影石首家日本直营店将于8月8日开业 已入驻日本约1500家线下零售渠道

This article updates the latest progress of Chinese imaging brand Insta360's expansion into Japan, and shares key details about the company's channel development in recent years:

1. Insta360's first directly operated flagship store in Japan will officially open on August 8, following a soft launch that began on July 25. It is the first Chinese imaging brand to open a directly operated flagship store in Japan. The store is located near Tokyo's Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa, an area that attracts more than 30 million annual visitors. The soft launch has already drawn large numbers of tourists to visit and check in; on opening day, Hello Kitty will appear as a one-day store manager, and consumers can visit the store to test the brand's full product line.

2. Insta360 has expanded its offline footprint at a rapid pace in recent years: its number of offline stores has grown from 36 at the start of 2024 to nearly 300 in 2025, while per-store sales have risen nearly 50% over the same period. In 2025, Insta360's offline revenue surpassed its online revenue, accounting for 54.5% of total revenue. The company has now built a sales network covering more than 60 countries and regions worldwide, with 1,500 offline retail points across Japan.

This article provides a actionable case study and key data for Chinese brands planning outbound expansion, particularly consumer imaging electronics brands:

1. For brand marketing: Brands can draw lessons from Insta360's localization strategy: open a branded experience store in a high-footfall tourist location, and partner with well-known local IPs for opening events. This transforms stores from pure sales points into spaces where consumers can engage with the brand and spark creative inspiration, effectively boosting brand influence and exposure.

2. For channel construction: Insta360 adopts an omnichannel model combining "directly operated flagship stores + local third-party offline chains + major online platforms", and has built an integrated online-offline sales system in Japan. This model is well-suited for deep localization in target regional markets for outbound brands.

3. Channel revenue data shows that offline channels have already outperformed online in revenue contribution for experience-focused products: Insta360's offline revenue accounted for 54.5% of total revenue in 2025, with both store network scale and per-store efficiency growing in tandem. While offline gross margins are lower than online, the impact on driving overall brand growth is significant, making it a worthwhile reference for brands adjusting their channel structure.

This article shares market opportunities, layout references and risk warnings for consumer electronics sellers looking to enter the Japanese market:

1. Opportunities: Japan has become a core market for Chinese outbound brands' global expansion. Insta360, as a Chinese imaging brand, has successfully launched its first directly operated flagship store here, demonstrating that the Japanese market already has high acceptance of Chinese brands, and the track still has ample room for growth.

2. Channel layout: Sellers can reference Insta360's tiered approach: first gain access to major local Japanese e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Rakuten online; offline, enter leading retail chains such as Yodobashi Camera and Bic Camera to build coverage, then open a directly operated experience store in a high-traffic core location to establish a local brand presence, gradually building an integrated online-offline system.

3. Risks and trend outlook: Offline channels are growing rapidly for experience-focused products. Insta360 expanded its store network from 36 to nearly 300 in two years, with per-store sales up nearly 50%, but offline gross margins are roughly 8 percentage points lower than online. Sellers need to balance revenue scale and profitability, and allocate channel resources appropriately.

This article shares insights on industry trends and business opportunities for manufacturers of consumer electronics and imaging products:

1. Business opportunities: Chinese imaging brands have entered a new stage of branded deep cultivation in overseas markets, where overseas revenue accounts for a large share of total revenue, and core markets such as Japan are still expanding rapidly. With 1,500 offline retail points in Japan alone, and a fast-growing global store network, Insta360's expansion will generate more stable order demand, bringing growth opportunities for upstream manufacturers.

2. Product demand: Brands are placing increasing emphasis on offline user experience today, as stores serve not just as points of sale but as experience spaces. This raises higher requirements for product display design and in-hand体验 feel. Factories need to adapt product development and design to meet the needs of offline display and hands-on user experience.

3. Strategic takeaways: Amid the trend of omnichannel expansion by outbound brands, factories need to advance their own digital transformation to match the multi-channel, fast store expansion supply demands of brands. They can also explore deep,绑定合作 models with outbound brands to capitalize on the outbound expansion boom and share in its dividends.

This article outlines industry trends and customer demand insights for service providers supporting Chinese outbound brands:

1. Industry trends: Chinese outbound brands have shifted from early-stage online-only sales to global brand operation, with offline channels emerging as a new growth driver. Insta360 grew its store count from 36 at the start of 2024 to nearly 300 in 2025, with offline revenue surpassing online in 2025. A large number of Chinese outbound brands will follow suit and expand into overseas offline channels, creating robust market demand for supporting services.

2. Customer pain points: When expanding into offline channels overseas, outbound brands lack local resources, including site selection, local marketing partnerships, and supply chain support. Insta360's development of a distinctive experience store and partnership with a local IP for its event both relied on support from local service providers, which addresses a core pain point for brands.

3. Solution direction: Service providers can integrate local channel resources, marketing resources and store operation resources around the offline expansion needs of Chinese brands, and launch integrated offline layout services to capture this industry growth opportunity and expand their customer base.

This article shares insights on brand demand and development directions for retail and cross-border platforms:

1. Brand demand: Today's Chinese outbound brands have strong demand for omnichannel layout. They not only need access to third-party online and offline platforms to build market coverage, but also need to open their own directly operated flagship experience stores to establish a local brand presence, and expect platforms to provide support in traffic, scenarios and operations.

2. Investment and development opportunities: High-quality Chinese outbound brands are accelerating expansion in core markets. Leading Chinese imaging brands like Insta360 already have mature products and operational capabilities, and are continuing to expand their store networks. Platforms can strategically onboarding such Chinese outbound brands to enrich their brand matrix and attract more customers.

3. Operational strategy: Experiential consumption has become a mainstream trend. Platforms can monetize their high-value core location traffic resources by connecting them with brands seeking experience spaces. At the same time, they should address brands' profitability needs by helping them balance offline revenue and gross margins, and mitigate risks brought by unreasonable channel structure.

This article provides the latest industry updates and a research sample for scholars studying Chinese brand outbound expansion and industrial channel transformation:

1. New industry trends: Chinese brand outbound expansion has entered a new stage. Insta360 becoming the first Chinese imaging brand to open a directly operated flagship store in Japan demonstrates that Chinese outbound brands have evolved from early-stage OEM/white-label and online-only sales to branded operation and offline localization. Mature developed markets such as Japan have already seen substantial growth in recognition of Chinese brands.

2. Business model: Insta360 has developed a replicable global omnichannel business model: it adopts a "broad global coverage + deep cultivation in core markets" strategy. It partners with major local e-commerce platforms online, enters leading national offline chains to build coverage, then opens directly operated flagship experience stores in core markets for deep brand cultivation. This model has been validated by performance data.

3. Research sample: This article provides detailed channel revenue data: In 2025, 54.5% of Insta360's revenue came from offline channels, surpassing online; its store count grew nearly 8-fold in two years, per-store sales rose nearly 50%, and offline gross margins are lower than online. This provides a new typical sample for research on channel structure transformation for experience-focused products and the path upgrading of Chinese brand outbound expansion.