Prolonged Staying Home, Considering Plastic Surgery... Surge in Clicks on Cosmetic Medical Information

Rapid Increase in Gangnam Unnie and Babitok Users... Focus on Service Advancement

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] As the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has increased the amount of time people spend at home, the number of users of beauty medical information platforms has surged. In addition to the seasonal factor of winter, the demand is rising among those who are already ‘staying home’ due to COVID-19 and are considering beauty-related procedures that require refraining from outdoor activities during this opportunity. Startups operating beauty medical information platforms are also focusing on enhancing user-centered services.

According to Mobile Index by big data company IGAWorks on the 25th, the monthly number of users of the beauty medical information platform ‘Gangnam Unnie’ increased by 28.3% compared to October last month. ‘Babitok’ also showed a nearly 10% increase in users during the same period. Gangnam Unnie’s monthly users surged from 90,427 in October to 116,025 in December, and Babitok increased from 158,327 to 171,107. These two services, which compete for first and second place among beauty medical platforms providing prices and reviews for procedures such as plastic surgery and dermatology, both showed a significant increase in users this winter, coinciding with strengthened social distancing measures.

In the case of Gangnam Unnie, operated by Healing Paper, the number of hospital consultation requests has grown 200% annually, surpassing 1 million cumulative requests last month. It is explained that not only the main user base of women in their teens and twenties but also men and users in their 30s and 40s have doubled compared to the previous year. Babitok, operated by CareLabs, confirmed that the cumulative daily users more than doubled compared to the previous year as of the end of last month. The cumulative downloads also exceeded 4 million. An industry insider explained, "Winter is naturally a peak season due to seasonal factors, and with the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic increasing the time spent at home, inquiries related to beauty medical procedures, where people often refrain from outdoor activities after treatment, have greatly increased."

Each company is focusing its capabilities on service enhancement to provide reliable information in line with the increase in users. Gangnam Unnie recently introduced receipt-based reviews to filter out illegal brokers and promotional fake reviews from hospitals. A Gangnam Unnie representative explained, "With the popularization of plastic surgery and procedure information platforms, review content is also recognized as important medical information."

Babitok is also conducting a clean campaign that strictly manages fake reviews and posts. Shin Ho-taek, director of the Babitok business division at CareLabs, said, "Competition among companies has become fierce, and for platform services to survive and grow to the next level, it is essential to thoroughly consider the market from the user’s perspective."