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Musinsa spurs beauty business with Wizzy
Wizzy's beauty products are displayed inside a Don Quijote store in Japan in this undated photo. Courtesy of Musinsa
By Ko Dong-hwan
Major fashion shopping platform Musinsa is bolstering a beauty business under its private brand Wizzy, having exported the brand's cosmetic products to a major offline retail distributor in Japan.
Don Quijote has imported Wizzy's lineup to its 300 stores across Japan, which are particularly popular among younger consumers and tourists. The expansion follows a successful debut in October at Shibuya Mega Don Quijote, the company's flagship store in Tokyo.
The global expansion follows Wizzy’s growth in domestic markets this year, targeting consumers aged 17 to 21 . Following its launch in February, the brand’s sales during September to November jumped 120 percent from that during June to August.
Musinsa signed a supply deal with GS Retail earlier this year and began distributing Wizzy to GS25 convenience stores starting in the first half of the year.
Wizzy's domestic distribution expanded to Musinsa Megastore Yongsan in November, which opened inside I'Park Mall Yongsan in Seoul the same month.
With Wizzy, Musinsa seeks to become an alternative to the country’s dominant offline beauty distributors such as Olive Young and Daiso. CJ Olive Young runs 1,300 Olive Young stores nationwide while Daiso, which runs 1,500 outlets, has added beauty items to its daily household product collection — all priced 5,000 won ($3.38) or less.
Musinsa believes Wizzy can challenge established retail giants through its proven marketing strategies for distributing fashion items. The company is also betting on its market data analysis capabilities, seeking to increase its list of partner firms to build up its beauty platform.
“Musinsa is bolstering the market competitiveness of its private beauty brand Wizzy and beefing up partner firms for its burgeoning beauty business. The measures will allow us to lock horns with those firms that have been dominating the domestic offline market,” a Musinsa official said.