Shopping is gambling.
Written by: John Wang
Translated by: AididiaoJP, Foresight News
The Rise of Female-Led Soft Gambling
A girl bought 3 Bubble Mart blind boxes and filmed a curious TikTok unboxing video. She whispered, "Please let me pull the hidden version of the sleeping bear… But to be honest, I'll be happy as long as it's cute."
A man tore open a $500 Pokémon box during a live stream, his eyes glued to the camera. "If I don't pull a PSA 10 Charizard, this whole box is fucking worthless."
Gambling isn't always poker chips and slot machines; sometimes it's pink bunnies, blind boxes, and TikTok live sales. Somewhere in the gray area between retail marketing and roulette gambling, a new addiction cycle targeting female consumers has emerged. The same random reward mechanism, but with completely different stakes, atmospheres, and psychological insights. Welcome to the soft gambling market: a soft gambling built for psychological comfort rather than honor conquest.
Data Shows
Let's take a look at the user composition of the largest "soft gambling" brands:
Bubble Mart blind box toys: 75% female, with a repurchase rate of 50%
Shein and Temu: 63% - 66% female, while Amazon skews male
Social casino apps like Slotomania: 72% of active players are female, primarily aged 35-55
In contrast, only 4% of participants in the 2025 World Series of Poker will be women
The further you are from "real money on the table," the more likely you are to pay "for the surprise itself," and the audience becomes increasingly female.
Forms of "Soft" Gambling
Bubble Mart. Each series has twelve cute dolls, with one or two "hidden" versions. Each $10 box definitely has a prize, but it may not be your target prize. Collectors film highly anticipated unboxing videos, exchange duplicate types, and continuously repurchase. According to the company, nearly half of the buyers will repurchase within a year.
Shein and Temu. Toys turn into tops and lip gloss; loot boxes become spinning wheels for discount coupons or two-hour flash sales. Shopping transforms into a video game loop: click, reveal, dopamine, repeat.
Social casino apps (like Slotomania or Bingo Blitz) digitally press the same buttons (free spins, confetti celebrating wins, zero-risk captures) but earn billions by selling cosmetics in-app.
All three operate on variable reward mechanisms familiar to casino designers, but the stakes are emotional rather than monetary. Unlike poker or slot machines, these systems rarely disclose probabilities, creating a gentler "fog of war." This is low-risk, soft feedback loop gambling designed for habitual participation rather than thrill-seeking.
Why It Works So Well
Gain rather than total loss. Whether it's a bunny doll or a $2 lipstick, you always get something, and this psychological comfort lures people in.
Rituals outweigh risks. Opening boxes, spinning wheels, showcasing loot—these are little rituals that punctuate the day. A Bubble Mart fan might softly say "Please let it be the sleeping bear…" while unboxing on TikTok with music. Compare this to the game theory optimal (GTO) expected value calculations and hero calls in poker. The former is self-satisfaction, while the latter is a zero-sum game.
Aesthetics outweigh conquest: Rewards are not resale value but how items fit emotional outlets. Bubble Mart fans don’t flaunt prices; they decorate with a mischievous Labubu next to a Sanrio plush. While male collectors typically chase single pieces, female collectors tend to seek complete sets that reflect personal taste ("I finally pulled the pink bunny, completing my zodiac series!").
Sharing joy rather than PvP: Memecoin traders flaunt 1000% profit-loss screenshots. Pokémon unboxers show off $400 pulls. Bubble Mart unboxers display duplicates on TikTok and ask, "Does anyone want this pink bunny?" One is competitive, the other is about sharing and spiritual resonance.
Saving money outweighs making money: Shein shoppers spin wheels for 20% discounts and invite friends to unlock coupons. The thrill lies in unlocking deals' dopamine rather than beating the market.
Half of Temu and Shein's app features revolve around shopping, while the other half involves social gambling mini-games to unlock product discounts, making it very addictive.
Gambling Motivations
Academic research supports these behavioral differences:
A 2024 study in the journal "Addictive Behaviors" found that men gamble more for money and competition, while women do so for escapism, emotional regulation, and social connection.
Another study indicated that women respond more strongly to low-risk reward loops, while men engage more when stakes and potential rewards are higher.
Men gamble for glory; women gamble for joy.
Super High Retention Business Model
Low average transaction value and high sales are the growth engine. Bubble Mart has a gross margin of about 60%; Shein gets users to open the app over 100 times a month. Merchants do not rely on big spenders but need millions of $10 transactions.
User lifetime value (LTV) is not driven by jackpots or leaderboards. It is built on emotional attachment, soft rituals, and the impulse to complete set collections. This is why Bubble Mart's retention rates outperform traditional toy brands and mainstream retail.
Shopping is Gambling
Call it blind box retail, lucky bag fashion, or pastel slot machines; its mechanisms are the DNA of gambling, just stripped of the masculine bravado.
Shein, Temu, and TikTok Shop employ the same dopamine framework and expand it into a complete retail ecosystem:
Shein: Daily spinning wheels, flash sale bags, recommendation feeds replacing search, over 100 app opens per month
Temu: Flash promotions, social invites for coupon spins, first-day "spin wheel" mechanism (women click 1.4 times more than men)
TikTok Shop: Engagement with shoppable unboxing videos labeled "mystery bags" is 2-4 times the standard. The "surprise premium" is real.
Each platform has turned shopping into a gamified loop: view → spin → possibility → repeat. Contrary to intuition, the prize is not the product but the dopamine rush generated when opening the box.
Conclusion
For those women who rarely see themselves at the poker table, these gentler realms provide the same dopamine stimulation.
The feminized side of gambling is not about chasing jackpots. It's about chasing a feeling: the moment before that box pops open, the wheel stops spinning, or the flash sale appears—"possibility." This proves that happiness can indeed be bought for ten dollars each time.
And this makes the "blind box economy" the stickiest casino on Earth.
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