The third time we reached out to Joy Chen, she finally replied: “This Thursday afternoon, I’ll be in Hangzhou.”

The first two times, she was overseas. Looking back through our chat history, the United States, Australia, Germany, Shenzhen — her schedule looked more like an international flight map than a typical work calendar. Hangzhou, instead, seemed more like a stopover.

When I finally met her on Thursday afternoon, I was slightly surprised. Someone who works across multiple time zones all year round and manages distribution channels across more than ten countries showed no signs of fatigue. She spoke with energy, and her smile lit up her entire face. That kind of vitality comes from someone who has maintained a long-term passion for sports and carries a strong inner drive.

But if you ask where that passion comes from, she will tell you a story that began in the mountains of Jingning.

[Image Caption] MERSCO Trampoline Founder Joy Chen

Born in Jingning, Lishui, Zhejiang Province — a place where the phoenix is regarded as a cultural totem — Joy Chen left her hometown alone at the age of 16. At 18, she began working in sales. At 21, she traveled across China for business. At 25, she secured her first overseas order. At 30, she founded her first company.

She can recall these milestones effortlessly, as if she were telling the story of an old friend. But looking closer, there were two to three years between each stage. Those years were the “learning periods” she intentionally gave herself.

“Three years is the starting point for truly understanding an industry,” she said. “You can’t rush it.”

From a girl who once herded sheep in the mountains to the founder of trampoline brand MERSCO today, Joy Chen has spent nearly three decades building her career.

During those years, she worked in foreign trade, visited factories, managed teams, and experienced the withdrawal of business partners. Yet when she talks about her journey, she rarely focuses on “how difficult it was.” Instead, she talks more about “what she discovered.”

A Problem Overlooked for 15 Years

Joy Chen has been deeply involved in the trampoline industry for 15 years. She has seen countless products and witnessed countless family purchasing decisions — consumers compare specifications, evaluate prices, and eventually choose a trampoline that can “just fit into the backyard.”

Then what happens?

After two months, the child stops using it.

“The problem is not that children no longer like trampolines,” Joy Chen said. “The problem is that the trampoline no longer provides what they want.”

What she refers to as “what they want” is not simply a more attractive color scheme or a louder brand name. She is talking about the immersive experience found in trampoline parks — the freedom to run, flip, and jump continuously.

That feeling is something many home trampolines fail to deliver.

Why?

Because they are too small.

Joy Chen spent her childhood in the mountains of Jingning. Looking back on those days, she said:

“There were no fences and no boundaries. You could run anywhere and jump anywhere. The entire mountain was your playground.”

This childhood memory of freedom later became an instinctive judgment when she entered the trampoline industry: children do not simply need a trampoline — they need a space where they can truly move freely and grow.

“I hope today’s children can experience the same kind of freedom I had when I was young,” she said.

According to a report by QYResearch, the global trampoline market was valued at approximately USD 197 million in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 337 million by 2032. Home-use trampolines account for around 74% of the market, while North America represents the largest regional market with a 36% share.

The market is expanding, but Joy Chen sees another side of the story.

The industry has invested significant effort into safety certifications and material upgrades, yet few people have asked a fundamental question:

Why has there always been an experience gap between home trampolines and professional trampoline parks?

“Traditional home trampolines are not unsafe. The real issue is that they are too small,” Joy Chen explained.

“Limited space itself creates safety concerns. When children jump within a restricted area, they are actually more likely to hit the surrounding frame. Larger space is part of safety.”

Based on this insight, MERSCO made “bigger space” the core principle of its product design.

This does not simply mean increasing the size of the trampoline. From jumping areas and structural layouts to accessory combinations, every aspect is redesigned around one goal: allowing children enough freedom to move.

This change is not just an adjustment to product specifications — it represents a shift in product philosophy:

From “fitting into the backyard” to “opening up the space for play.”

[Image Caption] MERSCO Trampoline Product

Walmart Writes a New Chapter

In 2025, MERSCO officially entered the U.S. market through Walmart. The 14ft trampoline became one of its flagship products.

The size was carefully selected.

American families generally have larger outdoor living spaces. According to a 2025 report from the International Casual Furnishings Association, more than 85% of U.S. households have outdoor living areas, and homeowners spend an average of 11.7 hours per week in these spaces.

The backyard is at the center of family life in the United States, and trampolines naturally serve as an important gateway to outdoor entertainment.

“If we want to create a ‘backyard trampoline park,’ the size has to be large enough. That is the principle,” Joy Chen said.

“But if we want mothers to accept it, it cannot take over the entire backyard. That is the balance.”

For Joy Chen, 14ft represents the intersection between principle and practicality.

“This was not a decision made by simply following market trends. The type of product we want to create determines the size we choose — not the other way around.”

The market responded positively.

Within more than 100 days after entering Walmart, MERSCO’s sales exceeded USD 1 million. During Black Friday 2025, daily sales reached USD 170,000, while monthly real-time sales surpassed USD 1.06 million.

“This result was not because of one single factor. It was the combination of several things working together,” Joy Chen said during her review.

In product selection, the 14ft trampoline successfully matched the positioning of a “family trampoline park,” creating differentiation while remaining aligned with mainstream consumer demand.

Operationally, MERSCO continuously optimized product pages around consumers’ real concerns — from displaying safety certifications to explaining accessory combinations. Every improvement contributed to higher conversion rates.

For advertising, Walmart’s team provided support in category management and consumer insights. However, Joy Chen emphasized that ultimately, the efficiency came from her own team’s ability to continuously optimize and execute.

