Amazon to back K-Beauty’s broader global reach

US e-commerce juggernaut Amazon.com Inc. will offer South Korean cosmetics producers one-stop support to enable them to reach millions of customers across the world amid the growing global popularity of the so-called K-beauty products. Amazon Global Selling Korea, the Korean operation of Amazon’s business arranging individual sellers’ expansion into global markets, announced on Wednesday that it will launch a special project, dubbed as Project K-Beauty Go Big, for Korean cosmetics manufacturers.Under the project, Korea-based beauty product manufacturers and sellers will receive comprehensive aids from Amazon in partnership with the country’s related state agencies and associations in product planning, manufacturing, packaging, branding and global marketing. “K-Beauty is making great strides in the global market with their outstanding quality, customer-centered product lineups and the expansion of their brand experience,” Hannah Shin, head of Amazon Global Selling Korea, said at a press conference on Wednesday. “Amazon will help more Korean sellers venture into overseas markets by sharing its insights and know-how earned from the success story of K-beauty.” The US electronic marketplace giant’s K-beauty project comes after Korean cosmetics products’ global sales on Amazon.com jumped 78% last year from the prior year. In the first five months of this year, their sales are estimated to more than double from the same period of last year. The number of Korean cosmetics sellers earning more than $100,000 a year has also more than doubled from 2022, underscoring their strong growth streak in terms of quantity and quality, according to Amazon. GLOBAL SENSATION OF KOREAN COSMETICS PRODUCTS The value of Korean cosmetics exports hit $8.5 billion last year, marking the second-biggest since the historic high of $9.2 billion in 2021, according to data from Korea Customs Service. Based on an annual export value, Korea ranked fourth cosmetics exporter after France, the US and Germany. Korean cosmetics outbound shipments in the first three months of this year also increased 21.7% on-year to reach a record quarterly high of $2.3 billion. In the US, the world’s biggest cosmetics market, Korean beauty products accounted for the third largest share of over 20% of the country's total beauty product imports after No. 1 and 2 French and Canadian peers, respectively. Total exports of Korean cosmetics to the US surged 44.7% on-year in 2023 to hit $1.2 billion, exceeding a $1 billion threshold for the first time. In Japan, Korea topped the country's cosmetics import market with a 25.6% share after beating France. The growing global popularity of Korean beauty products helped the country’s leading cosmetics original design manufacturers, Kolmar Korea Co. and Cosmax Inc., enjoy soaring profits as their supplies to Korea’s niche cosmetics brands have sharply increased. The duo also supply cosmetics to multinational conglomerates like L'Oréal S.A.PARTNERSHIP WITH KOREAN COSMETICS ODMS Amazon will host Amazon K-Beauty Conference on Thursday with Kolmar Korea, which is the first of its kind held by the US e-commerce giant in Korea. To support Korea’s niche cosmetics brands’ global expansion, Amazon has joined hands with Kolmar by choosing it as Amazon’s service provider network (SPC) for the first time for a Korean cosmetics manufacturer. SPN composed of third-party service providers helps Amazon sellers launch, manage and grow their businesses on Amazon. Amazon is in talks with other Korean cosmetics ODMs to register them as its SPN, said Shin, praising Korean ODMs’ one-stop services in planning, manufacturing and packaging. Amazon bets big on Korean beauty products in the US online marketplace with big growth potential. “If K-beauty steps up its effort further with its great potential, we may see the birth of several globally famous Korean beauty brands in the next three to five years,” said Shin. “Global demand for Korean cosmetics has grown lately but many (Korean beauty) brands still focus on the Korean market” partly due to challenges in exporting their products, added Shin. By Hyung-Joo Ohohj@hankyung.comSookyung Seo edited this article.