Chinese consumers’ growing obsession with cute collectible trinkets has generated billions of dollars for companies like Labubu doll maker Pop Mart over the past few years. Now, the country’s museums are trying to jump on the trend.
Cultural venues across China are releasing new ranges of creative merchandise, as they try to plug gaping holes in their budgets by tapping into the nation’s “emotional consumption” trend.
And some have already scored big hits, with Beijing’s National Museum of China selling more than 1 million copies of a fridge magnet shaped like an ornate headdress worn by an ancient Chinese empress, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Rain Zhao, a former intern at the merchandise department of Beijing’s Palace Museum, said there was a genuine hunger among consumers for the museum’s gift shop products.
“Around 30 to 40 per cent of visitors would buy at least one or two items,” said Zhao, who spent two months at the museum last summer.
China’s cultural venues are attracting plenty of visitors as the domestic tourism sector bounces back from the Covid-19 pandemic. The country’s 4,500 public museums recorded nearly 1.5 billion visits last year, up from 1.2 billion in 2023, according to government data.
