Labubu craze hits London on Singles’ Day with AliExpress live shopping show
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AliExpress hired 23-year-old British influencer Anna Williams to co-host four daily two-hour live streams with fellow influencer Mary He.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON - Labubu dolls were flying off the shelves during a shopping live stream in London on Nov 11 as Alibaba’s AliExpress brought China’s Singles’ Day shopping frenzy to Britain, tapping 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 live streams with fellow influencer Mary He, which the company expects will sell around 10,000 toys by Nov 14 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 with a year ago, according to Ms Bonnie Zhao, general manager at AliExpress UK, and sales of collectible toys overall were up 300 per cent in the first half of 2025.
Broadcasting in front of a display of Pop Mart toys, Ms Williams and Ms 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$19) to £74.
The toys have become fashion accessories, are worn as decorations on bags, and have developed a thriving resale market.
Live stream shopping started in China but Western brands such as 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 Ms Carmen Muley, who was a host on the first AliExpress live streams for the Spanish market in 2016 and now advises brands on live shopping. REUTERS
