New beauty X-periences: Singapore start-up launches online platform for cult Asian brands

The Singapore-based e-commerce beauty platform curates cosmetics products from around Asia. Asian Beauty X currently carries four cult Korean beauty brands including Lagom and Thank You Farmer.

CEO and co-founder Justin Lee told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ that the company was very selective about the brands they were considering on representing.

“We are not looking for brands that push products out too quickly. Those that are more measured in their approach and don't just jump on the bandwagon give you the best results at the end of the day. We expect to see these brands around for the long-term.”​

Lee said the company was also on a lookout for Halal K-beauty brands to offer the large Muslim population in SEA.

According to Lee, the company has not set goals and targets when it comes to bringing in brands. “We don’t want to force ourselves to expand for the sake of expanding.”​

However, Lee revealed that the company was speaking to a number of beauty brands from different parts of Asia, including Korea, Japan, India, Thailand and Singapore.

Aside from expanding its product range, the company hopes to expand its reach in SEA.

“We are currently focused on Singapore and we hope to expand within SEA. Which is why we took an e-commerce first approach because SEA is the fastest-growing e-commerce market right now,” ​said Lee.

One market the company has a lot of interest in is Vietnam

“Vietnam is probably the most aspirational market right now in SEA.  It has the right kind of market conditions for us to succeed. It’s a great place for our kind of products, which are more in the affordable-luxury range,” ​Lee explained.

The company is also interested in capitalising on the growing opportunities in India, Lee added: “With things like the new GST system, India is trying to make the market more business-friendly. The barriers are slowly being removed and the conditions are getting better.”​

Engaging consumers 

Asian Beauty X is aiming to become an alternative online platform for beauty consumers to discover new beauty products.

“Having gone through the whole e-commerce process for the past decade or so, the consumer is now looking for new consumer experiences online. The big online marketplaces are not designed for exploration, they are more transactional,” ​said Lee.

In order to give consumers a more personal experience, the firm launched an online content platform, The Moxie, to help bridge the gap between the diverse consumers in SEA

“The Moxie is an integral part of this. We want to be actively engaging our customers on behalf of the brands we represent in order to build that understanding and brand loyalty. We don’t just list these brands up, we help develop them and their stories.”​

Additionally, it will give the firm the flexibility in how it wants to engage and interact with its consumers.

Lee added that the company was looking to connect with consumers via offline pop-ups as well.

“Because we are building these brands, we need to have multiple touchpoints, including communicating with them through physical interaction,” ​said Lee.

While Asian Beauty X is still a “simple online platform”,​ the company is actively investing in technology to replicate the offline shopping beauty experience, said Lee.

“The next stage will be to invest in the tech to help us bring some of the offline experiences online. For example, we are looking at bots to help consumers make decisions or answer questions.”​