The Growth and Change of Korean Cosmetics Market in Distribution Structure

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the growth and change process of Korean cosmetic market that has grown more than three times since 2000. It also examined how the growth and decline of the cosmetics brands are related to the change of the cosmetic distribution structure. Research methodology: This study tried to classify the change of the Korean cosmetics market into four stages based on the market sales information. It analyzed the sales information of Korean cosmetic companies and the relationship with the sales of the brands by distribution channel. Results: One-brand store channel had played a leading role in the market growth, and multi-brand stores have grown and a number of brands also grew through that channel since 2013. Since 2016, multi-brand stores have continued to grow and have dominated the market beyond one-brand store channel. Conclusions: The changes in sales of domestic cosmetics companies have been classified based on the distribution channel type in four stages: the emergence of one-brand store, the growth of one-brand store channel, the growth of multi-brand store channel, and the decline of one-brand store channel. In conclusion, multi-brand store channels have recently grown in the Korean cosmetics market, and this trend is expected to continue.