Pop Mart, the pet industry's app, earned nearly 1 billion in a single quarter!

Blind box economy is on fire!

Nowadays, consumers are increasingly pursuing personalized and interesting consumption experiences. The blind box economy is becoming increasingly popular, and it has also given rise to more consumer demands, especially among Generation Z , who have shown a strong willingness to buy.

Pop Mart, a star player in the "blind box economy", has also recently become popular for its popular figures co-branded with the animated film "Nezha 2", and all major stores have seen a scene of "one box is hard to come by".

Pop Mart has a keen sense of the market, and its sudden popularity has captured the preferences of the majority of movie fans, thus achieving business growth.

In fact, the "blind box economy" has a wide range of audiences, and trendy toy giants like Pop Mart are common, but there are relatively few that are specifically for dogs, and BarkBox is one of them.

At present, the " blind box + " model is extending to multiple industries, and the blind box economy market specifically for dogs is in a rapid expansion stage, with more development opportunities.

After more than ten years of focusing on vertical segmentation, it finally ushered in an explosion

In recent years, the "IT economy" has been booming .

Overseas pet owners, especially those of Generation Z, spend a lot of money on their pets every year, and blind boxes, as an emerging marketing strategy , can often bring surprises to people.

With its personalized customization services and high-quality, high-frequency new product launches, BarkBox has gradually gained favor among pet owners.

BarkBox is a world-renowned pet blind box brand that only serves dogs . BarkBox provides subscription -based blind box services including toys and snacks based on the dog's breed, age, preferences, etc. It is worth mentioning that BarkBox is also one of the earliest dog subscription boxes.

In order to provide dogs with personalized customized blind boxes, users will be invited to fill in the dog's detailed information before the first subscription service . BarkBox will also pay attention to user feedback, optimize services and increase user stickiness .

And it has been more than ten years since its establishment. Specifically:

BarkBox was founded in 2011 by Matt Meeker, Carly Strife and Henrik Werdelin.

In 2012, BarkBox was officially launched and introduced the iconic subscription-based pet blind box. Subsequently, Bark&Co. was established.

In 2014, BarkBox expanded its business and the online store BarkShop came into being.

In 2016, BarkBox received US$60 million in Series C funding and joined Urban Outfitter's comprehensive e-commerce platform UO MRKT.

In 2021, BarkBox merged with Northern Star Acquisition Corp. and was indirectly listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

From 2022 to date, BarkBox has continuously launched new products, optimized services, and paid attention to product quality. At the same time, it has vigorously deployed mainstream social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to publish content about dogs, attract more user participation, and further expand the global market.

In addition, BarkBox has also established alliances with well - known KOLs in the pet field to further expand the influence of its products through interesting unboxing reviews, product recommendations, etc.

Data shows that in the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 , the company's revenue reached US$126.1 million (approximately RMB 919 million) , higher than expected and a year-on-year increase of 2.5% .

In addition, for the third quarter of fiscal year 2025, the company expects total revenue to be US$123 million to US$126 million (approximately RMB 896 million to RMB 918 million) , a year-on-year increase of 1.7% to 0.7%.

With a valuation of over 1 billion US dollars, BarkBox has great potential

Today, BarkBox has grown into one of the fastest-growing pet DTC brands in the United States , with a company valuation of over $1 billion.

BarkBox had 15,000 subscribers within just one year of its launch , and the number of subscribers surged to 100,000 in 2013. Today, BarkBox has served more than 2 million pet dogs, with a user retention rate of 95% , and user satisfaction and dependence have also been greatly improved .

Pets can provide emotional value for their owners and have gradually become an important carrier for pet owners to place their emotions. Emotional marketing is becoming more and more common.

With the improvement of people's living standards and the resulting high demand for pet companionship, the pet economy is bound to become more popular in the future. BarkBox not only focuses on the refinement of vertical tracks, but also invests a lot in emotionalization.

Because dogs come in different sizes, BarkBox also provides customers with boxes of different sizes to choose from, specifically divided into three different subscription boxes: 0-20 pounds, 20-50 pounds , and 50+ pounds , which take better care of dogs .

In addition, the price of a single blind box from BarkBox is also divided according to different subscription lengths. If you subscribe for 12 months, the price of each blind box is US$22, otherwise the price will increase.

Over the years, BarkBox has not blindly expanded into other categories, but has focused on a single pet type to achieve overtaking. Currently, the monthly visits to BarkBox's independent website are as high as 6 million times, of which natural search volume accounts for as high as 42% . The high natural search volume also shows that BarkBox is deeply loved by pet owners, showing a large market influence and user stickiness.

The pet economy is booming, and the pet industry has a bright future

The global pet products market will reach USD 296.8 billion (RMB 2,162.277 billion) in 2024 and is expected to continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5% in the next few years . The North American market alone accounts for more than 40% of the global market.

In the pet blind box segment, the United States is its main battlefield and it emerged earlier. Now, pet blind boxes are also expanding to other overseas markets such as Southeast Asia and Europe through cross-border e-commerce , and will reach more countries and regions in the future .

BarkBox is not the only company that has become popular in the pet industry. Chewy, headquartered in Florida, has also performed well, becoming the largest vertical pet e-commerce platform in the United States in just a few years.

Like BarkBox, Chewy has precisely positioned itself and focused on the category of pet supplies. Its market share even exceeds that of e-commerce giant Amazon, accounting for nearly 50%.

Data shows that as of the third quarter of 2024, Chewy's number of active customers is approximately 20.2 million, and in the first three quarters of 2024, the platform's cumulative net sales were US$8.614 billion (approximately RMB 62.756 billion), a year-on-year increase of 3.51%.

In recent years , the sub-sectors of the global pet economy have shown a trend of diversification and specialization, covering almost all kinds of needs of pets throughout their life cycle, such as pet food and supplies, pet smart devices, pet medical and health care, pet grooming and cleaning, pet insurance and finance, pet funerals , etc.

The pet economy is no longer limited to the basic needs of pets. In the future, intelligence and personalization may become a new trend.

At present , although the leading players have entered the market first and occupied a certain market share, new sellers can also use differentiated strategies to delve into niche areas and seek new development opportunities.

Blind Box Economy

BarkBox