What to Buy at Olive Young, and Which Store
Foreign customers went from 2% of offline sales in 2022 to 28% in 2025. Jeju is up 199.5x, Busan 59.1x β the growth is fastest outside Seoul.
Conversations about buying cosmetics in Korea usually start at Olive Young and end in Myeongdong. Open this company's numbers, though, and Myeongdong is not where it ends.
Foreign customers were 2% of offline sales in 2022. In 2025 they were 28%, worth more than 1 trillion won. And that growth is running far faster outside Seoul than inside it.
At a glance
| Item | Number | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Foreign share of offline sales | 2% β 21% β 28% | 2022 β 2024 β 2025 |
| Foreign sales value | 1 trillion won | Cumulative, JanβNov 2025 |
| Company revenue | 5.83 trillion won (+21.8%) | 2025 |
| Operating profit | 744.7 billion won (+22.5%) | 2025 |
| Stores | 1,381 | End of 2025 |
| Share of Korea's beauty market | 20.2% (+4.9pp) | 2025 |
| Stores classed as global tourist districts | 60 β 135 β 138 | 2024 β Nov 2025 β 2026 |
| Foreign share at the Myeongdong store | 95% | 2026 |
| Foreign sales outside the capital region | +72% | 2026 |
Every row in the table is a record except one, and that one is the point: 138 of 1,381 stores are classed as global tourist districts. Roughly one store in ten now runs on people who do not live here β and the rest of this piece is about where that tenth actually sits.
What kind of company this is
Outside Korea it often gets introduced as a drugstore, which is not accurate. It does not dispense prescription medicine. It is a health and beauty store selling cosmetics, supplements, convenience food and household goods together, and it functions as the default shelf for cosmetics distribution in Korea.
The scale: 2025 revenue of 5.83 trillion won (up 21.8%), operating profit of 744.7 billion won (up 22.5%), 1,381 stores. Its share of Korea's beauty market reached 20.2%, up 4.9 percentage points in a year, and 2026 revenue is expected to pass 6 trillion won.
What that scale means for a visitor is simple: this is the first shelf a new K-beauty brand reaches. It is also the most reliable place to meet, in physical form, the brand you saw online.
From 2% to 28%
| Year | Foreign share of offline sales |
|---|---|
| 2022 | 2% |
| 2023 | low teens |
| 2024 | 21% |
| 2025 | 28% |
Two per cent became twenty-eight in three years β fourteen times. And because that is a share, it is separate from the company's own 21.8% revenue growth: while the pie grew, the foreign slice grew faster inside it.
The count of stores the company classes as global tourist district locations moved with it: 60 in 2024, 135 by November 2025, 138 in 2026. More than doubling in barely a year means the company stopped treating foreign customers as a temporary wave.
At the Myeongdong store, 95% of sales are foreign
Olive Young Central Myeongdong Town, opened in March 2026, is the clearest statement of that strategy.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Size | Three floors, about 3,140 sqm β second only to N Seongsu |
| Versus a normal town store | Ten times the floor area |
| Range | About 1,000 brands and 15,000 products |
| Tills | 22 staffed checkouts β the most of any Olive Young store |
| Languages | Staff wear English, Chinese and Japanese flag badges; other languages handled via translation apps |
| Sheet masks | Around 800 products |
And one sentence came out of that store: 95% of Myeongdong sales come from foreign customers. That figure is why there are twenty-two tills. This is not a Korean shop that visitors occasionally enter. It is a shop designed for visitors from the start.
What you miss if you only look at Myeongdong
But end the story in Myeongdong and you miss the numbers pointing the opposite way. Growth multiples by region against 2022:
| Region | Multiple |
|---|---|
| Jeju | 199.5x |
| Gwangju | 71.6x |
| Busan | 59.1x |
| Gangwon | 57.9x |
| Outside the capital region | 86.8x |
| Capital region | 20.5x |
The capital region grew 20.5x; everywhere else grew 86.8x. Growth outside Seoul is more than four times faster. Into 2026, foreign sales outside the capital region rose another 72%.
Jeju at 199.5x stands out most. It is a resort island with direct flights from Southeast Asia and Greater China, and many visitors arrive and leave without passing through Seoul at all. Those people now buy their cosmetics on Jeju. Busan at 59.1x and Gangwon at 57.9x tell the same story.
