Introduction

 

Pop Mart’s 2024 revenue is on track to break RMB 10 billion. Yet the engine is not “trendy toys” alone, but an entire immersive “surprise-economy” chain. In a Gen-Z-dominated market, Pop Mart has turned the blind-box into a core-experience design, spinning a triple growth flywheel of brand culture, user activation and emotional resonance. Using the “Experience Business Model” as a lens, this article dissects Pop Mart’s experience strategy layer by layer to show how it built a buzz-worthy and commercially powerful toy empire.

 

Model Overview: 3-D Experience Architecture

 

Pop Mart’s strategy is built on three pillars:

 

1. Brand-led – amplify IP culture, iconography and emotional identity to forge a unique toy-spirit.

 

2. User-driven – leverage deep Gen-Z insights to build community interaction and data feedback loops.

 

3. Experience-centric – craft a full journey of “unboxing surprise → sharing resonance → social virality”.

 

Four experience drivers—“surprise, participation, sociality, immersion”—work in concert.

 

Brand-led: Crafting Cultural Icons & Identity

 

Pop Mart treats “IP = cultural asset.” Original characters like Molly, Skullpanda and Dimoo are given personalities, turning collectibles into vehicles for self-expression.

 

Flagship stores (e.g., Sanlitun) are designed as art installations; pop-ups and collabs with KAWS, Honor of Kings, etc., extend cultural reach and youth-culture penetration.

 

 

User-driven: From Data Insight to Community Co-Creation

 

Gen-Z craves unpredictability, high interactivity and belonging. Hidden-edition odds, limited drops and draw mechanics trigger emotional spikes. A mini-program + membership system feeds a data loop of “persona → purchase → tag → iteration.”

 

On RED, Bilibili and Douyin, unboxing UGC, KOL reviews and blind-box challenges drive social virality. Offline “Pop Mart Club” events create emotional bonds and “always-with-you” brand presence.

 

Experience-centric: Multi-touch Immersive Loop

 

The entire journey is engineered around the “box-opening” ritual:

 

• Offline: giant IP sculptures, vending machines, interactive walls for ceremony and scene-setting.
• Online: app supports collections, unboxing diaries, virtual albums to deepen immersion and repeat motivation.
• Social: missions, points and incentives for sharing; monthly new drops and collabs create a “social calendar.”

 

Key Results & KPIs

 

• Revenue: ~RMB 10 billion in 2024 (+30 % YoY).
• Users: 8 million MAU; 18 million+ registered members.
• Social: 1.2 billion RED hashtag views; 1.5 billion Douyin views.
• Experience: 60 %+ repeat-purchase rate; 4.8/5 in-app “unboxing satisfaction.”

 

Evolving Challenges

 

While Pop Mart has emerged as a flagship case of experience-driven growth, its rapid expansion is now exposing a new set of challenges.

 

First, the inherent randomness of the blind-box mechanism has led some users to report addictive tendencies and associated spending anxiety. To address this, Pop Mart could roll out “semi-blind” or fully transparent boxes that preserve the element of surprise while giving consumers greater agency, boosting both perceived control and rational spending.

 

Second, global expansion still hinges on stronger cultural adaptation. While Pop Mart thrives in East Asia, IP recognition barriers in Europe, the United States, and other emerging markets remain high. Going forward, locally incubated IP and partnerships with regional KOLs should be leveraged to build content and distribution networks that feel authentically local.

 

Third, as the brand pushes into lower-tier cities, offline presence in third- and fourth-tier markets is still sparse, limiting on-site experience opportunities. Regional pop-ups and tightly integrated O2O operations can help broaden reach and maintain a consistent experience nationwide.

 

 

Conclusion: Experience as Growth Engine

 

Centering on IP content, powered by user co-creation, and propelled by full-touchpoint experiences, Pop Mart has built a self-reinforcing growth loop. It forges cultural identity through brand orientation, closes the operational loop via user-driven mechanisms, and stages an emotional-value arena with experience at its heart—establishing a replicable paradigm for new-generation consumer brands.

 

In an accelerating experience economy, Pop Mart’s strategic takeaway is clear: genuine brand differentiation stems from relentlessly crafting experiences that are memorable, emotionally charged, and socially shareable. This is the core logic of “experience-driven growth.”