Worldwide wonder: K-beauty retailer Olive Young sees global orders increase by 125% during mid-year sales

Olive Young is a health and beauty retail chain owned by the CJ Group, one of South Korea’s largest conglomerates. In 2019, it launched Olive Young Global, an online platform that Korean beauty products to around 150 countries around the world.

In a newly published report on its global sales, the retailer said sales were showing strong growth. It highlighted the results of its mid-year sales, which took place between June 2 to 8, which saw orders increase by 125% compared to the same sales period last year.

According to Olive Young, the number of purchases by overseas consumers has surpassed that of local Korean consumers.

Furthermore, it has observed a marked change in the consumers’ shopping carts. Just last year, top products were, unsurprisingly, facial masks – a product that has become synonymous with K-beauty in the past decade.

This year, however, global consumer choices have diversified. The top three products were a sunscreen, a cushion foundation, and an anti-blemish serum. Additionally, nine out of the top 10 brands where local small and medium-sized brands including Round Lab and COSRX.

By category, sales of colour cosmetics showed remarkable growth. Compared to the same sales period last year, base make-up, eye make-up, and lip make-up all saw a sharp increases of 184%, 153% and 141% respectively.

This was attributed to the global recovery trend of colour cosmetics, aided by the loosening of COVID-19 restrictions worldwide.

These changes have signalled to Olive Young that global consumers are moving beyond sheet masks and exploring new product categories and brands.

“We will actively discover and support Korean cosmetics companies and lead the globalisation of Korean cosmetics,”​ said the firm.

According to its 2021 financial results, Olive Young’s global business increased by triple-digits year on year. Sales in the second half of last year increased 20 times compared to 2019. The company’s priority was to secure the North American market, which currently accounts for 80% of its sales.

Additionally, the company’s goal is to secure a million members in overseas markets this year. According to the firm, overseas membership increased from 30,000 in the first year to over 300,000 last year.

In addition to its global platform, Olive Young is also available on e-commerce platform Rakuten for the Japanese market, and Shopee for the South East Asian market.