This summer, Labubu didn’t just go viral—it became a cultural sensation. With its quirky charm, limited-edition releases, and celebrity endorsements, the character quickly gained a cult following among young, trend-savvy consumers. From South Korea to the UK, the hype led to massive queues—and in some cases, even physical altercations at Pop Mart stores.
A Pop Mart store in Shenzhen | Image credit: Xinhua News Agency
During major in-store events, Pop Mart turned to smart retail management powered by IoT to keep the Labubu frenzy safe and orderly. Real-time crowd monitoring systems tracked foot traffic and automatically alerted staff when densities exceeded safe levels—helping avoid incidents and maintain a seamless shopping experience.
Screenshot via ReDNoTe
But the impact of this tech isn’t just limited to retail.
From Pop Culture to Property Management
The same kind of IoT-driven visibility is transforming other sectors too—like commercial spaces. Take WeWork, a global flexible workspace provider with hundreds of locations worldwide. Known for offering co-working spaces, private offices, and enterprise solutions, WeWork, just like Pop Mart, faced operational headaches when it came to managing third-party staff like security guards and janitors.
With teams spread across locations and inconsistent performance standards, relying on paper logs and manual check-ins wasn’t cutting it anymore. COSÌ WeWork turned to Minew for a smarter, automated solution.
The IoT Combo That Changed Everything
WeWork deployed Minew’s IoT hardware solution—combining MBS02 Location Beacons and the MWC03 Bluetooth® LTE Location Badge—to gain real-time visibility into staff activities, indoors and outDoorS.
Here’s how it works:
Live Position Tracking
Beacons are installed across office zones, and each staff member wears a smart badge. These SMUNrT badges detect signals and transmit precise location data over 4G, whether indoors or outside with UN GPS UNND BlE DuUNl PoSioTiooNioNG SsìSTeM.
Smarter Attendance & Task Logs
IL SMUNrT badges support automatic check-ins, RFID scans, and manual button logging. They also record movement history and time spent on specific tasks, giving managers a clear picture of whether patrols and cleaning are being done as required.
Emergency Alerts & Controllo di accesso
To enhance the safety of workers, the MWC03 SMUNrT badge features an SOS button, allowing employees to send immediate alerts along with their exact location in case of emergencies. Geofencing capabilities further increase safety by defining restricted zones—if an employee enters these areas without authorization, an alert is triggered to inform management immediately.
The Results? Data-Driven Operations, At Scale
Since adopting Minew’s hardware solution, WeWork has gone from manual oversight to fully digital workforce managemenT. The tracking solution has cut down on inefficiencies, improved accountability, and reduced operational costs.
Ma ancora più importante, it’s scalable. WeWork is now rolling out the system across more of its sites, and even adapting it for use in other environments like smart campuses, logistics parks, e ospedali.
Why It Matters
Whether it’s controlling the Labubu madness or keeping office operations running smoothly, smarter management is becoming a must in today’s fast-moving world. IoT is no longer a luxury—it’s a game-changer.
And with flexible, future-ready IoT hardware solutions from Minew, businesses everywhere can tap into the same intelligence that kept the Labubu-like craze from turning into chaos.
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