Just one hero: Enduring flagship products key to having competitive advantage in beauty – Shinsegae

Using its cosmetic brand YUNJAC as an example, Shinsegae highlighted that its two flagship products – Skin Perfecting Protective Base Prep and Whole Plant Effect Concentrate – account for about half of total sales.

Furthermore, it has had the highest repurchase rates among all its products since it first launched in 2019. According to the brand both products see their sales doubling every year.

“The success or failure of a brand depends on its hero. Shinsegae International's own cosmetics brand YUNJAC is showing high growth thanks to a series of hero products. Hero products are the most popular representative products of a brand and play a key role in driving overall sales,”​ said the company.

Both YUNJAC hero products were instrumental in the brand’s sales increase from January to October this year. According to the firm, sales increased by 79% compared to the same period last year.

Crucial to success?

The retailer strongly believes that a hero product could determine the overall success of a brand.

It has seen similar instances with global brands that it distributes, such as Hourglass. The Unilever-owned vegan beauty brand is best known in South Korea for its Phantom Volumising Glossy Balm.

Hourglass sales from January to October increased 247% compared to the same period last year thanks to the sales from the popular lip product, which combines the look of a gloss with the texture of a balm.

“It was first introduced in Korea in April last year, and within a year since its launch, sales have increased more than 10 times compared to the initial launch and is receiving great love.”​

According to Shinsegae, it has struggled to keep the product stocked since it launched. In response, the company added four more shades to the existing eight in August.

Similarly, luxury hair care brand Oribe has observed its signature Gold Lust Nourishing Hair Oil gaining popularity in the market.

The Kao-owned brand has seen a 25% sales increase in from January to October and Shinsegae believes it will continue to rise.

“In the cosmetics industry, where hundreds of new products are released every day, having a long-running and popular hero product is a great competitive advantage. By providing a positive experience around the brand through popular products, we are even able to expand the sales of secondary and tertiary products. We plan to develop hero products strategically.”​

Kick-off 2024 by discovering the trends shaping the next generation of beauty consumers. Join us at the Beauty Forward 2024 digital summit taking place January 29 to 31. Register here for FREE​ now.​​