At 10 pm on February 10, 2022, the international creative studio LINE FRIENDS Chengdu Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li store will officially close. This is also the last offline store of LINE FRIENDS in mainland China.
As a popular internet celebrity check-in place, LINE FRIENDS offline stores were once the brand’s traffic entrance. For example, the LINE FRIENDS flagship store located on Huaihai Road in Shanghai was officially opened to the public in November 2016. It is the first boutique store in Shanghai with the theme of Brown Bear’s sister CHOCO. The store covers an area of nearly 800 square meters on three floors, including a LINE FRIENDS Cafe. The CHOCO sitting on the eaves outside the store is quite eye-catching and once attracted many consumers to take photos and shop. In May 2021, the store was announced to be closed. According to
LINE FRIENDS, store closing measures are an overall strategic need starting from 2020. In fact, in recent years, LINE FRIENDS’ physical store business has been experiencing sluggish growth. Cushman & Wakefield Zhou Jie, senior assistant director of the Guangzhou Commercial Real Estate Department, once analyzed: "LINE FRIENDS has a single experience format, which only provides IP cartoon image scenes to take photos and check in, which lacks interactivity; while the peripheral products are simple in style, slow to update and lack innovation. As a result, the repurchase rate is weak and user stickiness is not strong. "
Image source: Brand official website
LINE FRIENDS originated from the mobile chat tool "Line" launched by the Japanese subsidiary of Korean Internet company NHN, and subsequently derived related emoticon IP and game operations. and other businesses, “Brown Bear”, “Connie Rabbit” and “Sally” are its representative IPs. In July 2014, LINE's operations in China were suspended, hampering the development of its messaging, social networking and gaming businesses. A few months later, LINE FRIENDS started offline store business. At its peak, the brand operated 12 stores in China. After the closure of
offline store business, LINE FRIENDS shifted its focus to online retail and IP licensing. Relatively speaking, the profit margin of IP licensing is relatively high. After LINE FRIENDS cuts off its -heavy asset business such as physical stores, it will reduce its operating cost pressure.
LINE FRIENDS China General Manager Li Yiyong introduced at the 2021 China Authorizer Conference that in the first half of 2021, LINE FRIENDS's overall business in the Chinese market achieved profitable growth, with e-commerce sales increasing by 30% year-on-year, and licensing business revenue increasing by 20% year-on-year.
"While continuing to lay out online communication channels, offline space is still an important base for direct contact between brands and consumers." LINE FRIENDS revealed that offline themed hotels, restaurants, small retail stores, and unmanned retail will be developed and other multi-format offline experience spaces, providing fans with diversified interactive experiences such as themed exhibitions, pop-up , and parties. Experience scenes from interactive experience spaces in different fields such as art and humanities, exquisite camping, etc.
In 2022, LINE FRIENDS’s focus will also include developing the maternal and infant market. Based on the market potential of some fans gradually entering the family and the future mother and baby market. LINE FRIENDS officially announced its entry into the maternal and infant market in 2021, and continues to launch a series of maternal and infant themed photo galleries to expand licensing cooperation. At the same time, offline theme children's paradise will also be launched one after another.
In fact, when LINE FRIENDS became popular in mainland China, there was still a lack of such fresh Japanese IP images in the market. What people saw was Doraemon or Hello Kitty. But as time goes by, more and more new IPs appear, further squeezing the living space of LINE FRIENDS.
In addition, people's preferences are also changing rapidly in the era of social networks. Last month, everyone was cheering for Lina Belle in Disneyland, and now they are queuing up to buy the Beijing Winter Olympics mascot Bingdundun . Several images of LINE FRIENDS were originally just emoticons for communication software. Without the support of a strong IP system and story background, it will be a matter of time before they become outdated.
