The anchor's monthly sales are millions, and the 10 billion card industry has become popular in the live broadcast room

This article seizes on the current booming card market and analyzes the current status of the card market and future development direction from three aspects: data analysis, IP development, and IP secondary creation. Let’s take a look.

After midnight, there is a group of active card players on Tik Tok.

"I'll be satisfied if I can just open a Ned," said Jiuou, a card-opening host on Douyin, who was flipping over the "Game of Thrones" cards in his hand one by one. When a card signed by Sean Bean, the actor who played Ned, appeared, the host screamed "Wow" and shouted, "Congratulations, boss!" - During the live broadcast, the host was opening the cards for the players who had placed the orders.

Jiuou Card Opening currently has 1.372 million followers on Douyin. Its Douyin store homepage shows that 116,000 blind card boxes in the window have been sold. At midnight, tens of thousands of people squatted in the card opening live broadcast room, obsessed with the palm-sized cards. Gray Pig data shows that in the past 30 days, the average number of viewers of Jiuou Card Opening has exceeded 400,000, the average live broadcast sales are 200-500 pieces, and the total sales of live broadcasts are in the range of 1 million to 2.5 million.

Behind the midnight card-opening live broadcast is the snowballing growth of the card market. According to iResearch's "2023 China Collectible Card Market Research Report", in 2022, the market size of China's collectible card industry will exceed 10 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.1%. It is expected that by 2025, its market size will reach 27.66 billion yuan, still maintaining a year-on-year growth rate of 30%.

Douyin live broadcast of card unpacking is one of the driving forces behind the rapid expansion of the card market. Hitcard founder Zhao Yunpeng told Doujiao that online sales accounted for 70% of its sales, and Douyin Dabo contributed a lot. The relevant person in charge of Jason Animation's "Ji Ka She", another leading company in the card industry, also said that Douyin live broadcast of card unpacking is Ji Ka She's largest sales channel. According to Huxiu, the turnover of the Douyin live broadcast of card unpacking industry has increased from 200 million in 2020 to 3 billion in the first half of 2023.

Online channels are a catalyst that has accelerated the expansion of the card industry, and the popularity of cards has also spread offline. Ultraman cards have taken over the social space of primary school students, and the news that a parent spent 2 million yuan to collect Ultraman cards for his child but failed to collect all of them is eye-catching enough; various animation and comic IP cards have attracted adult fans to consume, and there are always long queues in front of the card booths at comic exhibitions and toy shows.

From Water Margin cards inserted in snacks to star cards with financial attributes, the card market has now developed to the point of transitioning to collectible toys. One end of the card is connected to the content industry, and the other end is getting closer and closer to trendy toys. The core that supports this 10 billion-scale industry is IP.

The small card brand is beginning to move towards the mainstream consumer market.

01 The monthly card opening amount exceeded one million, and the repurchase rate in the live broadcast room was 40%-60%.

"The satisfaction of opening a card amid the envy of tens of thousands of people is different from the satisfaction of opening it alone." In Lin Jun's opinion, live broadcast of opening cards is an excellent business model.

Jikashe has an official account on Douyin, named "Jikashe Trendy Toys Flagship Store", with nearly 100 card products on sale. Jikashe's official Douyin account mainly undertakes brand promotion and market education tasks, focusing on new product releases . It can be seen that Disney is Jikashe's main IP series recently. The Disney 100th Anniversary Carnival series, Strawberry Bear, and Puff Bear-related videos have a high number of likes, and Zootopia and StarCraft collectible commemorative cards are among the hottest sales in the mall.

The content style of the JiKaShe official account is very different from that of the card-opening anchor. There are no live broadcast segments, let alone promotional language. The videos in the JiKaShe official account mainly display the card content, with corresponding BGM, and present the products in different card positions with more detailed lens language.

Taking Disney collectible cards as an example, the biggest sales come from anchors. The relevant person in charge of Jikashe told Doujiao that Jikashe now cooperates with thousands of experts , and Jiuou Card Opening is one of the top anchors. According to Huitun data, Jikashe's Disney 100th Anniversary Carnival series of collectible cards were first launched in Jiuou Card Opening Live Room on November 5, 2023. As of now, the sales volume has exceeded 1,000, and the average price of the product is 234.7 yuan. The sales in the live broadcast room have reached the million level, which is the best-selling product in Jiuou Card Opening Live Room in the past 30 days .

