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The Business of K-Beauty
On episode 245 of the Korean Beauty Show podcast we’re chatting the business of K-Beauty with a look behind the scenes of one of Korea’s largest conglomerates, Shinsegae, who has just announced that it has acquired Gen-Z brand AMUSE. Plus, while we’re on the topic of Korean beauty businesses, Lauren does an explainer of exactly what’s going on over at STYLE STORY at Jelly Ko.
Korean conglomerate Shinsegae recently announced its acquisition of Gen-Z brand, AMUSE. Shinsegae has historically had a strong portfolio in the luxury space so this acquisition represents a shift in focus, being a mass market offering with lip tints (the brand’s signature product) starting from around 20,000 KRW (approx $15 USD).
The acquisition makes sense when you consider AMUSE’s popularity among Gen-Z, its strong appeal overseas and significant presence on social media platforms like Tiktok (where it has 104.7K followers) and Instagram (where it has 327K followers). Virality on social media has become an important battleground for beauty brands and Shinsegae has been trying to grow its beauty category for a while with varying degrees of success.
Although this acquisition represents a departure from Shinsegae’s previous acquisitions in the beauty sector, like Swiss Perfection (a luxury brand acquired in 2020 that is formulated, developed and produced in Switzerland), it is in line with the company’s global expansion ambitions.
It also mirrors moves being made by competitors in the domestic Korean market, like Amore Pacific, with its recent acquisition of globally-popular beauty brand COSRX.
AMUSE has a proven track record of sales in Japan, North America and Southeast Asia, with their hero product, Dew Tint, ranked first in Amazon’s lip stain category.
Shinsegae owns Yunjac (연작), which is still a smaller brand by Korean beauty standards, with a modest following on Instagram (17.7K). It is available at some Shinsegae department stores, as well as two Lotte stores and a Hyundai Department store.
In 2023, the brand reported that its sales increased 79% year-on-year in the period from January to October thanks to its Skin Perfecting Protective Base Prep and Whole Plant Effect Concentrate, two products that account for about 50% of the brand’s total sales. The Base Prep product has been ranked first and second in the base and primer categories on various online platforms in Korea since its launch in 2019.
After 10 years we're saying goodbye to our curated brands. When STYLE STORY first launched online in 2014 (yep, we've been at it a while 👵) we were the first online beauty store in Australia dedicated exclusively to Korean beauty.
In that time, we've launched thousands of products and spotlighted hundreds of Korean beauty brands.
After 10 years, we are moving into an exciting new era dedicated to our own creation, our in-house brand Jelly Ko.
Since launching Jelly Ko in late 2020, we have maintained our curations alongside our creation. Increasingly however, our community is most passionate about Jelly Ko. They want more products, more innovation and more opportunities to purchase our products overseas.
Now is a critical time for our team.
As a small team, we have made the decision to focus all our love, efforts & energies on our own brand.
Check out our new release:
This is a Korean sunscreen used by dermatologists and in hospitals around the country. If you enjoy Zeroid's MD cream, which I love when my rosacea is flaring, you'll enjoy this too as it's a similar base with sunscreen functionality added. It’s non-irritating, non-sticky, with little white cast a few minutes after application. It's great for people with eczema and very dry skin and a lot of people in Korea use it on kids and babies, particularly if they have skin issues.
Because it’s an MD line (which stands for "Medical Device"), you can actually get a prescription for it in Korea and claim some back on health insurance (for people with diagnosed skin conditions).
NB. this product is not available for sale in Australia or the States.
“Although this acquisition represents a departure from Shinsegae’s previous acquisitions in the beauty sector… it is in line with the company’s global expansion ambitions.”
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