and dean of Asia at the International Institute for Management Development. While Miniso partners with well-known global intellectual properties such as Disney, Harry Potter, and Sanrio, Pop Mart has sparked a global craze among young consumers with Labubu figures from its exclusive IP. This applies not only to South-east Asia. These brands are 'winning over new generations of consumers worldwide,' Greeven added. Moreover, Chinese brands are not just about low prices anymore. Chagee, which positions itself as a premium milk tea chain, prices its drinks roughly on par with Starbucks coffee in Singapore. Bumps on the road Still, Chinese brands face challenges from South-east Asia's diverse market. SOURCE: IPSOS' RESEARCH (2024) 'The region is deeply nuanced,' said Ryan Wei, founder of Indonesia-based Sino Indo Pacific (SIP) Group and former chief business officer at Indonesian F&B giant Boga Group. 'There's no single playbook – you will not win in Vietnam the same way you do in Indonesia or Thailand. It's not like expanding to another province in China.' For example, Luckin and Chagee have maintained both franchising and direct operations models in the region – different in each country. SOURCE: MOMENTUM WORKS (2025) Finding the right local partners is crucial when entering a new market, said Nathanael Lim, Asia-Pacific insight manager for beverages at data analytics firm Euromonitor International. Some brands do not get it right the first time, however. Chagee, for instance, abruptly exited Singapore in early 2024 after operating for five years through a franchise partnership model. It later returned with direct operations and now runs six stores in the city-state. SOURCE: EUROMONITOR INTERNATIONAL That said, localisation isn't just about business models. It also demands cultural awareness. In April 2025, Chagee planned to open its first Vietnam store along one of Ho Chi Minh City's most premium streets. But it pulled out after a public outcry and boycott calls from locals. The backlash was triggered by a map on the company's app and website showing the nine-dash line – China's disputed territory claim in the South China Sea that overlaps with Vietnam's own. No apology, no update. Chagee's Vietnam entry is likely off the table. Commenting on the incident, CTR Research's Yu said it's not easy for Chinese brands to navigate politically sensitive issues abroad. If a brand removes the nine-dash line to follow local laws, it risks backlash at home if the situation gains traction on Chinese social media. 'They will need to strike a delicate balance to please both Chinese and foreign sentiment when dealing with politically charged topics,' he explained. But while Chinese brands excel in tech and operations, many still lack international finesse, argues SIP Group's Wei. A large number of them have only started expanding overseas in the last five years, while American and Japanese companies have decades of global experience. Missteps are then inevitable. 'But at the end of the day, success belongs to those who keep outgrowing themselves,' Wei added. 'And on that front, I believe Chinese players are learning and evolving faster than most local brands.' TECH IN ASIA
Cosmopolitan
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
14 Labubu Alternatives That Are Available on Amazon
The bag charm trend is not letting up. So much so, Labubu started a collectible toy renaissance the world over. Bitter you can't get one? We've got you—there are plenty more tiny toys bubbling up to fill the Labubu-sized hole in our hearts, and they're readily available at stores like POP MART and Miniso. For now! Most of these miniatures come in blind boxes, so you don't know which one you'll get exactly, but unboxing the surprise is half of the fun. There are a lot of dupes on Amazon, so make sure you shop for ones that link back to an official storefront. Most of these characters tend to be whimsical or weird, and their diminutive sizes (under 5 inches) means they don't take up a ton of space on your desk or bookshelf. Creepy-cute trinkets, starting at $15, right this way:
Bloomberg
26-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Labubu's Mega Markups Make Pop Mart a $43 Billion Export Giant
Forget electric vehicles or fast fashion. The driver of some of China's biggest retail profit margins is a plush, pointy-eared, serrated-tooth monster called a Labubu. Labubu, Beijing toymaker Pop Mart International Group Ltd.'s star character, is fueling a global collectibles craze. The company posted a gross profit margin of nearly 67% last year, among the highest of Chinese firms with major international reach. By comparison, homegoods and toy retailer Miniso Group Holding Ltd. 's margin was about 45%, while consumer electronics maker Xiaomi Corp. and EV powerhouse BYD Co. came in around 20%.
Fashion Network
17-06-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
After pop-up test, Miniso opens permanent store at Liberty Romford
Miniso 's UK expansion continues apace in June. Not one opening but three, with the latest landing for the Chinese variety retailer taking place at Liberty Romford. And the Redical-owned shopping centre has already proven a fertile patch for the brand as the new store replaces a successful pop-up that first launched last December. Adding to Liberty Romford's 'dynamic tenant line-up and capitalising on the destination's position as the number one London satellite shopping centre for retail spend opportunity", Miniso has unveiled its 2,270 sq ft store at the London borough-based venue. While shoppers will discover everyday essentials, beauty, travel, homeware, tech and snacks, the star attractions include Vinyl Plush Blind Boxes alongside characters Hello Kitty, Kuromi, My Melody, Pochacco and Pompompurin, and newer launches from Disney 's Stitch, Minecraft and Harry Potter. Its UK COO Saad Usman said: 'After such a fantastic response during our pop-up in December, we knew this vibrant, community-focused location was the perfect place to make a permanent home.' And the other two June openings? The brand also lands in Luton later this week (20 June) at the Luton Point shopping centre, featuring the above-mentioned collections within a new 2,723 sq ft retail space. Earlier this month, it also made its Glasgow debut at the Braehead Shopping Centre second in Scotland, becoming its second unit in Scotland. The opening of a 1,750 sq ft store, located on the lower level, is 'testament to the significant appeal the centre has among leading global brands", according to Huw Kmiot, associate director of the centre's asset manager Pradera Lateral.
CNA
06-06-2025
- Business
- CNA
Miniso Group mulls spin-off of its pop toy business
Miniso Group said on Friday it was making a preliminary assessment of a potential spin-off listing of its pop toy business operating under the brand, "TOP TOY". The plan is preliminary, with no assurance of the timing, listing venue or other details, the lifestyle products retailer said in a statement. Miniso has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. and UBS Group AG for a planned initial public offering of the unit, TOP TOY, in Hong Kong, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources. The TOP TOY brand saw a 58.9 per cent rise in its March quarter revenue and an increase of 120 net new stores from a year before.