What people actually buy
By category, growth against 2024:
| Category | Growth |
|---|---|
| Skincare | +50% |
| Healthy living | +45% |
| Colour cosmetics | +43% |
| Healthy food | +42% |
Skincare growing faster than colour is the point of that table. Lipstick and eyeshadow you can buy at home. Toners, serums and sheet masks are where the Korean range and price band differ, so that is where the luggage weight goes.
A price anchor helps. Torriden's Dive-In sheet masks, a fixture of Olive Young's bestseller lists for years, list at around 3,000 won each and drop to roughly half that on promotion. A few thousand won per sheet is the reference line for this category β though promotional prices change constantly, so check the shelf on the day. If even that reads as steep, the same category sits at 5,000 won a street away, in the chain that went from 7 beauty brands to 160.
One person buys ten brands
The purchase behaviour figures translate directly into trip planning.
- About 40% of foreign customers visit two or more stores
- Over 58% buy six or more brands
- 33% buy ten or more brands
Ten brands per person means people are not coming for a specific product; they are sweeping the shelves. And 40% visiting two or more stores means one visit is not enough β stock and promotions differ store to store.
Return visits are rising too. Foreign repeat visits during the Olyoung Sale periods rose elevenfold in three years, meaning some people now time two Korea trips around the March and June sales.
How to actually shop the store
Walk in unprepared and the scale takes over. Knowing the sequence changes the result.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1. Basket | Baskets are at the entrance; larger stores have trolleys |
| 2. Check promotions | Shelves are tagged 1+1, 2+1 or percentage off. The same product can sit under different promotions on different floors |
| 3. Testers | Most skincare has testers. Test on the inside of your forearm, not the back of your hand |
| 4. Paying | Staffed and self-checkout tills sit side by side. Have your passport out already |
| 5. Tax refund | Above a threshold you qualify for instant or airport refund. Say so before they ring it up β sorting it after payment is a hassle |
| 6. Packing | Lots of glass bottles. Ask for bubble wrap; stores keep it behind the counter |
The Olyoung Sale runs roughly four times a year. Going during one gets you far more for the same budget, but popular items clear fast. If your trip overlaps a sale, go on the first morning.
What this means where you are
| Situation | What to actually do |
|---|---|
| Scheduling | Do not compress it into one day. As the data says, one store rarely covers it. Browse early in the trip to check stock and promotions, then go again before you fly out β that matches the actual purchase pattern |
| Which city | It does not have to be Seoul. If you are flying into Busan or Jeju, those stores are already run as tourist-district locations. Jeju's 199.5x is the proof |
| Where to put the weight | Skincare. Colour cosmetics are easier to find at home, and skin compatibility matters more than shade. Sheet masks and serums are cheap per unit, so a miss costs little |
| Skin differences | If you come from a humid climate, Korean moisturising routines can feel excessive. Where they genuinely earn their place is on the plane and in air-conditioned rooms β dry environments regardless of where you live |
| Language | Tourist-district stores mark staff language ability with flag badges. Support beyond English, Chinese and Japanese often runs through a translation app, so saving product names as photos is faster than describing them |
| Refunds | Passport required. Declare the refund before paying. Instant refund caps and conditions vary by store and date |
In going from 2% to 28%, this shop changed character. It is now somewhere Koreans stop by daily and, simultaneously, somewhere designed for foreign customers from the outset. Myeongdong's 95% and Jeju's 199.5x are two ends of one story β demand that has already arrived, and demand that is still moving.
Read next
- Where foreign visitors spend money in Myeongdong has changed β what comes after cosmetics on the same street
- There are accounts that tell you which lenses an idol wore β another item you meet at this counter
- The top keyword on Korea's fragrance shelf is 'light' β the scent section on the same floor
- Those little bottles by the convenience store register β also stocked here
Sources
- CJ Olive Young β announcement on foreign customer sales (Korean)
- Bizwatch β Olive Young makes its global play in the middle of Myeongdong (Korean)
- News1 β foreign repeat visits during Olyoung Sale up elevenfold in three years (Korean)
- Youth Daily β CJ Olive Young, foreign repeat visits up elevenfold in three years (Korean)