[Comprehensive Award] A Must-Visit Course for Foreign Tourists... Olive Young, the Midwife of the K-Beauty Boom

2025 Asia Consumer Awards
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy Minister’s Award

Editor's NoteAsia Economy awarded the ‘2025 Asia Consumer Awards’ to distribution and food companies and brands that received consumers' love last year. Now in its 19th year, the Asia Consumer Awards selects distribution companies that strive for consumer rights and convenience, lead the development of the distribution consumer goods industry, and set trends of the times.

Olive Young has played a pivotal role as a catalyst for the growth of 'K-Beauty' by contributing to the popularization of domestic small and medium-sized cosmetics brands (indie brands). Olive Young's growth is directly linked to the growth of small and medium-sized brands. More than 80% of the brands stocked at Olive Young are small and medium-sized brands.

For this reason, Olive Young devotes the most effort to discovering competitive brands. Even after discovering brands, it takes on the role of guiding them to grow. Olive Young operates a system where the MD who discovered the brand after stocking is directly responsible for the product and can elicit positive responses in the market. Going forward, it plans to expand support for the entire brand development process, including product planning, research and development, sales, and marketing for small and medium-sized brands.

A foreign customer is shopping at Olive Young. Provided by Olive Young.

Foreign tourists visiting an Olive Young store. Provided by Olive Young.

As of last year, the number of domestic companies that achieved sales of 10 billion KRW at Olive Young increased to 100. In 2021, only 41 companies recorded sales of 10 billion KRW, so it has more than doubled in three years. Among them, three companies grew into 'mega brands' by recording annual sales of 100 billion KRW. In 2023, there were only two such companies, but within one year, one more brand reached 100 billion KRW in sales.

The high competitiveness of domestic small and medium-sized brands is also well known among foreigners. As global interest in Korean cosmetics grows, more small and medium-sized brands are expanding their markets overseas. This is why foreign tourists visiting Korea consider Olive Young a must-visit destination. Foreigners who used to buy Korean cosmetics in bulk at duty-free shops now primarily use Olive Young as their main channel.

Olive Young is implementing a specialized store strategy for foreign customers. First, it designated areas with many foreign tourists, such as Myeongdong, Seongsu, and Hongdae, as global tourist commercial districts and began improving services at related stores. Staff wearing badges indicating their country of origin have been assigned, and 16 types of real-time translation devices have been introduced nationwide. Separate spaces such as Foreign K-Beauty Now and Global Hot Issues have been set up to showcase noteworthy small and medium-sized K-Beauty products.

Olive Young store interior. Provided by Olive Young.

Olive Young N Seongsu store exterior. Provided by Olive Young.

The '2024 Olive Young Impact Report' published last November. Provided by Olive Young.

Olive Young is also strengthening its omni-channel competitiveness, including offline stores, online malls, and mobile apps. Regarding offline stores, it opened an innovative store called ‘Olive Young N Seongsu’ in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, in November this year. This store consolidates all of Olive Young's beauty distribution know-how. As for the mobile app, it is continuously expanding the quick commerce service 'Oneul Dream' (Today Dream). Recognizing consumers' needs for contactless delivery services, it was first introduced in 2019 and expanded its delivery coverage nationwide. This service has recorded an average annual sales growth rate exceeding five times from 2019 to 2023.

This strategy has led to explosive sales growth. Olive Young recorded sales of 3.8612 trillion KRW in 2023, entering the 3 trillion club. Having entered the 2 trillion club with sales of 2.1091 trillion KRW in 2021, sales increased by 1.7 trillion KRW in just two years. As of the third quarter of 2024, sales reached 3.52 trillion KRW, and it is expected to join the 4 trillion club with mid-4 trillion KRW in annual sales.