[Courtesy of CJ OliveYoung]
SEOUL -- CJ Olive Young, the drug and beauty store franchise of South Korea's CJ Group, has launched the Japanese version of its global online shopping mall to attract young Japanese female consumers who feel comfortable with using an online store. South Korean cosmetics, also known as K-beauty products, are steadily gaining popularity in Japan, the world’s third-largest beauty market, thanks to K-pop and drama fandoms.
According to data released by the trade ministry, K-beauty exports to Japan jumped 58.5 percent on-year in 2020. About 64.7 percent of teenage female consumers use K-beauty products, up 6.8 percent point from 2018. The recent popularity was boosted by the increased number of K-drama lovers during a coronavirus pandemic. The great success of K-pop bands including BTS also boosted the popularity of K-beauty products. K-drama "Crash Landing on You" was the most popular drama content on Netflix in Japan in 2020.
A 2021 global cosmetics market survey conducted by Statistica, a global market research firm, showed that 46 percent of Japan's population has used an online shopping service at least once as of 2017. Among those who had shopped online, 61 percent were consumers aged between 15 and 24.
CJ Olive Olive Young said in a statement that it has started the Japanese service through its online shopping mall for foreign customers. The shopping mall with some 200,000 members was launched in 2019, targeting the North American market. The cosmetics retailer said that sales in the North American market account for up to 80 percent of its total sales.
Olive Young's Japanese service paved the road for consumers in Japan who mainly visited offline stores to buy cosmetics. Consumers preferred to try on samples before making a purchase. Olive Young started selling cosmetics products through Rakuten, one of Japan's top online shopping services, in 2019 but its products were shunned by consumers who prefer shopping in offline stores.
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Lost in K-beauty, found in translation
Visitors gather outside Olive Young N Seongsu in Seoul on Nov. 10, 2026, sitting near the entrance and taking a break from shopping. A colorful geometric installation stands in front of the glass-fronted building, creating a lively outdoor gathering space in the heart of Seongsu's shopping district. AJP Han Jun-gu SEOUL, November 10 (AJP) - Beauty shopping has become something of a ritual for visitors to South Korea, whether they arrive with a skincare shopping list or barely enough Korean to say hello. So AJP stepped into the K-beauty world of Olive Young as a pretend first-timer, armed with a smartphone, the Papago translation app and no particular expertise in cosmetics. The first Korean label refused to cooperate. The second translated in seconds. The difference wasn’t my Korean, which I was pretending not to know. It was my photography. That small discovery set the tone for a two-hour visit to Olive Young N Seongsu, South Korea’s largest Olive Young store. The mission: find out how far a foreign visitor could get with a phone, a translation app and a willingness to wander. First, though, I had to work out where everything was. A low-angle view shows the glass facade and distinctive curved white architectural features of the building housing Olive Young N Seongsu in Seoul on Nov. 10, 2026. The flagship store occupies a multi-story building in the busy shopping district near Seongsu Station. AJP Han Jun-gu Stop 1: Seongsu is always in season The weather may turn cold, but Seongsu rarely cools down. In this fashionable eastern Seoul neighborhood, tourists weave between cafes, shops and photo spots, with plenty of traffic on both the roads and the pavements. A minute or two from Exit 4 of Seongsu Station stands Olive Young N Seongsu, occupying a substantial slice of this busy shopping district. On Tuesday, a long queue had formed near an NCT DREAM pop-up. Fans emerging from the event carefully sorted merchandise and photo cards, while beauty shoppers rested nearby with bags at their feet. K-pop on one side, K-beauty on the other. An efficient arrangement for anyone hoping to fit both into one afternoon. Visitors rest on cushioned benches near interactive beauty displays at Olive Young N Seongsu in Seoul on Nov. 10, 2026. The first-floor interior features indoor plants, experimental lighting installations and a skincare display promoting slow-aging products, creating a lounge-like atmosphere. AJP Han Jun-gu Stop 2: A warm welcome for reluctant shoppers The entrance felt more like a lounge than a cosmetics shop. Opened in November 2024, Olive Young N Seongsu occupies about 4,628 square meters across a five-story building. Shopping and experience spaces fill the first three floors, with a members’ lounge on the fourth. High ceilings and broad windows kept the ground floor bright and open. There was a cafe, souvenir stamps to collect, a place to leave little handwritten messages and, crucially, seating. Even with customers coming and