After Sanrio, CJ Olive Young bets on Anpanman for its next character IP hit

77 products spanning cosmetics, food and more; Anpanman comes to CJ Olive Young in October

Sanrio pop-up sales jumped 118%; fans in their 20s and 30s led the rush

Convenience stores and fashion brands join the character IP collaboration wave

A customer photographs Sanrio Characters merchandise at the Trendpot by Olive Young Hongdae store. [CJ Olive Young]

Fresh off a successful collaboration with Sanrio Characters — including Hello Kitty — CJ Olive Young is turning to another beloved Japanese franchise, Anpanman, for its next character intellectual property tie-up. The health and beauty retailer plans to expand beyond cosmetics into lifestyle goods and food, using the partnership to draw character fans into its stores.

CJ Olive Young will run the Anpanman collaboration throughout October, offering a total of 77 co-branded products. The lineup spans skincare and body care — including hand wash and foot shampoo — as well as oral care items such as mouthwash and toothpaste, beauty accessories including false eyelashes and makeup brushes, homewear and innerwear, and food products.

The company matched specific characters to product categories. Baikinman, the germ-themed villain, appears on oral care items, while Charamaru and Tararan — bell-shaped characters — feature on beauty accessories. Food products incorporate Anpanman and other food-related characters alongside dessert motifs.

CJ Olive Young has been reaping solid returns from character IP collaborations. Its "Olive Young City Log" pop-up with Sanrio Characters has been running since Aug. 30 at Olive Young N Seongsu and the nearby dedicated pop-up space Trendpot by Seongsu. From Sept. 6, the pop-up added an immersive city-concept experience program built around the Sanrio universe.

Through Sept. 6 — the pop-up's eighth day of operation — sales were up 118 percent compared with the same period of a Sanrio pop-up held in July last year. On opening day, lines formed before dawn as shoppers queued for early entry. Women in their 20s and 30s, the core Sanrio fan demographic, made up roughly 70 percent of all visitors.

CJ Olive Young x Anpanman collaboration products; CU x Peripera beauty collection. [CJ Olive Young]

Character IP collaborations are gaining momentum across the retail industry. Retailers are moving well beyond simply putting a character's face on a product — they now pair merchandise with pop-up events, collectibles and interactive experiences to convert fan enthusiasm into store visits and purchases. Franchises with large existing fan bases, such as Pokémon and Sanrio, have proven especially effective.

GS25 launched a dedicated Ichiban Kuji specialty store in July, and E-mart24 followed suit on Sept. 7. Ichiban Kuji is a lottery-style product line in which buyers draw randomized character figurines. E-mart24's monthly average sales of animation and gaming figurines and character goods rose 171 percent over the three months from June through August.

The fashion sector has been equally active. Spao is a standout example. Sales of its IP collaboration products rose 51 percent in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, and a "Spao Friends Lab" pop-up held in June at The Hyundai Seoul drew more than 15,000 advance reservations that sold out within one minute. This month, the brand opened a store in Seongsu dedicated to IP collaboration merchandise.

"Pairing character IP with products creates a new reason for consumers to buy something they might already own," a retail industry official said. "Increasingly, brands are going beyond simply putting a character on a product — they are combining pop-ups, merchandise and experiential content to drive both visits and purchases from fan communities at the same time."

Key image from the CJ Olive Young x Anpanman collaboration. [CJ Olive Young]

siuu@heraldcorp.com