Wellness Edit section inside the Olive Young N Seongsu branch. (Photo provided by CJ Olive Young)
SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — CJ Olive Young, South Korea’s leading health and beauty retailer, plans to expand aggressively into wellness as consumer behavior shifts from traditional K-beauty purchases toward holistic health products, the company said Wednesday.
In the first quarter of 2025, Olive Young will introduce “Olive Better,” billed as the country’s first omnichannel wellness-curating platform. The initiative reflects rising demand for “inside-out beauty,” a lifestyle trend emphasizing the harmonious balance of physical and mental well-being—a segment that has become a major growth driver in global retail.
In Korea, spending by both locals and visiting foreign tourists has broadened beyond cosmetics to include nutritional supplements, hygiene and healthcare items, relaxation goods and other wellness-oriented products.
Olive Better will target health-conscious consumers between 25 and 34, offering curated products across six integrated categories: nutrition, inner-beauty supplements, movement, grooming, relaxation and mental care.
The platform will operate both online and offline. Physical Olive Better stores will open in high-footfall urban districts frequented by office workers and local residents, with the flagship set for Gwanghwamun and a second location opening in Seoul’s Gangnam district. Online services will be embedded within the existing Olive Young app in an app-within-app format.
Olive Young said it intends to position Olive Better as a testbed and growth platform for emerging Korean wellness brands, giving smaller companies space to pilot and scale new products.
“Olive Young was founded as Korea’s first health-and-beauty store, pursuing ‘healthy beauty’ as its core vision,” the company said in a statement. “While Olive Young has long leaned toward beauty, Olive Better will extend that vision into the broader wellness category and propose a more comprehensive model of self-care.”
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
