In analyzing purchases during the Olive Young Global Big Bang Sale, the Korean retailer reported that U.S. consumers primarily bought suncare products.
The company says K-beauty sun care products are perceived by U.S. consumers as more effective, yet gentler. Additionally, Korean sunscreens come in a variety of formulation types to meet diverse needs.
Some of the most popular sunscreen products among U.S. consumers included Round Lab Birch Moisturizing Sun Cream, Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Hyalu-Cica Water-Fit Sun Serum, and Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics.
For British consumers, a fundamental concern was skin texture.
This was inferred from the UK’s best-selling products, including the viral VT Liedle Shot, which imitates microneedling to improve skin texture.
Other top products among UK shoppers were Mediheal’s Madecassoside Blemish Pad, BIODANCE BioCollagen Real Deep Mask and ANUA Peach 70% Niacin Serum.
Olive Young observed that Japanese consumers are expanding their interest in K-beauty, purchasing not only skin care but also personal care items such as oral care, body care, and hair care.
There was also a demand for supplements, especially for weight loss.
This is reflected in two of the most popular products among Japanese consumers: Foodology Coleology Cutting Jelly 10 Sticks and Viewsen Beauty White Teeth Whitening Patch.
Olive Young Global is Olive Young’s international e-commerce platform, making K-Beauty products available to international consumers.
The platform was launched in 2019, and as of the end of August, Olive Young Global had nearly 2 million customers, almost double the number of customers at the same time last year.
tourism data
Olive Young also analyzed domestic store data to uncover the purchasing preferences of foreign tourists.
He pointed out that new K-beauty brands established in the past five years are in high demand.
This includes brands such as Numbuzin, Rejuran, Biodance, Torriden, and Sungboon Editor.
By product, Numbuzin No.5 Glutathione C Trace Ampoule, Sungboon Editor Green Tomato Pore Lifting Ampoule, and Torriden DIVE-IN Hyaluronic Acid Serum were the most popular.
The retailer also highlighted supplements as an emerging category, along with popular brands such as Lacto-Fit and Foodology.
The popularity of new brands was consistent with Olive Young’s strategy to discover new brands that can stay ahead of industry trends.
“As Korean beauty trends are shared in real-time through social media, overseas consumers are also becoming more interested in new brands discovered by Olive Young.”
To accommodate foreigners, Olive Young stores are equipped with real-time portable translators that support 16 languages, including English, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, and Vietnamese.
Stores in Myeong-dong, Dongdaemun, Hongdae, and Gangnam in Seoul, as well as stores in Incheon, Busan, and Jeju, have been specially designated as global tourist areas because of the high proportion of foreign customers.
These stores display product names and promotional information in English. Additionally, employees may speak foreign languages.
Olive Young emphasized the importance of attracting foreign tourists to Korea, as foreign tourists are likely to make repeat purchases at Olive Young Global.
“We plan to actively discover and develop promising small and medium-sized brands so that the shopping experience of tourists visiting Korea will lead to repeat purchases of K-beauty brands through global malls even after they return home.”
