By: N Jayalakshmi
Last updated : March 19, 2025 5:39 pm
In an exclusive interaction with Retail4Growth, Chen Chang, Director of Global Communications at MINISO, talks about how the global retail chain leverages its IP-themed store concept to offer a differentiated shopping experience.
Global retail chain MINISO headquartered in China, operates 7,000+ stores across 112 markets, and is fast expanding across North America, Southeast Asia, Europe, and Latin America. The retail brand has leveraged some key strategies such as going global with its IP, supply chain, design, and store network.
The brand has partnered with 9 of the world’s top 20 IP brands and has global IP partnerships with Disney, Harry Potter, Barbie and other major brands popular among Gen Z, with 150+ licensed IP collaborations.
Social Shopping Experiences
Speaking about the brand’s IP strategy, Chen Chang, Director of Global Communications at MINISO, told Retail4Growth in a recent exclusive interaction, “The corporate aim of MINISO is to become the world’s leading IP design retail group. The idea is to strike an emotional connection with shoppers, especially Gen Z and offer social shopping experiences.”
The IP Journey
MINISO first introduced its IP strategy in 2019 in collaboration with Marvel. From then on, over a period of time, it transitioned to IP-Themes stores. The culmination of it was the launch of the MINISO LAND, the world’s first scenario based IP-co branded collection store in Shanghai and three more such stores in other parts of China.
Speaking about it, Chen said, “MINISO Land is about offering a differentiated experience with hands- on interaction with products that enable social media interactions and featuring entertainment driven design. The vision behind MINISO LAND is that it’s a space where people don’t just shop, but can also have fun, enjoy memorable moments and share them with their friends. It’s about creating iconic landmarks in a city.”
Accordingly these stores are designed with Experience Zones, Photo Booth Areas and a Theme Park-Like Atmosphere.
Stores as content
Central to an IP Driven store strategy is the idea of stores as content, serving as marketing assets for the brand. As Chen pointed out, “90% of our revenue comes from offline stores. So it’s important that our stores are designed as landmark locations for social media engagement. While in-store experiences boost brand loyalty, the social media engagement increases brand awareness and foot traffic.” Effective synergy between the offline and online channels is thus the key here.
Leveraging technology in store operations
Speaking about the role of technology in enhancing store operations, Chen said, “Currently MINISO has 10,000+ core SKUs, optimized with technology, including AI and big data. This ensures that the store layout is based on data driven product placements.” The company also has an AI-powered inventory management system.
The ‘711 strategy’
Much of MINISO’s success is also driven by what the company calls the ‘711’ strategy. Explaining this, Chen said, “Every 7 days, 100 products are selected from 10,000 to launch. So this ensures that every month, customers get to see new products and new store design.”
MINISO in India
MINISO has nearly 300 stores in India across major cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and others. Most of these stores are located in malls with high foot traffic. In terms of store formats, the company follows a flexible format approach in India with a mix of direct company operated franchise and pop-up stores. Speaking about India, Chen said, “India is a huge market, and we see a huge potential there because we know India has very young population.” This is one of the reasons, the company has multiple pop-up stores in the country, including the MINISO x Harry Potter pop-up stores running through the month. Further, sharing unique challenges in India when it comes to store roll-outs and expansion, Chen added, “The challenges we face in India are like in any other market, and more to do with cultural, linguistic, and religious differences. We address these challenges through local partnerships with local teams and product selection.”
MINISO is in fact quite upbeat about India and it possibly won’t be long before the country sees an immersive MINISO LAND, offering an ‘Instagrammable’ store to India’s Gen Z.