On the 29th, Olive Better Gwanghwamun store at D Tower in Gwanghwamun, Jung-gu, Seoul. As soon as the entrance opened, a rainbow of health supplements displayed on various shelves caught the eye. From shakes and snacks packed with protein to beverages rich in vitamins, products filled the display stands.
On the store's second floor, various vitamins and supplements, workout gear, aromatherapy goods, sleep products, and hygiene items were arranged by section. For skin health products, tester items were available to try on directly, and a space was set up to sample drinks and more.
Olive Better is a new wellness curating platform introduced by CJ Olive Young. Gwanghwamun, the first offline store for Olive Better, is a two-story space of about 130 pyeong and opens on the 30th. Wellness refers to a lifestyle that seeks a harmonious balance of body and mind. The related market is expanding, especially overseas.
Yoo Yeong-hwan, Head of Team at Olive Young's Data Intelligence Team, said, "Among related search terms for the most popular dessert these days, the 'Dubai jjondeuk cookie,' 'calories' is always at the top. People pursue trendy flavors and fun while also carefully checking the calories and ingredients that matter to their bodies," adding, "Rather than unconditionally holding back, 'enjoying while managing' is the real face of wellness that people seek in their lives."
Existing Olive Young stores have handled some wellness items, but there was a limit in that the store focus inevitably skewed toward beauty products. Olive Young said it created Olive Better with the goal of independently building a dedicated wellness platform, given the spread of wellness consumption at home and abroad.
Lee Dong-geun, business leader in charge of new growth retail at CJ Olive Young, said, "Compared to the expanding wellness market and consumer awareness, domestic consumers tend to consume wellness only through fragmentary categories and products," adding, "In a trend where beauty and wellness are not separate concepts but integrated as 'healthy beauty,' we will use the distribution and trend-proposal capabilities Olive Young has built to create a new market."
Olive Better targets consumers aged 25 to 45 who are highly interested in healthy living. To that end, the first store opened in Gwanghwamun, which has a large office-worker flow and abundant wellness infrastructure such as yoga studios and gyms. About 500 brands and more than 3,000 types of wellness products have entered the Gwanghwamun store.
Olive Better's product lineup is divided into six intuitive categories. ▲ Eat well (inner beauty foods, healthy snacks, etc.) ▲ Fill well (vitamins, etc.) ▲ Move well (supplements, workout gear, etc.) ▲ Groom well (aromatherapy, derma cosmetics, etc.) ▲ Rest well (sleep products, herbal tea, etc.) ▲ Care well (oral and hygiene products, etc.). These categories are written in large letters with English alongside on each store shelf to help customers easily find what they want.
Olive Better's second offline store is set to open near Gangnam Station in the first half of this year. Olive Better plans to expand stores mainly in key commercial districts across the Seoul metropolitan area with heavy customer foot traffic.
Starting on the 30th, Olive Young will also launch an app-in-app service for Olive Better within its mobile app. There, customers can receive personalized product recommendations by user, purpose, or ingredient, along with guidance on intake methods and functions. They can also use a "routine alert" feature that provides daily intake reminders by registering the vitamins they purchased. Olive Better is linked with Olive Young membership for the same member benefits, and customers can use the Today Dream quick commerce service and pickup service.
Olive Young plans to make "K-wellness" the second "K-beauty" through Olive Better. Based on its experience introducing the concept of health and beauty (H&B) stores to Korea and growing the market, the company aims to expand wellness consumption experiences consolidated with daily routines (eating, filling, resting) and support the growth of "Korean-style wellness" step by step.
Lee said, "Through Olive Better, we will take the lead in helping customers find balanced inner and outer beauty and in building a healthy ecosystem where brands and the domestic wellness market grow together."