In December 2024, the convenience store group introduced a range of affordable, single-use products, including sunscreens, moisturisers, cleaners, and serums.
Each product costs around KRW3,000 (USD2.04) and can be used by both genders of varying ages, the company claims.
These products packaged in single-use sachets, making them easy to use on the go, while making it accessible to a wider audience.
Moving forward, the retailer plans to introduce more products, including skin care and makeup.
Its beauty launches will be centred around three key factors: low prices, high quality, and small volume.
With this beauty expansion GS25 said it “plans to increase consumer accessibility to cost-effective cosmetics and continuously expand its beauty line-up with practicality.”
Managing director of GS25, Ryu Ju-hee said: “We started the cost-effective cosmetics expansion project to reflect customers’ rational and smart consumption needs… We will work to establish GS25 as the most practical and close beauty platform in daily life by providing a cost-effective beauty line-up in the future.”
A new segment in beauty
GS25 is one of the leading convenience store retailers in South Korea and operated by GS Retail, a subsidiary of the GS Group.
It offers a wide range of products, including snacks, beverages, ready-to-eat meals, and household items.
In recent years, it expanded its offerings to include beauty and personal care products, working with popular K-beauty brands such as Dewytree and Mediheal to creative exclusive low-cost products.
According to GS25, the Gen Zalpha cohort – made up of Generation Z and Alpha consumers – made up more than half of beauty buyers over the past three years.
From January to July 2024, sales increased by 65% year on year.
Odile Monod, a Seoul-based K-beauty expert and consultant, said on X that this trend of “ultra-fast beauty” could be traced to the expansion of exclusive lines in retailers such as popular Japanese dollar-store chain, Daiso.
This has “created a completely new market segment in Korean beauty” and she expects it to grow even more in the coming years.
In 2024, CosmeticsDesign-Asia reported that Able C&C extended its partnership with Daiso with the launch of an exclusive and affordable makeup line as a follow up to its first skin care collaboration.
In September 2024, Amorepacific launched Mimo by Mamonde, a Daiso-exclusive beauty brand, which targets Gen Zalpha.
On January 16, Amorepacific announced that sales of MIMO by Mamonde surpass a million units in cumulative sales within four months of its launch.
The success of the brand and its products were attributed to social media and word-of-mouth.
