Olive Young hits W1tr in sales to foreign tourists

Olive Young's new flagship store in Seongsu, eastern Seoul (CJ Olive Young)

CJ Olive Young said Wednesday its offline store purchases by foreign tourists surpassed 1 trillion won ($680 million) this year through November, propelled by growing global interest in Korean beauty.

This figure represents a roughly 26-fold surge from 2022, when Korea was emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreign shoppers made up just 2 percent of offline sales that year, before climbing into the double digits in 2023 and surpassing 25 percent in 2024, the retailer said.

To capture rising demand, the retailer has designated high-traffic locations where more than half of purchases come from foreign visitors as “global tourist districts.” The number of such stores reached 135 this year, more than doubling from 60 in 2024, since revamping its Myeong-dong flagship in late 2023.

As tourists spread beyond Seoul, Olive Young has opened localized stores in destinations including Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province and Jeju Island. It has also added multilingual staff, introduced experiential services such as skin testers, enabled digital payment methods favored by overseas shoppers and created product displays that highlight top sellers at a glance.

Olive Young plans to advance its “tourist district” strategy, positioning beauty retail as a key pillar of Korea’s inbound tourism industry. It will adopt management systems tailored to peak tourism periods — such as holidays and K-pop events — and strengthen ties with cross-border e-commerce platforms to maintain shopping engagement after visitors return home.

“Reaching 1 trillion won in purchases from foreign visitors is significant as it reflects the collective success of small, midsized beauty brands meeting global customers through Olive Young,” the company said, vowing to make Korean beauty not just a trend but a reason to revisit Korea.