Memebox and Sephora partner on ecommerce

Memebox signed a partnership deal with global beauty giant Sephora to expand its global presence in the ecommerce scene and develop a joint brand due for release this autumn, according to Formation Group on Monday.

The achievement comes only six years after the local beauty company launched as a small start-up in Korea. It now has offices in five regions around the world including Pangyo, Gyeonggi and San Francisco.

Formation Group is a venture capital firm and a stakeholder in Memebox.

One goal of the partnership with Sephora, a global beauty retailer owned by LVMH Group with operations in 33 countries, is to expand Memebox’s global ecommerce site that recently re-opened after being closed down last year.

Memebox launched in the United States in 2014 as an online store offering K-beauty products. Last year, it halted the global ecommerce website with an aim of developing an online community where consumers can exchange know-how and reviews on beauty products.

The website has more than five million users per month uploading videos and tips.

However, the ecommerce site was re-launched in June. “We decided the timing had come to develop a competitive edge with our own ecommerce platform, now that the awareness and credibility regarding Korean beauty brands has greatly improved in the United States,” said Memebox CEO Ha Hyung-seok.

The launch also gave U.S. consumers access to Memebox’s in-house brands: Pony Effect, I Dew Care and Nooni.

One of Memebox’s strengths is the accumulated data from its community which has more than 30,000 product reviews from people of different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. In a beauty market where trends change fast, an up-to-date database of consumers is a big asset not only in terms of marketing, but also for fast product development.

Another apparent result of the collaboration between Memebox and Sephora is scheduled to come this autumn: a color cosmetics brand for which details have not yet been revealed.

BY SONG KYOUNG-SON [song.kyoungson@joongang.co.kr]