K-beauty brands appeared to take many of the top spots in the skincare category bestsellers during this year's Amazon Prime Day in the United States. Korean brands accounted for nearly 40% of the top 100 skincare products. Industry officials said awareness and trust in K-beauty brands are rising together among U.S. consumers.
Prime Day is a large-scale discount event that Amazon has held every year since 2015 in June–July for paid members. Along with "Black Friday" at the end of November each year, it is considered one of Amazon's signature shopping events. This year's event ran for four days from June 23 to 26 (local time). In its materials introducing this year's event, Amazon listed beauty as one of the key discount categories. Prime Day sales are also evaluated as a barometer of the U.S. summer consumer economy, and this year's event posted record-high sales.
According to the beauty industry and Kyobo Securities on the 30th, as of the 26th, the last day of this year's Amazon Prime Day, 38 of the top 100 Amazon skincare products were from Korean brands. In the broader Beauty & Personal Care category's top 100, 29 K-beauty brand products also made the list.
In skincare, K-beauty's presence was even more pronounced, with seven of the top 10 products coming from Korean brands. Of the top 30 products, 19 were counted as K-beauty items.
By brand, Medicube of APR delivered the most striking results. Medicube placed 11 products in the top 100 skincare list, the most of any brand. Anua followed with five, COSRX with four, and BIODANCE with three in the top 100. Laneige and SKIN1004 each had two products in the rankings.
In addition, a variety of K-beauty brands made the top 100, including AESTURA, Illiyoon, d'Alba, Beauty of Joseon, KAHI, Abib, Meditherapy, CELIMAX, EQUALBERRY, and Dr. MelaXin.
By product, Medicube's "Zero Pore Pad 2.0" took No. 1 in the skincare category. BIODANCE's "Bio Collagen Real Deep Mask" ranked second. Laneige's "Lip Glowy Balm" placed fourth, and Medicube's "Collagen Jelly Cream" ranked fifth.
Anua's "PDRN Collagen Glow Facial Serum Spray" ranked sixth. Medicube also placed the "PDRN Pink Peptide Serum" and the "Collagen Overnight Wrapping Mask" at seventh and 10th, respectively. K-beauty consumption, once concentrated on a few popular brands and specific products, has recently broadened to a range of items including pads, serums, sheet masks, creams, and lip care.
This year's Prime Day also set a record high for the overall U.S. online consumer market. According to market research firm Adobe Analytics, U.S. consumers spent about $26.4 billion (about 40.6 trillion won) during this year's Prime Day period, up about 9.3% from a year earlier.
Industry officials view this Prime Day performance as an example of K-beauty's expanding footprint in the U.S. market. Amazon is one of the key online channels through which U.S. consumers directly encounter Korean cosmetics. In particular, because Prime Day concentrates massive traffic and purchases in a short period, the bestseller rankings during this time are used as a reference indicator of local consumers' brand preferences and product competitiveness.
Korean cosmetics exports are also continuing to grow, centered on the United States. According to the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety, first-quarter cosmetics exports this year hit a record quarterly high of $3.1 billion (about 4.79 trillion won), up 19% from the same period a year earlier. In particular, exports to the United States were tallied at $620 million (about 960 billion won), up 40.9% from a year earlier. Since last year, the United States has ranked No. 1 among destinations for Korean cosmetics exports.
Brokerages expect K-beauty's growth potential to extend beyond the United States to Europe. Kwon Woo-jung, an analyst at Kyobo Securities, said, "Given that K-beauty's share in the U.S. Amazon Beauty & Personal Care category records about 30%, the room for K-beauty to penetrate the European market remains attractive," adding, "In particular, K-beauty products are making strides even in France, where preference for domestic brands is high."