"We are the largest supplier in the field of live card unpacking on Douyin." Jason Animation was founded in 2019 and launched the card brand JiKaShe the following year. The epidemic that came with it helped JiKaShe find the starting point of its business - the live card unpacking business became popular during the epidemic. "Where there is demand, there must be supply, so we provided the most types of products to users through the platform at that time."

It can be said that playing cards is an emerging multi-billion dollar industry that has become popular in live broadcast rooms.

The business model of card-opening live streaming has achieved a win-win situation for all parties and formed a relatively benign pyramid anchor structure. Unlike live streaming with goods, consumers can continue to consume after the link is posted even if the anchor is not talking about the product. However, the card-opening service can only be provided to one user at a time, and the products that can be sold in a limited time are also limited. No matter how big the anchor is, he cannot steal the traffic and sales of the entire network .

The data platform shows that in addition to top anchors such as Jiuou Chaika whose monthly sales exceed one million, there are also many mid-level anchors whose monthly sales can reach hundreds of thousands, such as Liu Xiaolu Chaika, Kuku Chaika, Chaika Xiaotuan, etc. The relevant person in charge of Jikashe believes that the publicity effect of the top anchors has served as a drainage source for other small and medium-sized anchors, thus forming a relatively healthy and benign ecology.

The interactive, surprising and participatory live card unpacking popularizes card playing methods and helps brands retain consumers. Zhao Yunpeng, founder of Hitcard, said that the brand still needs a lot of exposure, and online channels can help bring more conversions. He did not disclose specific figures, but Zhao Yunpeng said he was very satisfied with the current conversion efficiency of Hitcard from online to private domains.

In an interview with 36Kr, Lin Jun revealed that 40%-60% of the sales of live streaming channels come from repeat purchases by old customers - repeat purchases are one of the core indicators of measuring the card business. Just like video games, only by gathering highly sticky users and promoting high-frequency word consumption can the business continue to operate. This is also why most card companies will launch a variety of product styles for an IP.

In the card circle, heavy players can spend tens of thousands of yuan per month. In the live broadcast room, there are many players who open five or six boxes at a time with a market value of thousands of yuan, and more mid-level players spend between 2,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan per month. According to Chanmama data, from March to October, the average monthly customer unit price of Jiuou card opening increased from more than 200 yuan to 406 yuan, almost doubling.

02 Internet giants enter the market, and leading companies are rumored to be listed

A retailer once summed up the blue ocean trend of the card collection market: "It's not that there are too many people making cards in China, but too few people selling them."

Starting from 2022, card companies have become the darlings of the capital market. Hitcard was founded in 2021. From December of that year to the end of 2022, Hitcard received four rounds of financing in one year. Investors include star companies or investment institutions such as Pop Mart and Sequoia. Jason Animation, the parent company of Jikashe, received exclusive investment from Bilibili in February this year.

Zhao Yunpeng told us about the relationship between Hitcard and Pop Mart. After being recommended by a friend, Pop Mart executives visited Hitcard in Shanghai, and the two sides quickly found a common ground and reached an investment. Hitcard can use Pop Mart's IP to develop cards and sell products through Pop Mart's channels, and Pop Mart has thus gained another IP derivative method.

The combination of Pop Mart and Hitcard has a deep fit at the product level. Guo Chengjie, director of interactive entertainment at iResearch Consulting, once said in an interview: "The viewing and collection attributes of the cards themselves are very similar to trendy toys. Broadly speaking, IP cards can also be regarded as a kind of trendy toys. The cards themselves are very suitable for various sales channels and models of trendy toys. In addition, due to their small size and low cost, cards are often given as gifts for IPs and other physical products, which drives the sales of physical products and enriches the gameplay."

Zhao Yunpeng also accurately positioned Hitcard's card products: toys with collectible value .

