Musinsa, South Korea’s largest online fashion platform, said on July 3 that beauty sales on its global online store surged more than fourfold in the first half of 2026, driven by strong overseas demand for K-beauty products and rising cross-category purchases among fashion customers.
Gross merchandise value for the beauty segment rose about 361%, or roughly 4.6 times, from a year earlier, the company said.
Musinsa’s global store operates in 13 international markets, including the U.S., Japan and Southeast Asia, and carries products from more than 400 beauty brands.
The company said beauty has become a new growth engine as international consumers increasingly treat fashion and beauty as part of a single lifestyle category, leading to higher cross-purchases of cosmetics, hair-care and skincare products alongside apparel.
The trend was most visible during Musinsa’s annual Monster Sale, held from June 14 to June 24, when more than 3,000 fashion and beauty brands participated, offering discounts of up to 80%. Beauty sales rose sharply during the campaign, helping the category post its highest monthly sales on record in June.
Musinsa also credited its differentiated product assortment for the growth, noting that the global store offers more than 500 exclusive or hard-to-find beauty products, attracting overseas consumers seeking emerging K-beauty brands.
Private-label brands such as ODDTYPE, WHIZZY and Musinsa Standard Beauty have also played a key role as “anchor brands,” driving first-time purchases that later extend into other third-party brands on the platform.
Japan was the fastest-growing market in the first half, with beauty transaction value increasing 770% from a year earlier.
Musinsa attributed the surge to its offline strategy, including a K-beauty pop-up event in Tokyo in April that drew about 75,000 visitors and featured Korean brands such as ONE THING, DEWYTREE and THE TOOL LAB alongside Musinsa’s own labels.
Participating brands saw average transaction values rise roughly fourfold after the event compared with pre-event levels, as offline exposure translated into online purchases through the global store.
The company said its expansion tools—including automatic review translation, domestic product-code integration and global fulfillment services—have lowered barriers for Korean brands entering overseas markets and supported broader international growth.
