SEOUL, South Korea, Feb. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cosmelab, a cosmetics company, has explored more than 30 overseas markets. It's planning additional global distribution channels for next year.
"Our ultimate goal is to be the standard of K-beauty."
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Cosmelab CEO Jin-young Park during an interview with the Korean Economic Daily at Cosmelab's headquarters on Jan. 25. (Photo by Hyuk Choi, a reporter at the Korean Economic Daily)
Following announcement covered by Hankyung.com, The reputation of Korean cosmetics is spreading beyond China and Southeast Asia to Europe, the home of cosmetics. This is the result of word-of-mouth consumers who experienced safe ingredients and excellent efficacy, as well as the increased awareness of Korean cosmetics from the Korean wave (Hallyu). Last year's Korean cosmetics exports showed off their power by exceeding $7 billion amid the coronavirus infection (COVID-19).
This is not limited to large firms that you know just by hearing their names in Korea. The industry consensus is that the number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Korea that are pioneering a number of overseas markets with one product competitiveness is increasing and that remarkable results are being achieved. Cosmelab, a leading player in proving the power of small and medium-sized Korean cosmetics companies, was founded by CEO Park Jin-young in 2006 and is more famous overseas than in Korea.
Currently, their products are exported to Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore and beyond Asia to the Americas, the Middle East, and Europe and are expected to enter additional overseas markets next year. The company has been focused on expanding to more countries, but CEO Park now plans to increase actual brand power by strengthening distribution channels for each country from next year.
"Competitiveness of products certified in Europe… It has become a stepping stone for entering overseas markets."
The main product of Cosmelab is the skincare cosmetics of their brand G9SKIN. In particular, this year, the 'Self Aesthetic Mask Series' has drawn a lot of attention since the demand for simple skincare at home has increased due to COVID-19. He said, "This year, we exported 7,000 sets of our self-esthetic mask series to Europe alone and shipped 20,000 sets around the world." and added, "Many countries reordered it more than four times, Japan also requested to import it, and we even achieved the result of re-exporting related products."
In the meantime, he also expressed confidence in pursuing overseas business next year. CEO Park said, "Currently, G9SKIN products have completed the second order at the Nordstrom Rack online mall, a separate discount distribution channel of Nordstrom, a premium department store in the US, and are about to enter the online store. It is a situation in which we are talking about expanding offline sales if the results are good." He added, "We are engaged in overseas marketing efforts to enter large distribution channels such as Costco, Ulta, and CVS to grow the American market further.
In addition to business expansion in the Americas, Cosmelab is also planning to enter the Latin American market through Ecuador, and the Southeast Asian market through Indonesia. The CEO said, "Currently, we are waiting for an initial order with an Ecuadorian distributor. After shipment in November, the product will arrive on site in December.
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Cosmelab CEO Jin-young Park during an interview with the Korean Economic Daily at Cosmelab's headquarters on Jan. 25. (Photo by Hyuk Choi, a reporter at the Korean Economic Daily)
CEO Park explains that he entered the European market earlier, and product distribution has stabilized there. It was a godsend for him to quickly acquire the CPNP (Cosmetic Products Notification Portal), a cosmetic certification required for distribution in the European Union (EU). Currently, about 80 products of Cosmelab have completed CPNP certification.
He said, "Obtaining CPNP certification means that the product's quality has been verified. Based on this, it was possible to grow the market while greatly increasing the preference for the retail industry in Europe. This year alone, we rapidly entered the Nordic countries of Norway, Finland, and Sweden. Since we already have market competitiveness to enter all of Europe, I think the speed of entering other markets will be even faster."
"I consider the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity… we'll continue to challenge ourselves to become a global company."
Obtaining CPNP certification acts as a key competitiveness factor in entering the overseas market. It has a high reputation as a certification system that meets strict standards, but it was not an issue for CEO Park. This is because the certification criteria align with his management philosophy of 'clean beauty.' The CEO avoids animal testing from the product development stage and minimizes animal-derived ingredients that meet the criteria for obtaining CPNP certification, which requires a declaration of non-animal testing.
Park said, "The global trend cannot escape from the clean beauty movement, which vegan cosmetics represents. My principle is to exclude animal testing and animal-derived ingredients as much as possible. The philosophy of creating ethical cosmetics has been a great help in advancing into most overseas markets beyond Europe," he said with a smile.
However, this doesn't mean that Cosmelab hasn't had any crises. Due to the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic, he had to cancel planned overseas expansion and annual sales plummeted by half. However, Cosmelab used this crisis to identify the company's drawbacks; the company had been focused on offline sales and converted product marketing to an online channel. Mr. Park said, "We are improving our overall marketing plan while revising our structure for a massive online transition. Specifically, we plan to actively invest in promotions through online beauty platforms and social network services (SNS). As the entire industry is reorganized into online channels, I think this will become a driving force for future competitiveness."
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Cosmelab CEO Jin-young Park during an interview with the Korean Economic Daily at Cosmelab's headquarters on Jan. 25. (Photo by Hyuk Choi, a reporter at the Korean Economic Daily)
The ultimate goal of Cosmelab is to be a global company that represents Korea. CEO Park hopes to become a brand recognized globally for its quality, not just a company that makes a lot of money. The CEO said, "Rather than a numerical target, it is my dream to become a pronoun of K-beauty that can be found anywhere in the world. To make this happen, I will continue to take on new challenges and pursue product development and expansion of distribution channels."
Cosmelab is certified as one of the 'Hi Seoul Companies' by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Business Agency (SBA). The SBA discovers small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with excellent growth potential, helps them be private global organizations, and supports overseas investment, consulting, and inter-company collaboration. CEO Park said, "The SBA support project has helped Cosmelab grow its export markets. Moreover, based on the support of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, it's a significant opportunity to develop more active overseas sales such as global marketing and certification projects, which are difficult to solve internally."
