Labubu craze hits London on Singles’ Day with AliExpress live shopping show

Sales on the platform’s official Pop Mart UK store surge 1,500% in October from a year earlier

An influencer holds a Labubu Why So Serious Plush Pendant doll during an AliExpress and Pop Mart livestream shopping show on Singles' Day at a pop-up store in London on Nov 11. PHOTO: REUTERS

Published Tue, Nov 11, 2025 · 11:11 PM

[LONDON] Labubu dolls were flying off the shelves on a shopping livestream in London on Tuesday (Nov 11) as Alibaba’s AliExpress brought China’s Singles’ Day shopping frenzy to Britain, tapping into the worldwide craze for collectible Pop Mart toys.

Pop Mart’s Labubu, Crybaby and SkullPanda dolls – sold in sealed “blind boxes” that conceal which figurine is inside – have become a global hit, fuelling a surge in revenues for the Beijing-based company which is borrowing from the Disney playbook to turn the trend into long-term growth.

AliExpress hired 23-year-old British influencer Anna Williams, who has 1.3 million followers on TikTok, to co-host four daily two-hour livestreams with fellow influencer Mary He, which the company expects will sell around 10,000 toys by Friday to shoppers following on the AliExpress app.

Pop Mart sales surge in Britain

Sales on the platform’s official Pop Mart store in the UK rocketed 1,500 per cent in October compared to a year ago, according to Bonnie Zhao, general manager at AliExpress UK, and sales of collectible toys overall were up 300 per cent in the first half of this year.

Broadcasting in front of a display of Pop Mart toys, Williams and He opened mystery boxes and showed viewers products including Labubu “why so serious” clown dolls and blueberry-scented Hacipupu gummy bear dolls, priced from £11 (S$18.84) to £74.

The toys have become fashion accessories, worn as decorations on bags and with a thriving resale market.

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Pop Mart’s revenue grew as much as 250 per cent in July-September, outpacing the 204.4 per cent growth of the first half of the year, a stock exchange filing showed.

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Pop Mart has also captured grown-ups – fashionistas playfully pairing Labubus with their designer handbags and working mothers gifting to appease their overworked school children.

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Pop Mart’s sales took off from the second half of last year, driven by releases of its plush Labubu toy becoming a global hit adored by celebrities and average consumers alike.

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Livestream shopping started in China but Western brands like Zara and Ikea have also tried out the format which aims to entertain shoppers and drive sales with well-known hosts offering special deals.

“It’s still in its early days but we have seen a huge increase of brands doing live shopping, especially since TikTok Shop launched in Spain, Ireland, Italy, Germany and France,” said Carmen Muley, who was a host on the first AliExpress livestreams for the Spanish market in 2016 and now advises brands on live shopping. REUTERS

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