Establishment of 'CJ Olive Young USA' Local Corporation in the United States
U.S. Beauty Market Is Ten Times the Size of Last Year's K-Beauty Exports
Goal to Open First Offline K-Beauty Store in the U.S.
CJ Olive Young (hereinafter Olive Young) announced on the 4th that it has established a local corporation, 'CJ Olive Young USA,' in Los Angeles (LA), California, USA, to expand its global business.
Olive Young plans to accelerate the globalization of K-beauty by using the United States as an advanced base to become the No.1 global K-beauty platform, leveraging its experience and know-how in contributing to the creation of the K-beauty industry ecosystem in Korea.
The United States is an attractive market in terms of market size and influence. According to the global market research firm Euromonitor, the global beauty market size in 2023 is $570 billion (approximately 740 trillion KRW). Among this, the U.S. beauty market is estimated to be the largest single-country market at $120 billion (approximately 156 trillion KRW). This is more than ten times the total overseas export value of K-beauty last year ($10.2 billion).
American consumers' response to K-beauty is also enthusiastic. According to data compiled by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and others, K-beauty exports to the U.S. have increased by more than 20% annually on average from 2020 to 2023. Considering that about 40% of the U.S. population consists of the 10-30 age group, who are sensitive to trends and receptive to new trends, it is expected that the local market will grow rapidly, fueled by the popularity among young consumers if accessibility to K-beauty improves.
Along with establishing the U.S. corporation, Olive Young plans to actively promote localization of core functions for business expansion such as product sourcing, marketing, and logistics systems, and strengthen the capabilities of its global mall. It also aims to open its first local offline store.
The Olive Young Global Mall is an online mall where overseas consumers can directly purchase K-beauty products. It is available in 150 countries worldwide. The response is particularly strong in North America, where consumers tend to be younger and familiar with e-commerce, and a significant portion of Olive Young Global Mall's sales come from the North American region. Olive Young intends to evolve into a localized K-beauty platform by providing an optimal user environment, payment methods, and product information exposure tailored to local customers.
Several candidate sites for offline stores are currently under review. By combining accumulated local data and insights from the global mall with the successful domestic omnichannel formula, Olive Young plans to showcase stores curated with various K-beauty brands and trends.
Logistics stability and delivery satisfaction will also be improved. This year, Olive Young will link the global mall with the Korean headquarters system to manage inventory inflow and outflow in real time, and in the future, plans to build a logistics network that ships products directly locally in collaboration with CJ Logistics' U.S. corporation.
Lee Seon-jeong, CEO of Olive Young, said, "The establishment of the U.S. corporation will serve as a stepping stone to find new growth engines in the global market together with small and medium-sized brands, which are Olive Young's core partners, and to create a sustainable growth environment for K-beauty." She added, "We will do our best to play the role of a growth booster for K-beauty in overseas markets so that the growth trend of the K-beauty industry can continue."
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