CJ Olive Young's Myeongdong Town store in Seoul's Myeong-dong area bustles with visitors on its opening day in this November 2023 photo. Courtesy of Olive Young

CJ Olive Young, the nation's leading beauty and skin care product retailer, reported a more diversified and larger foreign consumer base last year, with shoppers from 189 countries making over 9.42 million transactions.

The beauty retail arm of CJ Group released new data Wednesday showing that global beauty and skin care trends, particularly those driven by Korean products, are now widespread around the world, rather than limited to a few countries.

Among these countries, China, Japan and the United States represented the highest proportions of foreign customers, regardless of product category.

Americans, in particular, showed a strong interest in sunscreen products, with five of the top 10 items purchased at Olive Young stores nationwide being sunscreen-related.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been recommending the use of sunscreen product to avoid developing skin cancer, encouraging Americans to purchase the products, according to the company. Korean sunscreen products, among others, went viral because of their cost-effectiveness, it added.

Customers from China, Japan and other neighboring Asian countries showed a particular interest in skin care products. In addition to the company's steady sellers like mask packs, toners and lotions, they also purchased serums, ampoules and essences. The company noted that these products, widely used by Koreans, reflect a trend among foreign customers to follow Korean skin care practices by buying the same items.

“Korean skin care routines' have become viral in social media platforms,” a company official said. “How Koreans with their ethnically bright, transparent skin tone, so-called ‘glass skin,' invest in their skin care is turning heads worldwide.”

Olive Young's sales to foreign customers surged by 140 percent last year compared to the previous year. European customers saw particularly steep increases, with sales to Italian, Spanish and French shoppers rising by 250 percent, 226 percent and 184 percent, respectively. Sales to customers from Mexico and Turkey also spiked by 400 percent and 340 percent, respectively.

Out of 1,371 Olive Young stores nationwide, 1,264 locations, including those on Jeju Island, welcomed paying foreign customers last year.

“Foreigners' K-beauty experience is literally happening all over the country,” the official said. “And they are from countries almost equivalent in number to the total number of member states of the United Nations.”

The company also announced plans to expand its online and offline shopping infrastructure to better serve international consumers.

Olive Young will introduce the specialized services of its Myeongdong Town, where over 90 percent of customers are foreign, to stores located in major tourist destinations such as Busan and Jeju.

These stores will feature enhanced foreign language explanations and display products popular among foreign tourists in dedicated sections.

The range of foreign language programs for store staff, both online and offline, will also be significantly expanded.