As South Korea’s cosmetics exports broke historic records by reaching 11.4 billion USD (approx. 14.7 trillion KRW) from January to September this year, global e-commerce giant Amazon has stepped up to serve as a “stepping stone” for K-beauty’s expansion into the global market. Its goal for 2027 is to nurture 50 K-beauty brands to achieve 1 million USD (approx. 1.32 billion KRW) in sales within their first year of entering Amazon US.

Amazon Global Selling Korea hosted the "Amazon Beauty in Seoul 2026" event for the cosmetics industry on the 27th at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where it announced four major projects to accelerate the global growth of K-beauty.

According to Amazon, beauty sales by Korean sellers doubled year-on-year from January to September. In particular, K-beauty has been growing at a rate more than three times faster than the overall cosmetics category on Amazon US.

Shin Hwa-sook, Managing Director of Amazon Global Selling Korea, stated, "Now is not the time to doubt how long the K-beauty craze will last, but rather to consider how much further we can grow the market and expand our share."

Amazon plans to launch "Project Million" next year, helping 50 new K-beauty sellers achieve 1 million USD in sales during their first year on the US store. The initiative will support initial growth processes ranging from product planning to logistics and marketing. Additionally, Amazon will collaborate with seven leading K-beauty brands over three years to establish joint business plans, driving growth across the entire category.

To expand the K-beauty market—currently concentrated in the US—into Europe, Amazon will also provide support for taxation, certification, and regulatory compliance required for entry into five European nations: the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. Furthermore, it plans to diversify its competitiveness, which has heavily focused on skincare, by expanding sellers and products in the scalp and hair care sectors.

Amazon has already established itself as a primary overseas sales channel for K-beauty. This is the result of a synergy between K-beauty's high proportion of small-and-medium-sized indie brands and Amazon's open-market structure, which entails relatively low initial sales management costs. According to Managing Director Shin, approximately 44% of K-beauty products sold in the US are transacted through Amazon. During the US Amazon Prime Day event held last June, Medicube even ranked No. 1 in overall search terms.

Voices at the event also emphasized that institutional support for the industrial ecosystem must back the sustained export growth of K-beauty.

Yoon Sang-hyun, Vice Chairman of Kolmar Korea, who delivered a congratulatory address at the event, pointed to the interlocking structure of brands, original development manufacturing (ODM) companies, and global distribution platforms as the driving force behind K-beauty's growth. He emphasized, "The answer to whether K-beauty's sustained growth is possible is 100% yes," adding, "An environment where new brands can continually be born and grow is the true competitiveness of K-beauty."

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]