Pop Mart, women, and gambling

Written by: John Wang

Compiled by: AididiaoJP, Foresight News

The rise of female-led soft gambling

A girl bought 3 Bubble Mart blind boxes and filmed a curious TikTok unboxing video. She whispered, "Please let me get the hidden version of the sleeping bear... But to be honest, as long as it's cute, I'll be happy."

A man tears open a $500 Pokémon box during a live stream, his eyes fixed on the camera. "If I don't pull a PSA 10 Charizard, this whole box is fucking worthless."

Gambling is not always poker chips and slot machines; sometimes it involves pink rabbits, blind boxes, and TikTok live streaming sales. Somewhere in the realm between retail marketing and roulette gambling, a new addictive cycle targeting female consumers has emerged. The same random reward mechanisms, but with completely different stakes, atmospheres, and psychological insights. Welcome to the soft gambling market: a soft gambling established for psychological comfort rather than honorable conquest.

Data shows

Take a look at the user composition of the largest "soft gambling" brand:

Pop Mart blind box toys: 75% are female, with a repurchase rate of 50%

Shein and Temu: 63% - 66% are female, while Amazon is more male-oriented.

Slotomania's social casino: 72% of active players are women, mainly aged 35-55.

In comparison, only 4% of participants in the 2025 World Series of Poker are women.

The farther you are from "real money on the table," the more you tend to pay for "the surprise itself," and the audience becomes more feminine.

The form of "soft" gambling

Pop Mart. Each series has twelve cute dolls, with one or two "hidden" versions. Each $10 box is guaranteed to have a prize, but it may not be your target prize. Collectors shoot exciting unboxing videos, exchange duplicate types, and continuously repurchase. According to the company, nearly half of the people will repurchase within a year.

Shein and Temu. Toys have turned into tops and lip gloss; loot boxes have become spinning win coupons or two-hour flash sales. Shopping has turned into a video game loop: click, reveal, dopamine, repeat.

Social casino apps (like Slotomania or Bingo Blitz) digitally press the same buttons (free spins, confetti celebrating wins, zero-risk captures) but earn billions by selling cosmetics in the app.

All three operate a variable reward mechanism familiar to casino designers, but the stakes are emotional rather than monetary. Unlike poker or slot machines, these systems rarely disclose probabilities, creating a gentler "fog of war." This is low-risk, soft feedback loop gambling designed for habitual participants rather than thrill-seekers.

Why is it so effective?

Gain rather than complete loss. Whether it's a rabbit doll or a $2 lipstick, you can always get something, and this psychological comfort tempts people to get involved.

Ritual is more important than risk. Opening the box, spinning the wheel, showcasing the loot—these are small rituals that brighten the day. A Pop Mart fan might whisper to the music while unboxing on TikTok, "Please let it be the sleeping bear..." Now compare this with the optimal (GTO) expected value calculations and hero calls in poker. The former is self-satisfaction, while the latter is a zero-sum game.

Aesthetics over Conquest: The reward is not resale value, but how the item fits emotional outlets. Pop Mart fans do not flaunt prices; they decorate with a mischievous Labubu next to a Sanrio plush. While male collectors typically chase singular figurines, female collectors tend to seek out complete series products that reflect personal taste ("I finally pulled the pink rabbit and completed my zodiac series!").

Sharing joy, not PvP: Memecoin traders flaunt screenshots of 1000% profit and loss. Pokémon unboxers show off $400 pulls. Pop Mart unboxers display duplicates on TikTok and ask, "Does anyone want this pink rabbit?" One is about competition, the other is about sharing and spiritual resonance.

Saving money is more important than making money: Shein shoppers spin the wheel to get a 20% discount and invite friends to unlock coupons. The thrill lies in unlocking deals' dopamine, rather than beating the market.

Half of the functions of the Temu and Shein apps are for shopping, while the other half involves unlocking product discounts through social gambling mini-games, which can be very addictive.

Gambling motivation

Academic research supports this behavioral difference:

A study published in the journal "Addictive Behaviors" in 2024 found that men gamble more for money and competition, while women do so for escape, emotional regulation, and social connections.

Another study shows that women have a stronger response to low-risk reward cycles, while men are more engaged when the stakes and potential rewards are higher.

Men gamble for glory; women gamble for pleasure.

Business model with extremely high retention rate

Low unit price and high sales are the growth engines. Pop Mart's gross margin is around 60%; Shein gets users to open the app more than 100 times a month. Merchants do not rely on large consumers, but rather need hundreds of millions of $10.

The lifetime value (LTV) of users is not driven by jackpots or leaderboards. It is built on emotional attachment, a sense of soft ritual, and the impulse to complete a collection. This is why Pop Mart's retention rate is superior to that of traditional toy brands and mainstream retail.

Shopping is gambling

Referred to as blind box retail, lucky bag fashion, or pastel slot machines, their mechanism is all rooted in the DNA of gambling, just stripped of the male bravado.

Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop have adopted the same dopamine framework and expanded it into a complete retail ecosystem:

Shein: Daily spinning wheel, flash sale bags only, recommended information stream replaces search, app opened over 100 times per month

Temu: Lightning promotions, roulette betting for social invite coupons, and the "spin the wheel" mechanism on the first day (the click rate for females is 1.4 times that of males)

TikTok Shop: The engagement of shoppable unboxing videos marked with "mystery bags" is 2-4 times the standard. The "surprise premium" is a real phenomenon.

Every platform has turned shopping into a gamified loop: browse → spin → potentially → repeat. Contrary to intuition, the prize is not the product, but the dopamine rush generated when opening the box.

Conclusion

For those women who rarely see themselves at the poker table, these gentler domains provide the same dopamine stimulation.

The feminine side of gambling has nothing to do with chasing the jackpot. It's about chasing a feeling: the moment before that box pops open, the wheel stops spinning, or the flash sale appears – the "possibility". This proves that happiness can actually be bought for ten dollars each time.

This has made the "blind box economy" the stickiest casino on Earth.