Last week, the Zagreb shopping center Avenue Mall hosted a pop-up store of the French startup King Colis, which introduced a brilliant business concept to Europe. These cunning entrepreneurs buy undelivered packages at favorable prices and then sell them by weight in temporary (pop-up) stores.
Customers, of course, do not know what they are buying until they unpack the mysterious package. The whole story is tinged with environmental concern, but is, in essence, very lucrative and completely in line with the times and the needs of modern consumers for an adrenaline rush, instant gratification, and an escape from reality.
The success of this concept was demonstrated by the frenzy in Zagreb for purchasing mystery packages, for which people waited in line for up to five hours. As reported by Jutarnji list, one lady cashed in a significant 500 euros for a certain weight of someone else’s mail and was – disappointed. Unfortunately, the risk did not pay off for her, but photographs of other customers advertised by King Colis show that for a certain amount, it is possible to receive, for example, a Prada handbag or a laptop that is significantly more expensive than the price invested in buying a cat in a bag.
Shopping that resembles pure gambling (the hunt for instant winnings, risk, emotional patterns that motivate it) is a burning consumer trend worldwide, and although it is adored by representatives of Generation Z, older generations and even children are not immune to it.
In secret packages (mystery boxes or blind boxes), the billion-dollar empire was built by the Chinese Pop Mart with its Labubu dolls, as well as merchants offering fake Lafufue; brands like La Creuseta and Cave offer secret packages, as do numerous beauty, fashion, and food companies, as well as applications like Duolingo or the local Crumbs, which, in collaboration with various partners, from bakeries to florists, offer mystery boxes with products at discounted prices that did not sell that day.
Human Needs
Although these mysterious boxes are set to explode in 2025, they are not a complete novelty. This clever sales strategy was reportedly initiated by the Japanese, who designed fukubukuro as early as the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, Japanese merchants decided to sell products to customers in unmarked bags (they do not know what they are buying) but at reduced prices. In the 1960s, gachapon was invented, a machine that dispenses toys packaged in plastic balls.
And, of course, there is the indispensable Kinder egg, as well as McDonald’s Happy Meal – products that, among other things, sell surprise. These products have been on the market practically since the grandparents and parents of Labubu fans were children, but it seems that there has never been such excitement as today. This is due to social platforms that encourage virality, as well as the fact that consumerism has amplified inherent human needs such as the need for excitement or collecting, and the triggers that open wallets have become stronger. Research shows that for Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2009, the internet and social networks play a crucial role in shaping consumer habits; its members share what they buy, discuss experiences, and motivate each other to make the same purchases.
Given that their material needs are mostly met (few lack a roof over their heads or a meal on the table), they seek products that satisfy emotional and spiritual desires. Blind boxes fulfill this purpose well by offering them a mix of something new (and exciting!) and gaining peer approval, while the excitement of the unknown provides a welcome distraction from life; it adds an element of surprise to the daily routine. The appeal of such products (as is clear from the case at the beginning of the story) is not limited to that specific group. Millennials and baby boomers also enjoy the excitement that comes with uncertainty.
Experts say that people are fascinated by uncertain outcomes, and the anticipation of an unknown reward activates a sense of expectation in the brain, intense emotional reactions that can easily be compared to any addictive activities (e.g., gambling). It has also been proven that anticipation can be more pleasurable than actually possessing the product, and mystery boxes perfectly utilize this because the excitement begins the moment the product is ordered (or while standing in an endless line) until delivery. In fact, the customer pays for two experiences, anticipation and the product itself, with the first sometimes proving to be more valuable than the second.
Gamification of Shopping
In addition to building new business models based on these insights, savvy sellers have also incorporated the so-called gamification into their strategy, turning the shopping experience into an adventure. In other words, some brands do not just offer the option to purchase a secret product but turn it into a whole process (for example, for Labubu, there is a special lottery in Berlin; if you are drawn, you can buy the product).
Thus, there is an element of luck, strategy, and reward. Shopping becomes a game of chance, which is a completely new, different experience and enhances the adrenaline rush of opening a cat in a bag. As a cherry on top, social platforms come into play, because if you haven’t posted it, it didn’t happen. The phenomenon of surprise boxes exploded precisely because people decided to share their experiences on social media. Even if the outcome was poor, that is, if the secret product did not meet expectations, the audience wants to buy the same thing because they might have better luck. However, as nicely explained on the Medium platform, buying mysterious products has a dark side. The uncertainty regarding the contents of the box increases physiological arousal, surprise, excitement, but also disappointment when the box is finally opened.
This cycle of anticipation and reward functions almost identically to gambling, as we train the brain to expect a dopamine rush, which encourages further purchases even though in most cases we will not be satisfied with the outcome. People are simply not good at dealing with concepts like luck and chance, and therefore, as they suggest on Medium, it would benefit us to read ‘The Art of Uncertainty: How to Navigate Chance, Ignorance, Risk and Luck,’ in which long-time statistician David Spiegelhalter attempts to explain how to understand the cold, hard truth of statistical improbabilities.
Such shopping experiences encourage addictive behavior, so it is not surprising that some governments, like Singapore’s, have decided to regulate the sale of mystery boxes, especially those targeting children and youth. Therefore, the next time you want to buy a cat in a bag, remember that you are feeding a demon craving a hormonal rush. And that is not a nice surprise.
