Intensifying Competition in Online Beauty Market
BeautyCurly Launches Lowest Price Challenge with Price Difference Compensation
Lotte ON Also Offers 'Beauty All Pass' Discount Event
Online beauty malls are consecutively launching discount events and lowest price guarantee programs. This is interpreted as a result of intensified competition due to the increasing number of companies newly entering the online beauty market.
Market Kurly is holding the February 'Beauty Kurly Festa' from the 15th to the 26th, conducting a lowest price challenge. According to Market Kurly, this 12-day event is the largest since the Beauty Kurly Festa began. Beauty Kurly was launched in September 2022 as Kurly's beauty-specialized platform.
Market Kurly will hold the February 'Beauty Kurly Festa' from the 15th to the 26th, conducting a lowest price challenge. [Photo by Market Kurly app capture]
During this event, Kurly is running a lowest price guarantee promotion on some items. About 70 brands and over 100 products with the 'Lowest Price Challenge' sticker are eligible. If the selling price of these products is higher than the final discounted price on the competitor Olive Young online mall, the difference will be compensated as reward points. Representative challenge products include ▲Jung Saem Mool Essential Skin Nuder Cushion ▲Goodal Green Tangerine Vita C Blemish Care Serum 30ml Double Set ▲Atopalm Top to Toe Wash 500ml Set, among others.
Discount events are also underway. Over 3,000 products, including spring makeup items and high-moisture products for dry skin during seasonal changes, are being sold at up to 82% off. Exclusive planned products available only at Beauty Kurly, such as Ameli's Tone-up Sun Bora, are also introduced. Additionally, twice daily, first-come-first-served 5,000 won discount coupons and luxury beauty 15% coupons are provided, and customers using Kurly Card and Shinhan Card can receive an additional 20% discount at checkout.
Lotte On, Lotte Group's e-commerce platform, is also running a beauty event called 'Beauty All Pass' until the 21st. Lotte On emphasized that this Beauty All Pass is planned with maximum benefits. In April 2022, Lotte On launched 'On and The Beauty,' a premium beauty specialty store.
During the event, Lotte On offers up to 15% card discount coupons on a first-come-first-served basis at noon, 10 a.m., and 3 p.m. daily. Simultaneously, up to 10% overlapping discount coupons are provided, and customers earn up to 10,000 L.POINTs per brand when purchasing trendy beauty products. Gift items are given to customers purchasing from brands such as Le Labo, NARS, L'Occitane, and Armani Beauty.
The consecutive discount events by beauty specialty malls are due to fierce competition in the online market. Currently, the online beauty market is a battleground with existing health & beauty (H&B) specialty stores like Olive Young, followed by e-commerce and fashion vertical commerce (specialty malls) companies entering the market. Coupang operates specialty stores such as Rocket Luxury and Beauty. Fashion vertical commerce platforms like Musinsa, Ably, and Zigzag also operate their own beauty specialty malls.
Olive Young, which dominates the offline H&B industry, is also strengthening its online mall. Since it has virtually no rivals offline, this is interpreted as a strategy to create synergy with offline stores through the online mall. GS Retail's Lalavla and Lotte's LOBs, competitors in the offline market, have either withdrawn or significantly reduced their business due to Olive Young's dominance.
Olive Young is attracting customers through its 'Today Dream' service, which delivers within three hours on its online mall. This service delivers orders placed online from nearby offline stores spread nationwide. Competitors' beauty specialty malls also offer fast delivery services. Beauty Kurly provides its own dawn delivery service, Saetbyeol Delivery, and has lowered the free shipping threshold for beauty products to 20,000 won. Coupang delivers directly purchased beauty products via Rocket Delivery with dawn or same-day delivery, and Zigzag operates a next-day delivery service called Jikjin Delivery.
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