Dollar-shop chain Daiso offers cheap cosmetic items

[Photo provided by Daiso]

Cosmetics sold at AsungDaiso Co., a dollar-shop chain in South Korea, are gaining popularity as young people look for cheap beauty items amid high prices. Daiso sells cosmetics products at prices ranging from 500 won ($0.39) to 5,000 won, offering cheaper options compared to other cosmetics in the market.

According to Daiso on Sunday, sales of its beauty products surged about 70 percent in the first six months of the year from a year ago. Sales of skin care items jumped by about 90 percent during the same period and those of color cosmetics such as lipstick and eye shadow 50 percent.

The Daiso store near Myeongdong Station in central Seoul, which reopened in March after remodeling, has two of its 12 floors dedicated to beauty products.

“The number of young people looking for cost-effective cosmetics has increased,” said an unnamed Daiso official. “We are partnering with beauty brands to provide affordable cosmetics with good quality.” Daiso sells beauty products at six uniform prices: 500 won, 1,000 won, 1,500 won, 2,000 won, 3,000 won, and 5,000 won. The prices of cosmetics vary, depending on the type, effectiveness, and quantity, but they generally range from 10,000 won to 30,000 won.

As products sold at Daiso gain popularity, an increasing number of beauty companies are partnering with the dollar-shop chain to launch exclusive products.

In April last year, Daiso launched an exclusive line “Botanical Garden” in collaboration with Nature Republic Inc. By May this year, released products of 14 beauty brands, including Aekyung Industrial Co. and Clio Cosmetics Co.

In addition, Able C&C Co.’s beauty brand A’pieu launched its own Daiso-exclusive product, “The Pure Tea Tree Line,” earlier this month. It is a skin-soothing line for managing irritated and sensitive skin, with a price range of 1,000 won to 5,000 won. “Daiso has recently emerged as a new offline beauty powerhouse, so we decided to collaborate with the store chain to expand our distribution network and our consumer base,” said an Able C&C official.

Daiso has more than 1,500 stores nationwide, making it easily accessible to consumers. Moreover, A’pieu’s customer base consists of young people in their teens and 20s who prefer affordable products, so the company expects the new product to generate a positive response from its young customers.

IPKN, a color cosmetics brand, also saw its beauty products launched in collaboration with Daiso selling well. In May, IPKN released makeup products such as powder pacts, bases, and primers, targeting trendy teenagers, with prices ranging from 3,000 won to 5,000 won. Among them, the lavender-colored “Personal Tone Correcting Blur Pact,” which brightens yellow and dull skin, gained huge popularity. This product even ranked second in the best-selling beauty products at Daiso in June.

While most powder pacts are priced in the range of 10,000 to 20,000 won, this product is only around 3,000 won.

The best-selling beauty product last month, in the meantime, was the “Aloe Fresh Soothing Mask Sheet” from the store’s Botanical Garden line. It is a mask pack that contains aloe vera leaf extract and is priced at only 500 won.

There are concerns, however, about the quality of cosmetics at the dollar-shop store due to their cheap prices. A Daiso official said that most of the products are manufactured by reputable Korean companies such as Kolmar Korea Co., Cosmax Inc., Cosmecca Korea Co. whose cosmetic quality has been verified.

“We introduce products from cosmetic companies that sell products responsibly or go through reliable original design manufacturing (ODM) and original equipment manufacturing (OEM),” the official said.