Overseas retailers are bundling products from multiple K-beauty brands together, selling 'K-beauty' itself as a single brand. Recently, methods for experiencing K-beauty tailored to local consumer culture have diversified, including integrating it into the 'advent calendar,' a Christmas tradition in Western countries.
According to industry sources on the 29th, UK drugstore Boots recently unveiled the '24-Day K-Beauty Advent Calendar' in collaboration with StyleKorean. The format involves opening one box each day for 24 days leading up to Christmas to discover a product. It contains a total of 26 items ranging from skincare to haircare and makeup, featuring products from domestic brands such as Mediheal, Biodance, Joseon Beauty, COSRX, Round Lab, and TIRTIR.
Global beauty brands like Kiehl's and L'Occitane have previously offered advent calendars targeting the year-end season. This product differs in that it is composed solely of products from multiple K-beauty brands. Rather than bundling products from a specific brand, it proposes various brands as a single 'K-beauty' offering, allowing consumers to experience diverse products all at once.
Boots had previously introduced the 'K-Beauty Korean Skincare Edit,' which bundles several K-beauty brands into a single product. It includes 10 items from Joseon Beauty, Anua, VT, Purito, Round Lab, Dr. Althea, Mediheal, Mediheal, and Haruharu Wonder, with eight of these offered in full size.
Other UK retailers are also adopting a method of bundling multiple K-beauty brands for sale. The online fashion and beauty platform ASOS launched the 'Korean Skin Discovery Beauty Box' for 25 pounds, featuring products from six brands: Mediheal, Anua, Laneige, Biodance, COSRX, and Haruharu Wonder. Selfridges also sold the 'The K-Beauty Skincare Kit,' which bundles eight brands including Anua, Haruharu Wonder, Biodance, Mixsoon, Laneige, Innisfree, Mediheal, and Dr. Jart+, for 60 pounds.
In the past, overseas consumers would seek out specific K-beauty brands to purchase products, but now it is increasingly common for retailers to directly select representative products from multiple brands and propose them as 'K-Beauty Recommended Products.' This provides consumers with the opportunity to experience various products without pre-selecting a specific brand, while offering brands a point of contact to introduce their products to consumers who may not yet know them.
In particular, because advent calendars are a familiar Christmas culture in Western countries, they have been utilized as a way to naturally introduce K-beauty to local consumers. UK beauty retailers such as Space NK, Liberty London, and Boots have annually offered advent calendars containing cosmetics from various brands. According to market research firm Ipsos, beauty advent calendars were found to be the second most popular calendar category after chocolate. It was revealed that 40% of UK citizens aged 18 to 34 have purchased a cosmetics-focused calendar.
Meanwhile, an advent calendar is a tradition where small doors are opened by date from December 1st through Christmas Eve to take out chocolates or gifts while waiting for Christmas. A form similar to the current one emerged in Germany in the 19th century before spreading to Western countries. K-beauty is also expanding marketing efforts that go beyond simply exporting products, integrating its offerings into cultures that local consumers are accustomed to accepting, thereby promoting brands and products tailored to local consumer culture.
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