Case study: Miniso Story of a Nascent Brand from China If you want high-quality and affordable products through a wide range of product categories including cosmetics, home goods, digital accessories, stationery kitchenware and much more under a single hood, yes you are at the right place, Welcome to Miniso. Miniso is a Chinese retailer and designer brand specializes in house goods and cosmetics founded in 2011 by a young Chinese entrepreneur Ye Guofu and co-founded by Japanese Designer Mr. Miyake Junya. Headquarter in Guangzhou, China under the company called Aiyaya. In 2018, the companys sales revenue reached $2.5 billion. History Miniso claimed to be a famous Japanese brand, despite operating in Mainland China and had no outlets in Japan. In January 2017, Miniso announced the entrance in the North Korean market. Soon after opening, the companys Japanese branch came under pressure for violating UN Security Council Resolution 2321 prohibiting trade with North Korea. As a result of the controversy, Miniso promised not to ship more products to North Korea and the Pyongyang store was rebranded as Evolution. Expansion Miniso first established in China, and most of its stores still operate there. Even so, it has pursued an aggressive expansion plan in countries connected with Chinas One Belt One Road economic policy and first began expanding in Asia: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Cambodia, and many more countries. Miniso signed a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Agreement with an American partner to expand its retail operations to the United States, on August 6, 2016, the first U.S. store was established in Pasadena in April 2017. In Central America, it opened its first store in Panama. In South America, it opened its first retail store in Brazil in August 2017, it is second in Chile in December 2017. In Europe, it operates retail stores in Spain, Germany, Italy, Estonia, Serbia, Russia, among others. In Africa, the company first entered in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Kampala, and Uganda. Miniso also operates stores in Egypt. On September 1, 2018, Miniso opened two stores in Romania and plans to open 40 more stores nationwide. Miniso opened its first store in Bangladesh, on January 12, 2018. In June 2019, Miniso announced it would open 6 more stores in Israel, bringing the total to 18 by the end of the year. Marketing Minisos marketing strategy is similar to Japanese retailers such as Muji, Daiso, and Uniqlo due to aesthetics and design. Due to the Japanese-influenced branding strategy, the companys products have been criticized as made in China to look Japanese. It has been criticized for attaching grammatically incorrect Japanese-language labels to many products. Nevertheless, because of it is success in expanding its number of retail stores. Alliance Bernstein, a global asset management company, called its market strategy success by quoting filling a price-point niche left unaddressed by the Japanese formats it was imitating. Jan. Apr. 2021 Final Assignment BB304 International Business Page 2 of 3 Operation in India In August 2017, Miniso started operations in India with a total of 26 stores, out of which 21 in Delhi region and 3 in Mumbai, 2 in Lucknow and 1 in Bangalore. The company plans to expand business in India by increasing its footprint across the country. The company aims to open 800 stores by the end of the year. Miniso Chief Designer Miyake Junya stated that India is one of the top five markets in terms of revenue for MINISO. To expand our presence in India, we have initiated our franchise model to start operations in Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Jaipur while tapping into tier 2 and tier 3 markets. Present Scenario MINISO is the global promoter of intelligent consumer products. Following the philosophy of simplicity, nature and good quality and returning to nature, it gains popularity among consumers with its designer product at an affordable price. At present, it has spread across more than 60 countries with 1800 stores including Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Taiwan, India and many more, with an average monthly growth of about 80-100 stores. While 80% of the product designs are from Japan, Korea, Sweden, and China.

Q1)Based on scenario given, choose one country that Miniso expanded their business, and analyze SIX (6) management issues might be faced in the foreign direct investment decision. (30 Marks)