K-beauty apps are evolving from first-generation services focused on reviews and information into platforms that combine trials, rewards, and commerce. With rising numbers of foreign tourists visiting Korea, the spread of reverse direct purchases among overseas consumers, the expansion of offline experiential stores, and influencer-led social fandoms, various sources of demand are converging, making the app ecosystem a new stage for expanding the K-beauty industry.
According to the industry on the 10th, the leading first-generation beauty app operator, Hwahae, recently changed its name to Hwahae Global and launched multilingual services based on data from 380,000 products and 9.3 million reviews. The aim is to allow overseas consumers to access rankings, awards, and reviews and then move to reverse direct purchases even if they do not come to Korea.
It is transforming into an "information + commerce hub" by adding global influencer marketing, brand–buyer consolidation (B2B), and an artificial intelligence (AI) recommendation and verification system. Recently, it expanded its scope by creating a beauty device category within Hwahae Shopping and strengthened offline touchpoints by opening a pop-up store (temporary store) at The Hyundai Seoul in Yeouido.
The representative of second-generation apps is HANYGO. HANYGO introduced a system in which foreign tourists visiting Korea go beyond simple purchases and receive K-beauty products as rewards through games. Users can collect points through mini-games such as card flipping, scratch-off lottery, and quiet fishing, and exchange them for cosmetics at partner stores, creating a link to offline experiences.
Vanilla Company, which operates HANYGO, also runs Hanypick, a platform that covers major beauty spots such as Myeong-dong, Seongsu, and Hongdae in Seoul, and provides a lifestyle map that encompasses K-beauty, fashion, perfume, and skincare shops.
The strengthened experiential flow in apps is also visible offline. B the B, a K-beauty complex cultural space located at DDP in Dongdaemun, Seoul, has been transformed into a venue where visitors can experience exhibitions they can see and hear by adding QR code commerce to tech-based services such as skin diagnosis and personal color analysis. Cumulative visitors have surpassed 1.9 million. Alibaba and Taobao of China have chosen B the B over Myeong-dong as a live commerce filming location, cementing its status as a global hub.
At a recent joint event by HANYGO and B the B, more than 100 global influencers participated and responded that "it was new to enjoy it like a game and share K-beauty experienced firsthand on-site with followers immediately."
Analysts say that apps, which once focused on simple reviews and information, are now absorbing diverse demand—from inbound tourism (HANYGO) and overseas reverse direct purchases (Hwahae Global) to local experiential spaces (B the B and CJ Olive Young) and social fandoms (TikTok and Instagram)—emerging as a key pillar in the expansion of the K-beauty industry.
Kim Sung-min, head of the beauty industry division at the Seoul Business Agency, said, "The ecosystem created by the interplay of K-beauty apps and experiential spaces is becoming industrial infrastructure beyond a simple platform," adding, "the outward expansion that spans apps, offline, and social will ultimately become the engine that grows the K-beauty industry's pie."