going, the space did not feel particularly noisy. Several men sat quietly while their companions shopped. Some looked quite settled. Whoever planned this floor had clearly spared a thought for the person who hears “just one thing” before a lengthy beauty-shopping expedition. Coffee, a comfortable chair and no obligation to develop an opinion on lipstick shades. A thoughtful provision. Tip: Agree on a meeting spot before splitting up. The first-floor seating is useful when one person’s quick browse becomes another person’s afternoon. Shoppers explore colored contact lenses and makeup products at Olive Young N Seongsu in Seoul on Nov. 10, 2026. A dedicated contact lens display features promotional portraits and rows of lens packages, while nearby counters showcase cosmetics from brands including LANEIGE. AJP Han Jun-gu Stop 3: Your perfect color may require an early start Upstairs, the pace picked up. Foundations, lipsticks and blushes filled the second floor, where shoppers compared shades and tried products at colorful displays. To the right was a makeup experience zone offering lighter sessions and more complete looks. Try a look, then shop for the products to recreate it: the route from curiosity to checkout was easy to follow. A personal color analysis booth caught my eye. These consultations help identify shades that suit a person’s complexion, information that can guide choices in makeup and clothing. I was curious. So, apparently, was everyone else. Registration had already closed for the day. The touchscreen showed that sign-ups had opened at 10 a.m. A customer who registered at 10:04 a.m. still had an estimated 150-minute wait when I checked. Four minutes after opening, and already a substantial commitment. My ideal color palette would have to remain a mystery. At least Papago did not require a reservation. Tip: If a color consultation or makeup session is the main attraction, check registration arrangements early. On this visit, turning up and hoping for the best did not work. A visitor uses a smartphone camera to examine product packaging at a MEDIHEAL skincare display inside Olive Young N Seongsu in Seoul on Nov. 10, 2026. The store offers a wide selection of Korean beauty products, with translation apps helping international shoppers read Korean-language labels. AJP Han Jun-gu Stop 4: Before blaming the app, check the photograph I opened Papago and approached the skincare shelves. First up was Real Barrier Ceramide Moisture Cleansing Foam, a facial cleanser marketed as removing impurities while helping skin retain moisture. I turned it around, photographed the Korean description with Papago’s camera translation feature and waited. The result was not especially enlightening. The photograph was blurry and taken at an awkward angle. My attempt to overcome the language barrier had run into a more basic problem: camera skills. For the second attempt, I picked up ROUND A’ROUND Green Tea pH-Balanced Cleansing Foam, a cleanser formulated with green tea. This time, I held the phone steady and made sure the text was clearly in view. Within seconds, the Korean description appeared in readable English. Two different packages hardly made for a scientific test, but the practical lesson was useful: give the app a clear label to work with. For a visitor trying to distinguish one cleansing foam from the next, being able to read what each product claims to do is a considerable help. Readable English is not a guarantee that every technical term has been translated perfectly. Still, it was enough to make the shelves feel much less impenetrable. Tip: Photograph labels straight on, keep the phone steady and check that the lettering is sharp. If the translation looks odd, try another photograph. A shopper picks up a blue tube of BRINGGREEN Bamboo Hyalu Lip Essence at Olive Young N Seongsu in Seoul on Nov. 10, 2026. The moisturizing lip treatment is displayed alongside other lip-care products, including Torriden lip essences, with electronic price tags showing promotional offers. AJP Han Jun-gu Stop 5: A beauty ranking, with one important distinction Papago also offered a starting point for shoppers who had arrived without a list. In the app’s Things section, a Beauty ranking highlighted products attracting international users’ attention through image translation activity. This was not an Olive Young sales chart. It showed what people were looking up — useful inspiration, with a different meaning from “bestseller.” The first five products on my screen covered a fair amount of beauty territory: • MEDIHEAL Madecassoside Essential Mask: a sheet mask marketed for soothing irritation-prone skin. • BRINGGREEN Bamboo Hyalu Lip Essence: a moisturizing lip treatment. • UNOVE Deep Damage Treatment: a hair-care treatment intended for damaged hair. • BIOHEAL BOH Probioderm 3D Lifting Cream: a moisturizer marketed for improving the appearance of firmness. • Beplain Mung Bean Low pH Cleansing Foam: a mildly acidic facial cleanser. Face, lips, hair: the list offered several possible shopping missions. It did