RECENT years have seen an ever-expanding market for art toys, also called designer toys. Toy companies’ fierce competition has moved from e-commerce platforms to the offline shopping field.

On July 24, Shenzhen iDreamSky Entertainment teamed up with Tencent Technology to open the world’s first QQ Family-themed flagship store at OCT Harbor complex in Nanshan District. The hotspot welcomed 6,400 customers, bringing in 700,000 yuan (US$108,453) in revenue, in the first two days since the opening.

China is expected to be one of the core markets for designer toys globally. Data showed that China’s art toy industry has grown from 11.8 percent in 2017 to 19.17 percent in 2020, and it is estimated to increase to 38.4 billion yuan in 2021. The explosive rise of art toys has captivated more startups to embark on carving up the market through a rapid expansion of offline stores and product types.

Tencent granted iDreamSky a QQ Family IP (intellectual property) license for use in March this year, and about four months later, iDreamSky opened a QQ Family flagship store in Shenzhen highlighting art toys. The 2021 interim results of iDreamSky show it is slated to set up 20 new “play together” brand offline stores at shopping malls in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other cities this year, in a bid to raise revenue and integrate online and offline IP resources.

Pop Mart International Group Ltd., China’s largest and fastest-growing toy maker occupying a significant share of the domestic market, was listed on the Hong Kong stock market at the end of last year. Pop Mart recently ran 32 offline stores and 126 roboshops. Its number of shops has increased to 215 from 187, and the roboshops have increased to 1,477 from 1,351, from Dec. 31 last year to June 30 this year.

MINISO is another Chinese brand embracing a variety of IPs, including global top IP, two-dimensions IP, Chinese fashion IP and innovative art toy IP. It opened 127 domestic stores and 35 foreign stores in the fourth quarter of 2021. The 2021 fiscal year has seen a growth of 406 shops in China and 121 abroad.

The performance of MINISO’s “Top Toy” brand is also outstanding. A Top Toy offline store at Shenzhen Super Wenheyou in Luohu District received 30,000 customers on the first day it opened, which led to revenue of over 1 million yuan. The brand has 24 stores opened in the fourth quarter of 2021. By June 30, the number of Top Toy shops had reached 33. The brand is gradually setting foot in first-tier and second-tier cities. (Xia Yuanjie)