Ye Guofu's Miniso: Decoding Retail Success Through Consumer Psychology and Costco's Lessons
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7-7Mia: You know, when pretty much every brick-and-mortar store was, let's just say, *struggling* to stay afloat, there was this one brand, MINISO, that was just absolutely exploding. We're talking 5,000 stores worldwide, revenue shooting through the roof... it feels totally backward, right? How in the world did their founder, Ye Guofu, manage that?
Mars: Oh, he's got a pretty wild take on it. He genuinely believes the real secret isn't some fancy, complicated business model you need a Harvard degree to understand. Nope. It's all about this deep, almost *primal* understanding of what makes us tick as humans. Seriously, he says modern business success hinges entirely on cracking the code of consumer psychology.
Mia: Okay, so with consumer behavior shifting faster than my Wi-Fi signal, how does Ye Guofu even begin to suggest we actually *get* what's driving people to open their wallets these days?
Mars: He's got this incredibly straightforward, yet utterly brilliant framework he calls 'The Three Fears and Three Loves.' It's basically his secret decoder ring for figuring out what modern consumers are *actually* craving.
Mia: The Three Fears, Three Loves... wow, that's genuinely fascinating. Could you, like, totally unpack that for us? Maybe throw in an example for each one so we can really grasp it?
Mars: Oh, absolutely. So, the Three Fears, right? We've got the fear of aging – which, hello, explains why those super high-end skincare brands are absolutely minting money. Then there's the fear of death – subtle, but it's there. And finally, the fear of loneliness, which, fun fact, totally fuels what he calls the 'lonely economy' – think all those trendy toys and those addictive collectible blind boxes. And for the Three Loves? That's our love of beauty, our undeniable love for food, and, of course, our obsession with photography. That's precisely why the cosmetics industry is just exploding, and why practically every new retail space out there is basically designed to be your next Instagram photoshoot.
Mia: Alright, so *knowing* these deep-seated desires is one thing, but how in the world does he actually turn that into a concrete, money-making business model? This is where we need to dive into his whole 'New Retail' philosophy.
Mars: This is where he really just throws the conventional wisdom out the window. He's notoriously, like, *super* critical of the usual 'New Retail' definition – you know, just 'online plus offline.' After he took a trip to Costco, it completely flipped his perspective. He truly believes the real New Retail is all about this radical, almost obsessive, focus on the product itself, combined with extreme, mind-blowing efficiency. It's about the product being the absolute monarch, not the channel.
Mia: I've definitely heard about Costco's almost cult-like following – people are *obsessed*. So, what were the absolute key insights he snagged from their model that ended up shaping MINISO?
Mars: He was just absolutely captivated by how Costco manages to create this insane 'not buying this is a *loss*' kind of experience. They run on gross margins that are just ridiculously thin, sometimes as low as, get this, one percent! And they still manage to keep prices incredibly, almost unbelievably, low – like their legendary $4.99 rotisserie chicken. It's just an utterly irresistible value proposition.
Mia: And then there's their return policy, right? Which, honestly, seems borderline insane for any retailer. How does Ye even *begin* to argue that this whole 'no questions asked' policy actually, somehow, helps the business?
Mars: It totally *does* seem counter-intuitive, doesn't it? But he actually observed that this almost unconditional trust they put in customers paradoxically leads to *lower* return rates. When customers genuinely know you've got their back, they just trust the product so much more, and they're way less likely to even think about returning it. It's like a masterclass in playing chess with human psychology.
Mia: Okay, that actually makes a surprising amount of sense. So, how does MINISO take these wild lessons and really apply them, especially when we're talking about pricing?
Mars: This is where Ye just straight-up challenges a fundamental belief we've all grown up with. He *boldly* declares that the old saying 'You get what you pay for' has been absolute nonsense in China for, like, decades. He says it's often more like you're forking over a dime for something that's barely worth a cent, all thanks to these outrageous markups.
Mia: So, what's his big alternative then? How on earth does he actually price things over at MINISO?
Mars: He uses what he brilliantly dubs the '10-yuan golden price point.' It's a price that's literally engineered to completely obliterate any hesitation a customer might have. The whole aim is for every single person to walk out of that store feeling like they just scored the most fantastic deal ever, which, of course, just supercharges repeat business and that all-important word-of-mouth.
Mia: So, this isn't just about pricing; it's genuinely tied into his core principles. What does he believe are the ultimate, non-negotiable guidelines for entrepreneurs who actually want to build something that truly lasts?
Mars: He's absolutely convinced that any company obsessively chasing sky-high gross margins will *never* become truly great. Nope. Greatness, in his book, blossoms from incredibly high performance coupled with those famously low margins. At the end of the day, he basically cracked the entire retail success code by perfectly blending that deep, deep dive into consumer psychology with all those groundbreaking operational lessons he picked up from Costco.
Mia: The big question then, in a market that's just relentlessly competitive, is can this almost stubborn commitment to high quality *and* ridiculously low prices genuinely keep redefining what retail looks like for the future?