🚀The Rise of POP MART in the US App Store (and its Flatline in the US Play Store...)

🎉A Viral Sensation—But Only on iOS?

In July 2025, POP MART made waves by claiming the #1 spot in the US App Store’s Shopping category. With collectible toy hype at a peak, its success on iOS seems almost meteoric. But scratch beneath the surface, and a fascinating contrast emerges: while POP MART is #1 on iOS, the app is virtually invisible on the US Play Store for Android. We asked our friend APPlyzer Chat for a rundown on what’s happening, and here’s what we found out…

🌍Where Is POP MART Ranking? A Play Store Reality Check

Despite aggressive promotion and clear global ambitions, POP MART is not ranked in any major category on the US Play Store. In fact, it’s not in the top 100 (or even 200) Shopping apps for Android users in the US.

Here’s where the POP MART Android app is currently charting (as of July 8, 2025):

Notable Absentees: US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France.

🤷Why the Huge Gap Between iOS and Android?

• Brand Power & iOS User Base: POP MART’s fanbase appears highly engaged on iOS. The app is promoted heavily via retail stores and online campaigns, likely leading to a surge in iPhone installs.

• Android: Market Fit or Marketing? On the Play Store, the app has almost no footprint in major Western markets. Possible reasons:

  • Late/quiet Android launch

  • Category confusion (sometimes categorized as Sports)

  • Less aggressive marketing on Android

  • Stronger iOS brand affinity among collectors

  • Potential black-hat activity focused only on iOS

📊Category Performance & Trajectory

• Ranking Growth:
  POP MART moved from rank #15 in the Shopping category on June 1st, 2025, to rank #1 by June 17th, and has held the #1 spot multiple days since (including July 7th).
  In the overall Top Apps, it jumped from #110 to as high as #6 in the same period.

• Sustained Momentum:
  This was not just a spike; POP MART has held top 3 positions for over 3 weeks, demonstrating sustained user interest and likely significant install volume.

🏆Who’s Ranking for “POP MART” on the App Store?

While POP MART is the clear #1 result for its own brand term on the App Store, the brand is highly contested. Here’s a snapshot of the top competitors and related apps that appear for “pop mart” searches (iOS):

Funko, BoxLunch, Miniso, Target, AliExpress, and even Instagram appear in the top 10 for “pop mart”—evidence that competitors and major marketplaces are keen to capture related branded traffic.

🔍Keyword & Impression Insights

• Search Score: For “pop mart,” the current search score is 80 (on a scale where 40+ is considered high). This is an extremely strong indicator of demand and search interest.

• Estimated Impressions: On July 8, 2025, “pop mart” had 21,235 daily search impressions in the US App Store.

• Historical View: Over the past 3 months, “pop mart” has consistently been a high-volume keyword, suggesting sustained marketing and/or cultural relevance.

📉 POP MART’s Low App Rating: A True Outlier in the US App Store

It’s rare—almost unprecedented—for an app to dominate a top category in the US App Store while holding such a low user rating. To see just how much POP MART stands out, we analyzed the ratings of the top 10 free apps in the Shopping category and compared them to the leaders in Books, Finance, Lifestyle, Education, Health & Fitness, News, Photo & Video, Sports, and Games.

The Outlier Effect

While a few exceptions exist (e.g., Apple Books at 4.4), almost every other top app in their respective categories achieves a rating above 4.7, with 4.8–4.9 not uncommon. This makes a low rating in the Shopping category especially noteworthy, as it is out of line not only with peer Shopping apps but also with the highest performers in nearly every other major category.

👀Additional Observations

• Minimal ASO Optimization: The app lacks a subtitle and keyword-rich metadata, so its dominance is likely due to brand and offline/online hype, not search optimization.

• Competitive Opportunity: With many rivals showing for the brand keyword, POP MART may want to improve its metadata and defend against keyword hijacking by competitors.

📝Conclusion

The story of POP MART’s rise is a lesson in cross-platform market dynamics. Dominating iOS with a viral surge, the brand has yet to replicate this success on Android—where even with global reach, it is absent from the charts in key Western markets.

The lack of ratings/reviews combined with a low overall iOS rating and an almost invisible presence on the US Play Store suggests this will be short-lived (but lucrative) experience for the POP MART brand!

Want a full audit of your app’s App Store or Play Store presence? Or a deeper dive into competitor keyword strategies? In less than 30 seconds, you can take a free trial with APPlyzer Chat - the world’s first AI powered chat engine with live data from millions of apps in over 150 app stores!