In early October, Shanghai held the PTS International Trend Toy Exhibition, during which Hitcard launched a blind box IP card. A total of more than 5,000 cards were made, priced at 39 yuan. It is understood that consumers lined up to buy cards at the exhibition, and the price of this card on Xianyu was hyped up to more than 1,000 yuan. Zhao Yunpeng revealed that Hitcard also made a set of TCG cards using the IP world view of Pop Mart, which was also unveiled at the exhibition, but it will take some time for the product to be officially released and listed. (Note: TCG cards are different from collectible cards. They have plot battle functions and strong sociality)

Internet giants also have their eyes on this piece of cake. Bilibili invested in Jikashe. According to reports, the relevant person in charge of Jikashe said: "For the platform, the investment is in the track." Jikashe is a leading company in the track and has been in contact with Bilibili for a long time. It is natural for them to reach a cooperation in the end.

Tencent has also started to make cards. In September this year, Tencent QQ started testing its card business, called "QQ Card Collection", and launched a variety of IP cards, such as "QQ 25th Anniversary Commemorative Card Set", "Minions", "Non-Human", etc. It provides online purchase and opening of cards, and supports the delivery of online opened cards to users in the form of physical cards. QQ plays the role of a card dealer and channel provider in this business.

The QQ 25th Anniversary Commemorative Card Set was designed and produced by Hitcard. Zhao Yunpeng introduced the cooperation between Hitcard and Tencent and said: " First, our own products will be sold in the QQ card set, and second, we will use the QQ IP to make cards ."

According to Tech Planet, Tencent made cards because it saw the social value of cards, which happened to fit in with the product attributes of QQ. According to relevant sources, "Fans actively exchange information related to IP card collection in QQ groups, QQ Small World and other scenarios, enthusiastically display their collections, and actively participate in various IP card exchange and sharing activities. The launch of the QQ card collection function can meet the needs of these IP card fans, while giving full play to QQ's own IP advantages and rich cooperation resources."

Alibaba has also come. During this year's Chinese Valentine's Day, Tmall launched a star card collection activity online. One of the star "small cards" attracted more than 1 billion views, driving the fission of merchants and users. The small cards were also regarded as "social artifacts" and formed a circle culture within Tmall. Although Tmall's cards are not physical cards, they use the traditional card gameplay.

A small card game may also give birth to a large listed company. Kayou, founded in 2018, is recognized as the number one in the card industry. According to 36Kr, Kayou's revenue reached 3 billion as early as 2020, with a net profit of about 1.2-1.5 billion yuan. According to Bloomberg, Kayou Animation is considering listing on the Hong Kong stock market in 2024.

Kayou's Ultraman cards are now a hard currency in primary school students' social life. "Do you have a card recycling event? I have tens of thousands of cards at home and I can't stand it anymore." This conversation was heard by Doujiao at Kayou's Beijing direct store. The parents' complaints about the store clerk just show the appeal of Kayou's Ultraman cards to primary school students. Another parent also rejected the discount option offered by the clerk, for the same reason, he really didn't want to buy another card.

In fact, all card companies are currently operating in all channels. The main battlefields of companies like Jikashe and Hitcard are online, while larger companies like Kayou have the ability to expand offline. According to reports, in addition to 31 direct stores, Kayou has more than 100 core distributors, and its products are distributed in more than 100,000 terminal stores. A Kayou clerk told Doujiao that most direct stores sell whole boxes of products with higher customer unit prices, while in terminal channels, they will split the card packs for sale to attract consumers with lower customer unit prices.

03 IP arms race, secondary creation is crucial

The entry of giants and the rapid development of players, but in fact the logic of the card business is very simple: get the IP - interpret the IP, produce and manufacture - sell at the terminal. There is no doubt that IP is the core competitive factor of this business.

Kayou has made a lot of money with the Ultraman IP, which means whoever gets the most marketable IP will have a competitive advantage. IP arms race is inevitable. A person in charge of a company told Doujiao that the cost of acquiring IP accounts for 30%-40% of the company's operating costs .

