Miniso helps rewrite toy sector story

The global toy sector's recovery is gathering pace, but the growth story is becoming increasingly uneven. Toy sales across consumer intelligence platform tracker Circana's 15 surveyed markets rose 9.5 percent year-on-year in the 12 months through end-June, while first-half sales accelerated 14 percent.

Yet behind the headline numbers, the industry's growth drivers are evolving. In China, rather than relying solely on traditional children's toys, demand is increasingly fueled by collectibles, hobby products and emotionally driven purchases.

Instead of competing primarily through blockbuster Hollywood franchises, the world's second-largest consumer market is cultivating a new generation of homegrown intellectual property, while retailers are redesigning stores into destinations that blend shopping with entertainment.

Miniso Group Holding Ltd is an example of such a trend. When the retailer opened its newest Miniso Land in Chengdu's eastern suburb memory cultural area, Sichuan province, recently, the location became the company's 100th "park-format" store in the country.

More than 80 percent of the store's 5,000 products are IP merchandise. The opening also marked the global debut of Chouchou, Miniso's latest original artist-created character, whose first batch of products sold out nationwide on launch day.

"Our goal is to create destinations that young people are willing to travel specifically to visit," said Ye Guofu, founder and CEO of Miniso. "We want IP to become part of city culture."

That ambition reflects a broader transformation taking place across China's consumer economy.

For decades, toy demand largely tracked demographics. Today, spending is increasingly driven by adults and young consumers seeking hobbies, self-expression and emotional value.

In China, locally developed gaming franchises have become some of the market's fastest-growing IPs, highlighting how consumer tastes are diverging from Western markets dominated by film, TV and sports licensing restrictions.

The competition is no longer simply about who owns the biggest global franchise. Increasingly, it is about who best understands China's rapidly evolving toy consumers.

That shift has prompted Miniso to rethink both its stores and its product strategy.