Pudgy Penguins Expand to Major U.S. Retailers, Partner with South Korean Giant

Pudgy Penguins recently expanded to major retailers in the U.S. and secure a strategic partnership with a South Korean conglomerate, Lotte Group.

tah_eth

Posted on May 17, 2024

Pudgy Toys, a range of plushies, figurines, and collectibles inspired by the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection, made its debut in May 2023 on e-commerce platforms. It swiftly rose to become a bestseller on Amazon across three different categories and was honored as Toy Insider's Top Summer Toy of 2023.

By September 2023, Pudgy Toys were available in 2,000 Walmart stores, and earlier this year, the company revealed plans to further expand its partnership with Walmart by adding another 1,100 locations. The team also revealed that they have entered into a strategic partnership with Lotte Group, a move which is designed to expand the project's presence in South Korea. This shows that the team is not only focused on being on the shelves of stores in the U.S but aim to be on shelves all around the world.

Recently, pudgy toys launched at Target stores, and are now available at GameStop, both online and in physical locations. These two recent announcements mark both the second and third major U.S retailer for the toys. With Pudgy Toys being introduced to Target and Gamestop stores, they all feature six different clip-on plushies made by PMI Kids’ World. Each plushie combines digital features with physical charm, offering a fresh take on traditional retail. This move by Pudgy Penguins aims to revolutionize the shopping experience, showing that blending web3 tech with everyday products can make shopping more compelling and interactive for consumers.

The project's move into physical ‘IRL’ stores seems to be working out well. After their toys were sold in Walmart stores across the United States, they sold over 1 million units and made $10 million in sales in their first year. This marks another significant achievement for the team, clearly showing the ongoing success of Pudgy Penguins' unique approach to retail and marketing. It also reinforces their commitment to expanding their presence, as shown in their recent launch in two more prominent U.S. retailers.

These toys follow the same concept as before, featuring plushies accompanied by a QR code. When scanned, the code unlocks traits and digital collectibles within "Pudgy World," an online platform where users can customize their Pudgy avatars and engage in various quests.

The recent expansion has led to a significant increase in sales for the NFT collection. Within a day alone, sales volume had surged by 21.8%, reaching 610 ETH, equivalent to over $1.7 million, according to CoinMarketCap data.