It is reported that in addition to the Ultraman series, Kayou has cooperated with more than 50 well-known domestic and foreign image licenses, including "Douluo Dalu", "My Little Pony" and "Harry Potter". Jikashe currently has a rich reserve of IPs with many types, including overseas IPs such as Disney and Fast and Furious; local IPs such as "The Journey of Bell Buds", "Douluo Dalu" animation and "Battle Through the Heavens" animation; there are also artist cooperation IPs such as the Painted Cat series, movie IPs such as "Deep Sea", traditional cultural IPs "The World of the Palace", the People's Navy warship series, etc. The relevant person in charge of Jikashe counted that the total number of IPs is over 100.

Hitcard started signing IPs on a large scale in 2023, and started selling the first batch of products in June this year. Currently, it has Chinese comic IPs including "Grave Robbers' Chronicles", "Little Liu Duck", "Legend of the Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit", etc. Zhao Yunpeng told Doujiao that the company has more than 60 IP reserves. At present, the products on sale are mainly local IPs, because the process from review to production of international IPs is relatively long.

The selection criteria are: first, the national popularity of the IP; second, an IP with relatively rich characters; group portraits are even better; and it is best to have top-level popular characters to increase repeat purchases.

However, the difficulty of acquiring IP in different regions varies. A relevant person in charge of a company believes that Japanese IP is the most difficult to acquire, followed by European and American IP, and then local IP. Japanese copyright holders have a stronger awareness of content protection and are more cautious when selecting partners. "Signing a Japanese IP requires frequent visits to the local area, and our creative and production capabilities must be inspected. The development cycle of Japanese projects is calculated in years ."

Whoever can get more popular IPs faster will have the first chance. However, as an independent product, the content presentation process of cards is actually a secondary creation of IP, and the creative ability determines the final sales of cards. A store manager of Kayou told Doujiao that in the final analysis, consumers care about whether the cards are good-looking. The secondary creation cycle of Hitcard is generally about half a year, and the industry average is three to four months.

During the interviews and visits, Doujiao learned that the market acceptance of domestic IP and overseas IP is basically similar. Despite the absolute top IP such as Ultraman, domestic card games are also very popular. One of the major promotional focuses of card games this year is to inject Chinese traditional culture into the cards. It is understood that the limited edition collection cards of Hitcard Tomb Raiders were sold out in three days. Zhao Yunpeng said that domestic card brands generally believed that only big IPs from Japan, Europe and the United States were easy to sell, but in fact the popularity of Chinese IPs is underestimated. The key is to do a good job of interpreting differentiated content .

When talking about the creation of QQ cards, Zhao Yunpeng, who was born in 1996, was deeply touched. "We all grew up playing QQ, so we want to put the connotation of QQ on the cards as a commemoration for our generation of young people."

During the design process, Hitcard extracted the core element of QQ, "avatar", and chose the old avatar mode - expression avatar. In order to inject more content into the cards, Hitcard made a raster card style, which can present multiple frames of expressions. For example, the avatar is gray (offline) from one perspective, and it will become colorful (online) when you change the perspective.

Of course, some IPs are time-sensitive and need to race against time in the cardization process. During the 2023 Spring Festival, the animated film "Deep Sea" earned 919 million yuan at the box office and gained a good reputation during the Spring Festival. Seeing this film, Jikashe reached a cooperation with the IP party in December and decided to take a gamble before the release date was determined.

After waiting anxiously until New Year's Day, "Deep Sea" was scheduled to be released during the Spring Festival, leaving only a short month for Jikashe to produce the film. The relevant person in charge of Jikashe recalled afterwards: "We are very glad that we did not bet wrong." From design, supervision, proofing to mass production, the relevant person in charge of Jikashe personally took part in each link until the production was completed before New Year's Eve, and the film was distributed to various anchors in time for the release of the movie. "I worked in the factory until 12 o'clock in the evening on the night of delivery. It was an extreme challenge."

After this incident, the relevant person in charge of Jikashe told Doujiao that in addition to the animation, game, cultural and creative IPs currently being developed, movie IPs will also become a regular product line of Jikashe in the future .

IP competition and channel carnival, in the current consumer market, cards are like thriving seedlings pulled out from the dark, growing freely and accelerating. Conquering primary school students and getting adults hooked, perhaps in the future, cards will become a more popular daily collectible toy.

Author: Li Jinglin WeChat public account: Spicy