80% Sales Increase from January to October
Rapid Growth Riding K-Beauty Popularity
Overseas to Domestic... K-Beauty Reverse Trend
CJ Olive Young's direct overseas purchase platform, 'Olive Young Global Mall,' continues to show high growth rates even after the endemic phase (periodic outbreaks of infectious diseases) when air travel has become freer. Recently, as K-content has gained global popularity, it is analyzed that the use of Olive Young Global Mall's service, which allows customers to receive K-beauty products at home with just a few clicks from various countries, is also expanding.
Foreigners are leaving the street after shopping at Olive Young Myeongdong Town. [Photo by CJ Olive Young].
According to the distribution industry on the 2nd, sales of Global Mall from January to October this year increased by 80% compared to the same period last year. This is considered significant as it is a performance based on a high base after volume growth due to a surge in demand during the COVID-19 period.
Olive Young launched the Olive Young Global Mall service in June 2019, an online direct overseas purchase platform that allows customers in over 150 countries worldwide to purchase Korean cosmetics without time and space constraints. The following year, with air routes blocked due to COVID-19, demand for K-beauty in various countries shifted online, causing sales to surge. Over the recent three years (2020?2022), Olive Young Global Mall's average annual transaction growth rate was around 84%. The industry views that despite an increase in foreigners visiting Korea to purchase after direct experience post-endemic, the high growth trend continues due to loyal customers secured during the COVID-19 period and the influence of borderless channels like YouTube, which strengthened the perception that 'K-beauty is hip.' Currently, the number of members is approaching one million.
The number of products handled by Olive Young Global Mall is about 15,000, mainly composed of competitive domestic small and medium-sized cosmetics brands. Among them, as the Olive Young Global Mall platform gained popularity, some K-beauty brands first gained recognition on the Global Mall and then became famous domestically in reverse.
In July last year, 'Joseon Beauty's 'Clear Rice Sunscreen' ranked second among the most popular products (by sales) on Global Mall within a month of launching. As word of mouth spread and demand from foreign tourists visiting Korea increased, Joseon Beauty also entered Olive Young's flagship offline store, 'Olive Young Myeongdong Town,' where the monthly average sales growth rate reached 45%. Joseon Beauty's annual sales, which were 100 million KRW in 2020, are expected to exceed 200 billion KRW this year. The skincare brand 'Skin1004' also proved its popularity by increasing sales by an average of 90% monthly after entering Olive Young Global Mall in February last year. Consequently, it entered Olive Young's online mall within three months and recorded annual sales of 33 billion KRW last year.
This year, Olive Young's K-beauty curation service 'Beauty Box,' planned and launched by Olive Young, was also popular on Global Mall. It selected products from about 80 small and medium-sized enterprise brands that find it difficult to enter overseas markets independently, matching seasonal concepts, allowing customers to experience the latest K-beauty trends by purchasing only the Beauty Box, while lowering the selling price to less than half of the regular price, continuing a sold-out streak.
Olive Young plans to continue its 'win-win strategy' next year, focusing on discovering brands and helping these brands gain popularity not only domestically but also in the global market. Olive Young stated, "We will expand contact points between global consumers and brands and lead the globalization of K-beauty driven by indie brands."
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