not, however, tell me where to find everything. Around me, customers compared cleansers and added masks and creams to their baskets. I spent rather longer inspecting shelves before asking an employee for help. That worked. Papago could explain the label. Someone who knew the store could find the product. Tip: Use the ranking as a browsing aid, then show staff the product name or image if you get stuck. A translated description is useful; the correct shelf is better. The Men's Edit section at Olive Young N Seongsu in Seoul on Nov. 10, 2026. White illuminated shelves and central display stands showcase men's skincare and grooming products, with digital advertising screens promoting selected brands. AJP Han Jun-gu Stop 6: Come for the K-pop, stay for the face masks A TWS promotional area brought another dose of K-pop to the second floor. Nearby, a men’s skincare section was noticeably quieter. Elsewhere, shoppers moved between lip balms, makeup, cleansers, sheet masks, hand creams and snacks. Roughly 15 groups were waiting at checkout, with about four counters operating. Staff kept working and the queue moved steadily. Among the shoppers was Jingzhi Shao, a 21-year-old visitor from Beijing whose route to the store had begun with music. She first learned about Olive Young N Seongsu through Instagram. On Sunday, Nov. 8, she came to the neighborhood for an NCT DREAM pop-up and noticed the beauty store nearby. "I am a big fan of NCT DREAM," she said. Once inside, she found reasons to return. "There are just so many good and cute items here," Shao said. She was particularly keen on collaboration merchandise that could be difficult to obtain elsewhere. On an earlier visit, she had bought items from the Music & Worlds 26 collection associated with a pop-up at the Olive Young site. Skincare provided another incentive. Shao said face masks of comparable quality were difficult to find at such affordable prices in Beijing. K-pop had brought her to Seongsu. K-beauty was helping keep her there. A warm, wood-paneled lifestyle section at Olive Young N Seongsu in Seoul displays clothing, personal-care products and household goods on Nov. 10, 2026. A cushioned bench and carefully arranged shelves give the corner the appearance of a small living space rather than a conventional cosmetics display. AJP Han Jun-gu Stop 7: Follow your nose, then find a chair On the third floor, my progress slowed considerably. I may not have had strong feelings about cleansing foam, but fragrance was another matter. I browsed scents and used Papago to read Korean descriptions and ingredient information. Each photograph required a little care, and each fragrance deserved a little consideration. This was becoming a leisurely assignment. The store made lingering easy, with displays to explore and places to pause. A staircase near a corner led to the fourth-floor Olive Members Lounge, where a desk checked membership eligibility. This was not another public cafe. Access was for qualifying members, with drinks and desserts offered through membership benefits. The menu has included coffee, tea, tarts, pound cakes and tiramisu, although selections can vary. For everyone else, the first-floor cafe and seating remained available. By this point, I had developed a much deeper appreciation of the chairs. Tip: Do not count on the upstairs lounge as a public rest stop. Check eligibility before making plans around the coffee and cake. Stop 8: Two hours, zero purchases By the time I finished, roughly two hours had passed. I had browsed skincare and makeup, investigated Papago’s beauty ranking, missed my chance at a color consultation and spent longer than intended among the fragrances. I had bought nothing. Not a sheet mask, not a cleansing foam, not even an emergency lip balm. For someone with only a passing interest in cosmetics, spending two hours in a beauty store without getting bored was an achievement in itself. The appeal extended beyond the shelves: space to wander, products to try, pop culture to browse and somewhere to sit when enthusiasm outlasted stamina. Papago largely passed its part of the test. Clear photographs produced readable descriptions, and the ranking supplied ideas when I had none. Finding a specific product still sometimes required a member of staff. This was a test of the shopping experience, rather than the skincare. I left better informed about what was on offer, with no evidence yet of a brighter complexion. For anyone accompanying a committed beauty shopper, there are two perfectly respectable approaches: settle down with a coffee or follow them around three floors and count it toward the day’s exercise. I chose the latter. My wallet was pleased. My feet were less enthusiastic.
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Hyundai Glovis Partners with Southeast Asia's Largest Shopping Platform Shopee to Support K-Beauty Exports
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K-Beauty Expands Its Reach in Latin America with Skincare and Skin Boosters
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