The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2013–2025
Miniso made the 'ten-yuan store' a global franchise by selling goods, not store rights
Franchisees fund the shop and keep 38% of daily sales; Miniso keeps supply-chain control — ¥19B GMV by 2019 and 7,600+ stores by 2025.
Miniso (名创优品)
the move
Ye Guofu founded Miniso in 2013 as a 'ten-yuan store' chain selling everyday items — home goods, electronics, accessories — at low prices in prime shopping malls. By 2019 it reached ¥19 billion in GMV and filed for a US IPO in September 2020 under the ticker MNSO.
The mechanism is asset-light franchise expansion: partners pay a brand fee and a goods deposit, bear store operating costs, and keep a share of daily sales (about 38%, 33% for food), while Miniso takes the rest and controls what is sold. Because 90% of revenue comes from selling goods rather than franchise fees, every store is effectively a distribution point for Miniso's direct-from-factory supply chain.
IP licensing became the margin engine: licensing fees grew from ¥21.85 million to ¥109 million as Miniso signed collaborations with Coca-Cola, Frozen and the Palace Museum, letting small stores refresh with blockbuster products. By June 2025 Miniso had 4,305 stores in mainland China and 3,307 overseas, with IP products about half of overseas sales, and it is now building its own IP.
why it works
- Partners fund stores, so expansion does not consume Miniso's capital.
- Keeping roughly 62% of daily sales turns every store into a supply-chain customer.
- Factory-direct sourcing keeps prices at ten-yuan levels with margin intact.
- Licensed and own IP raise prices and repeat visits without raising store cost.
what transfers
In low-margin retail, sell the inputs, not the brand: partners who fund stores turn fixed costs into variable ones, while the parent's margin is protected by owning the supply chain.
what came after
Miniso listed on the NYSE in 2020 and later in Hong Kong; by 2025 it ran 7,600+ stores globally with IP sales about half of overseas revenue and revenue growing nearly 30% a year. The franchise-plus-supply-chain model was widely copied, but few rivals could match the scale of direct sourcing and IP deals.
references
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.