Oxford Circus and Regent Street in London are lined with stores from global brands. Along the busy shopping streets, people carrying pink shopping bags emblazoned with the Medicube logo stood out. They varied in skin tone and age.
On Oct. 10 and 11 (local time), long lines formed outside a pop-up event as visitors waited to enter. According to APR, more than 1,000 people visited the venue on average each day during the three-day event from Oct. 9.
Passing through the pink entrance, you encounter a locker room and lounge in sequence. In one corner of the powder room, there is a smoothie zone. Visitors write their skin concerns on a check-in pad and choose one of five smoothies.
The menu names are derived from functions of the beauty device 'Booster Pro,' such as booster and derma shot. Upon receiving their drinks, visitors are guided to the usage mode of the 'Booster Pro X2' suitable for their skin condition and can directly experience the device and cosmetics.
For those who visited the event venue, Medicube was not an unfamiliar brand. It was a name they had already encountered on social media and in local stores. Consumers who discovered products on SNS and opened their wallets are now coming to offline events to experience the brand.
Marial (26), a French resident of London, said, "I came to the pop-up after seeing a friend's Instagram post, and I am coming once a week." She added, "It is good that I can try the products directly and learn how to care for my skin." Clotia (24), a British national, also learned about Medicube through TikTok. She said, "I am using the PDRN peptide capsule cream," adding, "The image of K-beauty is glass skin and a clean look."
These scenes align with APRL's trend of expanding its overseas business. APRL's second-quarter overseas revenue was 704.2 billion won, an increase of 178% from the same period last year, accounting for 92% of total revenue. The share of North American and European sales jumped from 40% in the second quarter last year to 68% this year. European sales centered on five countries—UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain—were 145.1 billion won, an increase of 380.3%.
APRL, which has secured overseas consumers through online channels such as Amazon and TikTok Shop, is expanding its territory into local offline distribution networks. Following its entry into Boots and Sephora in the UK, it will open a dedicated Medicube sales space on the first floor of London's Selfridges department store starting from the 2nd of next month. The plan is to start with about 30 types of beauty devices and skincare products and gradually expand the product lineup.
Consumers looking for Medicube products could also be found in Sydney, Australia. On the 15th (local time), at W Cosmetics, a cosmetics store in Chatswood, Sydney, we met an Australian named Eliya who visited the store to buy a pink 'wrapping mask' recommended by her younger sibling. She said, "I came after hearing from my sibling that it would help soothe my skin because I have a lot of heat in my face," adding with regret, "But I heard the product was out of stock."
Chatswood is a commercial area where shoppers gather. In Australia, many office workers receive weekly pay, so shopping demand tends to increase from Thursday evenings. On this day, regular markets and food stalls were set up on the streets, and visitors' footsteps continued in and out of stores.
Medicube products could also be found in other beauty stores in Sydney. Some consumers searched for product names on their smartphones and compared them with the items on the shelves. There were also cases where people learned about products through YouTube content or celebrity advertisements and then asked staff for information. This shows a pattern of checking products encountered online at offline stores before deciding to purchase.
The position of Korean basic cosmetics is also growing in Australia. According to KOTRA's Sydney Trade Office, Australia's imports of Korean basic cosmetics last year were $147.7 million, an increase of 42.1% from the previous year. It surpassed France to rank second among importing countries.
In the first half of this year, the import market share of Korean basic cosmetics was 19.5%, narrowing the gap with the number one country, the United States, to just 1.6 percentage points. A KOTRA Sydney Trade Office official said, "Australia is a market that relatively slowly accepts new products, but once they try a product and leave a good impression, they repurchase, showing high loyalty."
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