K-beauty growth now driven by retail platforms, Samil PwC report says

The K-beauty industry's center of gravity is shifting from individual brands to retail platforms, according to a new analysis. As platforms take on the work of discovering brands and expanding consumer touchpoints, the structural drivers of K-beauty growth are changing.

Samil PwC said Tuesday it had published a report titled "Evolution of K-Beauty Platforms: From Channel to Ecosystem," examining how the retail structure has evolved alongside K-beauty's growth and offering a comprehensive analysis of platform roles, the competitive landscape and the outlook ahead.

According to the report, K-beauty retail platforms are evolving beyond simple sales channels connecting brands and consumers into a "comprehensive ecosystem" that spans brand discovery and development, data-driven marketing, logistics and global retail.

Domestic platforms — including CJ Olive Young, Musinsa Beauty, Beauty Kurly and Naver Plus Store — are expanding consumer touchpoints and supporting brand growth. Export platforms such as Silicon2 are strengthening their role in connecting domestic brands with global consumers.

The shift in retail channels is also reshaping how brands grow. In the past, large-scale advertising and securing distribution networks were the essential conditions for growth. More recently, a new formula has taken hold: accumulating consumer data through platforms and then expanding into domestic and overseas markets.

The competitive dynamics among platforms are also changing rapidly. Competition over offline presence has broadened into a battle for traffic across both online and offline channels, while the race to attract brands has evolved into a data-driven contest for customer acquisition. As the ability to build global retail networks grows in importance, the competitive arena is expanding beyond the domestic market to overseas.

Markets are watching the "evolution" of K-beauty retail platforms closely. Global private equity fund manager CVC Capital Partners recently decided to invest 300 billion won ($217 million) in Silicon2. Silicon2, which exports domestic brands overseas, posted sales of 1.12 trillion won and operating profit of 205.3 billion won last year, up 61.4 percent and 49.3 percent, respectively, from the previous year. For the first half of this year, the company recorded sales of 749.1 billion won and operating profit of 147.5 billion won.

The report identifies four key factors that will determine future competitiveness: omnichannel operations integrating online and offline, data-driven curation, global retail and logistics networks, and the capacity to build an ecosystem connecting brands and consumers.

Competition among K-beauty platforms is expected to intensify further, centered on global markets and AI adoption. Models are emerging that link curation capabilities built up domestically with overseas retail networks. Personalized recommendation systems combining consumer data — from search and purchases to reviews — with AI are also evolving rapidly.

"As K-beauty's global growth continues, platforms are no longer just sales channels — they are evolving into core infrastructure that validates a brand's growth potential and connects it to overseas expansion," said Kim Young-soon, Samil PwC's K-beauty sector partner.