Good days over for mid-priced cosmetic shops

A cosmetic brand shop in Myung-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul. / Korea Times file

By Bahk Eun-ji

Hallyu fever and its resultant “K-beauty” boom may have peaked, with the domestic cosmetics industry remaining weak this year, data shows.

According to data from local economic daily Money Today, the number of outlets of 10 cosmetics shops had fallen 1,3 percent to 6,035 as at the end of November from the same period a year before.

This is the first time the figure has fallen since late 2000, when the cosmetics industry started to post strong gains.

The shops are Missha, Innisfree, The Face Shop, Etude, It’s Skin, Nature Republic, Tony Moly, Skinfood, Banilaco and The Saem.

In 2014 the shops had 5,600 outlets, up 60 percent from 2011 when there were 3,500 stores.

The number grew to 5,936 in 2015 and 6,118 in 2016.

It is the first time the overall number of stores has fallen and the number of outlets for some individual companies has fallen sharply. The Face Shop had outlets 1,070 this year, down 11.1 percent from 1,204 in 2015.

Missha has 699 stores compared with 739 in 2014. Nature Republic has 714, down from 778 in 2015.

The cosmetics business environment is getting tougher and more competitive, with major brands frequently forced to offer discounts amid falling sales.

Cosmetic distribution has also changed from shops selling only one brand to stores selling a variety of brands, such as Olive Young, Watsons and LOHBs.

Olive Young has 950 branches, up 72.1 percent from 552 in 2015. Watsons has 183 (up from 113), and LOHBs has 94, up from 53.