“Cross-border e-commerce is not about simply bringing domestic products overseas. It is about truly understanding local consumers.”

“American families have larger backyards. They value children’s outdoor activities and see trampolines as a long-term family investment rather than a one-time toy. You need to speak their language and answer their concerns.”

Mothers Know What They Are Buying

Walmart’s data shows that the primary decision-makers for trampoline purchases are married women aged 35 and above.

From an industry perspective, this finding is somewhat unexpected.

In many trampoline brand advertisements, children are always the main characters, and the messaging often focuses on one simple idea: “fun.”

Joy Chen sees it differently.

“When mothers buy a trampoline, the first thing they consider is not whether it is fun. They think about whether it is safe, whether their children can use it for a long time, and whether it is worth taking up half of their backyard.”

Nearly 75% of household purchasing decisions are influenced or led by women, and this percentage is even higher in the children’s products category.

Joy Chen believes the industry has paid too little attention to these true decision-makers.

“Mothers are highly rational consumers. What they are buying is not a toy, but a family lifestyle.”

She translated her own perspective as a mother into specific product principles.

Safety certifications must be clearly presented because mothers will carefully review them.

Larger sizes allow multiple children to play together, reducing the need for parents to constantly monitor boundaries.

Beyond the trampoline itself, MERSCO has also introduced expandable modules such as swings, slides, and soccer goals.

A trampoline serves as the foundation, while different play scenarios can grow around it:

A three-year-old child can enjoy the slide.
A six-year-old child can jump and play.
A ten-year-old child can play soccer with friends.

One product combination can accompany an entire family throughout different stages of childhood.

“I am a mother of two children myself. When you buy a trampoline, you are not only asking whether the product is good. You are asking: Will my child enjoy it? How long can they use it? Is it worth it?”

“In the end, you are not just buying a trampoline. You are buying a part of your child’s childhood.”

“What we want to achieve is simple: mothers can feel confident when they buy it, and children can enjoy it when they use it.”

But achieving this goal requires more than just a good product.

It requires a brand that consumers can trust.

A Factory Cannot Build a Brand, But the People Behind the Factory Can

From a single trampoline to an entire “backyard playground ecosystem,” this vision has pushed Joy Chen toward another major transition:

Moving from manufacturing to building a brand.

“For a company that has spent 15 years in manufacturing, the hardest part is not making better products. It is changing the way we think.”

She gave an example.

In the past, when operating as a manufacturer, customers placed orders, factories produced according to specifications, and products were delivered according to schedule. The process was clear and predictable.

Building a brand is completely different.

You may spend three months refining a product page, revise the copy more than ten times, invest in advertising, and still see disappointing results. You may not even know whether the problem comes from the wording, images, pricing, or target audience.

There is no standard answer.

You can only test repeatedly, learn, and improve.

“In the past, we were responsible for buyers. Now we are responsible for consumers.”

“Buyers tell you what they need. Consumers usually don’t. You have to figure it out yourself. If you make a mistake, you accept it, adjust, and try again.”

This “lack of standard answers” was a significant challenge for a team accustomed to manufacturing logic.

Joy Chen explained that during the early stage of transformation, two different perspectives often appeared within the company.

One came from colleagues with manufacturing backgrounds. They focused on minimizing costs and maximizing quality, believing that “if the product is good enough, customers will naturally buy it.”

The other came from the operations team, which focused more on page performance, user reviews, and advertising ROI.

Neither side was wrong.

The challenge was that they were speaking different languages.

“My job is to make these two languages communicate.”

“I need people from the factory side to understand that consumers are not buyers. They do not simply look at your specification sheets. At the same time, I need the operations team to understand that every sentence written on a product page is supported by hundreds of manufacturing processes behind the scenes.”

In the 2025 China Export Cross-Border E-Commerce White Paper, one statement stands out:

“China’s export cross-border e-commerce is moving from price competition toward value creation.”

Joy Chen’s transformation reflects this shift.

She does not want MERSCO to simply sell trampolines. Her goal is to build MERSCO into an outdoor lifestyle brand recognized by families around the world.

“In the future, when consumers think about creating an outdoor space for their children at home, I hope they think of MERSCO — not just a trampoline.”

At the end of the interview, Joy Chen glanced at her phone. Her next meeting was only 30 minutes away.

She smiled and mentioned that she was preparing new product lines and would be traveling again in a couple of weeks.

Walking out of the office, I suddenly remembered something she said:

“The most interesting thing about a trampoline is that every time it reaches the bottom, it is preparing to bounce higher.”

She did not say it was a metaphor for her own life, but perhaps she did not need to.

From the mountains of Jingning to the backyards of American families, she has spent 30 years building this journey.

And the story of MERSCO is only beginning its next leap forward.

---

(End of Article)

About MERSCO:

MERSCO is a global outdoor lifestyle brand specializing in backyard trampoline parks for families. Its core product portfolio includes trampolines, swings, slides, soccer goals, and other backyard entertainment equipment.

All MERSCO products comply with international safety certifications including ASTM, CE, and CPC standards, and are manufactured in its own ISO9001-certified green factory.

With the brand philosophy of “Bringing the Trampoline Park Home with Bigger Space,” MERSCO is committed to building a complete backyard trampoline park ecosystem for families worldwide.

In 2025, MERSCO entered the U.S. market through Walmart, achieving more than USD 1 million in sales within over 100 days.