What We Learned Selling Jellycat Since 2019, and How Everything Changed in 2024

For a long time, choosing Jellycat for our store was a slow and careful process. We would spend a lot of time on Jellycat’s website, looking through the collections and thinking what items to include in our store. It was never only about choosing what looked cute. We were trying to understand what would feel special as a gift, what would fit our Christmas assortment, and what would sit naturally next to the other brands we loved.

Jellycat was always an important part of our Christmas sales, especially the Christmas items. Every year around Christmas, we would open seasonal kiosks in two shopping malls in Sofia. There we would sell many of our favorite brands, such as Inkari Alpacas, Maileg, and also Jellycat.

Looking back, these early years show how different Jellycat felt before 2024, when demand started increasing noticeably and more customers began asking for the brand by name.

Our son back in 2020 with his Jellycat.

Our daughter back in 2021 with a Jellycat Christmas tree.

For years, the usual reaction from people passing by was the classic “aww” sound. People would stop for the alpacas, for the little mice, for the soft toys, for the feeling of something sweet and giftable. Jellycat was there, and people liked it, but it was one of several brands that created this reaction.

Then something changed during Christmas 2024.

Instead of only hearing “aww”, we started hearing “Jellycat” very, very often.

At first it was surprising. Suddenly, more and more young people knew the brand. Not only knew it, but asked for it directly. They did not come and say “do you have cute plush toys?” They came and said “do you have Jellycat?” Sometimes they already knew the exact item they wanted.

So we started talking to them.

Almost everyone said the same thing: they had seen Jellycat on TikTok.

The TikTok craze around Jellycat felt like it came almost overnight. Of course, Jellycat had existed for a long time before that, and we had already been selling it for years. But the way young people reacted to the brand in 2024 was completely different.

What was interesting to notice is that teenagers were not simply looking for “a Jellycat”. They wanted particular pieces. Very often, they wanted the newest ones. They would see them on TikTok, save them, send them to friends, and then start looking for them at My Snowdrop.

What Jellycat taught us about Gen Z buyers

This also taught us a lot about working with Gen Z buyers.

For example, texting at 23:00 as if you are texting with your buddy became something normal. A customer would write in a completely casual way asking about a new Jellycat drop, whether a certain item had arrived, whether we could keep one, or whether it would sell out fast.

The tone was very different from the traditional online store experience. It felt quicker, more personal, more direct.

Ever since then, Jellycat has become one of the most sought after brands we offer.

Why we think Jellycat is closer to Apple than to fashion

Many people compare Jellycat to fashion brands, because teenage girls often buy them in a similar way to how women buy fashion bags. We understand why people make that comparison, but from what we see at My Snowdrop, we think Jellycat resembles Apple more.

With Apple, people want the newest thing. The newest iPhone is not only a phone. It becomes part of how you see yourself and how others see you. Jellycat started to work in a similar way for teenagers.

In the past, we would always try to have the largest Bashful Bunny selection possible. There were customers who would always buy a beige Bashful Bunny, no matter what. These evergreen items were very important.

Now the behavior is different.

From what we see daily, more than 95% of the requests we receive are for the newest Jellycat articles.

Customers want what they have just seen online. They want the newest drop, the item that is trending, the one that may disappear quickly.

This is why stock moves so fast. We try to keep the newest drops, but often some of the favorite articles sell out on the first day.

Instagram inbox as a buying place

Another thing that is curious for us to measure more carefully is how many Jellycat sales come from our Instagram inbox. It seems to be one of the places where Gen Z buys a lot from.

This metric might tell us something important about future customer behavior, and probably also about areas where we can improve at My Snowdrop.

Jellycat today is not only about softness, although the softness is still part of the magic. It is also about timing. It is about seeing something, wanting it, and knowing that if you wait too long, it might not be available anymore.

More Jellycat can always be found on our Jellycat brand page. We keep the newest articles on top, so it is the best place to check what has just arrived.

For us, it has been very interesting to watch this change happen in front of our eyes. We went from carefully choosing Jellycat as part of a beautiful gift assortment, to seeing it become one of the most requested brands we sell.

And maybe this is the most important thing we learned: Jellycat is no longer only a plush toy brand. For many young customers, it has become a small object of identity, and belonging.