CJ Olive Young's revenue surpasses Amorepacific, LG H&H for first time

An Olive Young store [CJ OLIVE YOUNG]

CJ Olive Young reported 3.86 trillion won ($2.88 billion) in revenue in 2023, up 39 percent on-year, surpassing those of cosmetics giants Amorepacific and LG Household & Health Care for the first time.

The Korean health and beauty franchise has been rapidly expanding its stores, which currently number more than 1,300, to accommodate structural shifts in the domestic cosmetics industry.

The beauty retail unit of CJ Group's operating profit surged by 70 percent year on year to reach 466 billion won, according to CJ's annual report submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service's Data Analysis, Retrieval and Transfer System (DART) website. Its net profit reached 347.3 billion won, an on-year increase of 67 percent.

Amorepacific's revenue decreased by 11 percent year over year to hit 3.67 trillion won, while that generated from cosmetics products at LG Household & Health Care declined by 12.3 percent to reach 2.81 trillion won last year.

While traditional “road shops,” focused on selling proprietary brands — such as Amorepacific's Aritaum and Innisfree or LG Household & Health Care's The Face Shop — were prevalent in the 2000s to early 2010s, the rise of e-commerce platforms in the mid-2010s provided consumers with greater convenience and product variety. Olive Young adapted by incorporating various small and independent brands into its outlets to offer customers a more diverse range of products.

Its offline store count witnessed a steady increase, reaching 1,338 by the end of 2023, while such individual road shops became hard to find on the streets of Korea.

Olive Young also offers online services, including immediate delivery and pickup options. It launched a global online mall in May 2019, via which it ships products from Korea overseas, that is currently accessible in some 150 countries including the United States, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.

“We are focused on securing a sustainable growth foundation by strengthening our current status as a leading player in the beauty market and evolving our omnichannel services,” Olive Young said.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]