Foreign Visitors Spend Over 1 Trillion Won on K-Beauty at Olive Young
Creatrip Team
3 months ago
Olive Young, a popular Korean health and beauty retailer, says cumulative spending by foreign visitors at its offline stores reached over 1 trillion won from January to November, about 26 times higher than in 2022. Foreign customers now account for more than 25% of offline sales. An estimated 88% of cosmetics tax-refund purchases processed through Global Tax Free (GTF) were at Olive Young, and buyers came from 190 UN member countries. Trends show tourists shop more, travel farther and buy more brands—about 40% visit two or more stores, and 58% buy six or more brands. Non-capital regions saw especially strong growth (Jeju up nearly 200-fold), reflecting a “dailycation” trend where visitors explore local neighborhoods. Shoppers increasingly purchase full Korean skincare routines (cleansing, skincare, sheet masks, sun care); combined purchases rose from 12,000 in 2019 to 569,000 this year. Olive Young has expanded global-focused stores and services (e.g., Myeong-dong Town, multilingual staff, experience zones, easy payments) and plans further targeted operations and links to its global online mall to keep driving K-beauty and inbound tourism.
