South Korean cosmetics exports to Japan increased significantly

Due to the trade dispute with Japan, South Korea's overall export to Japan shows a decreasing trend, while cosmetics export has increased 29.2% against the trend, which proves the strength of k-beauty. In particular, women's idol groups such as twice and black pink have become beauty icon in Japan, and k-beauty is expected to maintain its growth momentum for the time being. According to the analysis of nbspkotra Nagoya Trade Center, with the overall export decreasing, Korean women's groups such as twice and black pink are popular as beauty icon in Japan, so they will maintain the growth momentum in the short term, and enterprises should strive to maintain their popularity in the Japanese market in the future. Under the influence of export restrictions, South Korea's exports to Japan last year amounted to US $26.1 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 7.0%. In addition to steel and iron products, the export of South Korea's main export commodities to Japan, such as petroleum products, electronic products, machinery and plastic products, is generally in a downturn. However, cosmetics exports increased 29.2% year-on-year to about $370 million and are still growing. In the second half of 2019, when the relationship between Korea and Japan deteriorated, cosmetics and clothing in Korea also became a hot topic among Japanese junior and senior high school students, and K-pop women's groups such as twice and black pink gained high popularity as beauty icon. Thanks to this, South Korean cosmetics brand yueshifengyin opened two stores in Nagoya, Japan for the first time in August and September 2019.

Yueshifengyin's brand concept is to promote the naturalism of Jeju Island, conform to the current sustainable consumption trend, and expand the Japanese market. The underground shopping mall near Nagoya station has also opened a multi brand store selling cosmetics and food in South Korea. According to an interview with K.K., a shop assistant at the Nagoya trade center of Korea trade and investment promotion commune (KOTRA), the recent situation has little impact on ordinary consumers. Because the shop only sells popular products such as yidiwu, 3ce, and filifila, it will attract many students or young people to buy on weekends. Another reason why South Korea should pay attention to Japan is the expansion of its domestic demand market. According to the survey results of Fuji Economic Research Institute, Japan's cosmetics market scale in 2016 was 2.5 trillion yen, and by 2020, Japan's cosmetics market will continue to maintain its growth momentum, reaching 3.0123 trillion yen. In particular, the reason for the expected growth in 2020 is that Tokyo will host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and overseas tourists are expected to visit Japan in large numbers. In addition, men and adult women who have not paid much attention to make-up have entered the market and become new consumers. In particular, compared with other age groups. Adult female consumers pay more attention to anti-aging, skin nutrition, wrinkle improvement and other functional cosmetics, so related products are expected to sell well in the future.

With the vigorous development of cosmetics industry in Japan, Shiseido, Daiichi Sankyo, gosi and other large enterprises are also committed to opening up overseas businesses. In particular, in China's imported cosmetics market, from 2016 to 2018, South Korea ranked first, but in 2019, after fierce competition, Japan surpassed South Korea by a small margin to become the first. The competitiveness of Japanese cosmetics enterprises is gradually rising, so Korean enterprises need to actively respond. Take Shiseido, the No.1 cosmetics company in Japan, for example. In 2019, it invested 35 billion yen to build a new production plant in Japan every 36 years, starting from December 24. It is understood that Shiseido's new factory is located in the city of otahara, in the northern part of Tokyo. There are breweries in the city. The city of otahara, famous for its clear water, is the decisive reason for its location because of its natural environment. The production capacity of elixir skin care products is expected to increase from 30 million in 2020 to 120 million in 2022. The key word that Japanese cosmetic industry is most concerned about is "skin diagnosis" with the latest technology. In 2019, pola, Kanebo, Shiseido, Estee Lauder and other companies use sensors and cameras to detect the skin status of customers, competing to launch cosmetics Services suitable for individuals. In the past, it took about a week to test the skin condition, and only the surface information can be obtained. But now, using the latest technologies such as big data and AI, the skin related information can be obtained 100% accurately in the shortest time.

In response, Nikkei business explained that with the diversification of consumers' demand for beauty products, the traditional mass production system is no longer effective and needs to be transformed into a personal business model. It's worth mentioning that pola has introduced instruments that can predict the skin state in 5-10 years since July 2019. Using this instrument to shoot 14 seconds video, 2000 skin features can be extracted in 3 minutes, and 1.7 million pieces of data can be calculated. After the test, based on the current skin aging degree and future appearance, the shop assistant recommended the optimal skin care products to every consumer. According to the nbspkotra Nagoya Trade Center, one of the decisive reasons for the success of skin diagnostic services is the increasing importance of skin care in the Japanese cosmetics market, which is good news for Korean cosmetics related enterprises. In Japan, there is a recognition that "a lot of Korean women have fair skin and good skin". Through the Internet, they share the skin care content like Korean artists, which is also very beneficial for Korean enterprises. One of the common secrets of   is to use a variety of products, including face washing, skin care lotion, moisturizing cream, essence cream, sleeping cream and so on. According to the survey results of Fuji Economic Research Institute, skin care products account for about half of the whole cosmetics market, accounting for 46.9%. It is expected to grow to the scale of jpy14125 trillion by 2020.

In particular, anti wrinkle products for special parts such as eye and neck care have been promoted on a large scale since 2017, and the market scale has increased by 40.6% in 2018 compared with the previous year. Not only the skin surface, but also the "Oral Beauty" which indicates the health and beauty of the body's interior has become the key word. The "edible cosmetics" which are made of collagen, protein, fish oil, vitamins and other raw materials have also been listed in succession.   in addition, the makeup that matches the trend is also popular with the use of air cushions and foundation to create moisture and glossy skin. Nagoya Korea trade museum said that under the prevalence of K-beauty, Japan has been very popular in Japan, blush, BB cream and so on have been saturated, the rising Japanese enterprises have also launched similar products, with Korea is the ancestor's idea is very difficult to open the Japanese market, especially in the cosmetics market, the popularity cycle is very fast, so we should grasp the latest market trend. "SNS and the Internet are now mainly used to target female consumers in their teens and 20s, but in order to expand the consumer base, other marketing channels must be used."