Amazon, Alibaba, TikTok up ante to woo Korean beauty brands

Riding the wave of global enthusiasm for K-Beauty, e-commerce powerhouses like Amazon and Alibaba are racing to bring South Korean cosmetics and beauty tech to international consumers through their digital marketplaces.

Alibaba International and AliExpress hosted a K-Beauty conference in Seoul on Tuesday, jointly with the Korea Cosmetic Association (KCA), to share their export policies and strategies for Korean cosmetics and beauty products.  

About 50 officials from the domestic beauty industry – those of major cosmetics companies and logistics services – attended the conference, the first of its kind for AliExpress since last September, when the Chinese e-commerce giant launched the so-called Global Selling program for Korean beauty and fashion brands.  

At the latest conference, AliExpress, a retail platform owned by Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd., reiterated its commission-free policy for sellers’ online transactions and marketing for five years, which was first introduced last year.

It also reaffirmed its commitment to preventing counterfeit sales and the intellectual property infringement of Korean brands, while introducing additional marketing support for Korean cosmetics sellers on its platform.

The Chinese e-commerce major’s aggressive push to lure Korean beauty sellers comes amid the soaring global demand for Korean cosmetics and beauty tech.

“K-Beauty is not a passing fad. It is evolving into a worldwide phenomenon,” Ray Jang, head of AliExpress Korea, said at the conference. “We will especially work harder to protect Korean brands’ IPs.”

Alibaba Group’s other e-commerce affiliates – Tmall Global and Alibaba.com – also met with small and mid-sized Korean beauty companies in separate conferences recently to discuss exports of Korean cosmetics and beauty products.

The Chinese e-commerce powerhouse now sells Korean products across the world through its various platforms – Lazada in Southeast Asia, Tmall and Taobao in China, as well as AliExpress in the US, Japan, Spain and France.

Amid a prolonged slump in China’s domestic spending and growing US tariff threats, Chinese e-commerce players are turning to the global K-Beauty boom in search of a breakthrough.

AMAZON AND TIKTOK JOIN A RACE

Other global e-commerce majors – Amazon.com and TikTok – have also upped the ante in a race to feature more Korean cosmetics and beauty tech brands on their platforms to attract consumers from around the world.  

Last month, TikTok eased requirements for Korean sellers on TikTok Shop. Korean merchants are no longer required to set up US entities, while they are required to provide their Korean business verification documents, including Korean business addresses and virtual accounts, only.

This year, Amazon.com has teamed up with Korean venture capital firms to nurture Korean beauty startups.

Last July, it held a major conference to bolster Korean cosmetics exports.

Their aggressive K-Beauty marketing coincides with a surge in cross-border shipments of Korean beauty products to overseas markets through Korean e-commerce platforms.

RISE IN CROSS-BORDER E-COMMERCE

According to the Korea Customs Service, cross-border sales of Korean products via online marketplaces reached $2.90 billion in 2024, with cosmetics and other beauty products accounting for nearly one-third, or $973 million.  

In the first three months of this year, overseas direct-to-consumer e-commerce sales jumped 28.3% year-over-year, totaling $532.6 million. At the current pace, total outbound online cross-border sales are on track to exceed $3 billion in 2025.  

Facing mounting competition from foreign e-commerce giants, leading Korean e-commerce players, which have already been offering direct global shipping of Korean products, are also expected to step up efforts to retain their sellers.

Gmarket Inc., an e-commerce arm of South Korea’s Shinsegae Group, ships Korean orders to consumers in Mongolia, Taiwan, Singapore and China through their local operations.

Korea’s No. 1 e-commerce Coupang Inc. also operates a cross-border e-commerce business in Taiwan.

“Zero commission and strong global visibility are compelling enough to drive more sellers toward global major platforms like AliExpress or TikTok,” said an official from the retail industry.

Write to Tae-Ung Bae at btu104@hankyung.com
Sookyung Seo edited this article.