What Miniso has done is what a lot of Chinese companies do. They are willing to make a lower profit margin in a sector. They recognize that Japanese design is trusted globally. That brands like Muji and Uniqlo are fantastic brands and offer great products. They’re branding is spot on, the layout of their stores and product selection is professional.

Miniso has managed to copy this same aesthetic, but giving consumers what they want at a much lower price taking advantage of the all the product that Mainland china makes cheaply. They’ve simply organised these products, chosen ones that appeal to their buyers (mainly woman).

The Miniso stores have a clean layout and design. Nice metal racks with wooden bench tops.

Perhaps the most innovative part of the Miniso business model, is in the way they constantly change product inventory. This leaves customers always coming back to see what’s new. They very quickly analyse what sells and what doesn’t; optimizing every last inch of their retail stores. This fast supply chain, tightly linked to their factories have given them the ability to out innovate their competition. Muji by contrast, design all their products and have them manufactured. This means they have to sell their products for longer to recoup the development cost and to make a profit from said products. This is another reason why Muji products are more expensive than Miniso. By contrast Miniso has no development cost. No molds to pay for, no product designers they just have to pay for their retail and packaging design team. If you look at their packaging it’s obvious they hardly even do that. So much of the packaging looks like it came standard from the factory and they just swapped out the brand names.(Insert photo showing packaging that looks like it came straight from the factory)

Of course like everything in China, if someone’s sees your business being successful, there will be copy cats. Check out this list.

Would Miniso have had the same success if they branded themselves as Chinese? We doubt it, but it’s a shame to see a country like China, not being able to have the confidence to build an international brand in the retail sector. DJI and Huawai have managed to do this in the tech sector.

Looking at the recent media in regards to Miniso it seems there has been less focus on the Japanese side. The truth is the business is Chinese, though they have at least one Japanese employee, Miyake Jyunya. Obviously the real founder Ye Guo Fu is the brains behind the business success of Miniso. It would have been more difficult for him to build the brand as Chinese as consumers prefer foreign brands. Hopefully in the future he can build a Chinese brand and make it global. Helping China to move up the value chain and being able to compete at an equal or greater level then the likes of H&M, Muji and Zara. Brandzaar challenges you Mr. Ye Guo Fu to create a truly global Chinese brand that is authentic and respected.