Recently, some netizens claimed that the beauty brand O HUI has removed its counter in the central mall of Nanjing. As of now, the brand has withdrawn from all its offline physical counters in mainland China.
In response to this, CHAILEEDO contacted the brand’s customer service for verification, and the customer service representative stated, “The offline counter was removed at the end of ’23, and currently, the products can only be purchased through the official online flagship store.” When asked about the possibility of reopening offline stores in the future, O HUI customer service stated that they have just removed the counters and currently have no plans to open offline stores.
Public information shows that O HUI is a top skincare brand under the LG Household & Health Care Group. It was founded in 1997 and entered the Chinese market in 2005. It was available in high-end department stores in various major cities in China and even hired actress Song Yi as its first brand ambassador for the Chinese market.
It is worth noting that SU:M37°, another skincare brand under the LG Household & Health Care Group, also closed all its offline department store counters in the Chinese market at the end of 2023, retaining only official flagship stores on platforms such as Tmall, Douyin, and Vipshop.
Previously, in the third-quarter report, the LG Household & Health Care Group explicitly mentioned prioritizing the cultivation of the WHOO brand in the luxury goods market, optimizing the offline operations of the SU:M37° and O HUI brands in China, and preparing for brand remodeling.
Regarding the mass removal of counters by brands under the LG Household & Health Care Group, some netizens expressed on social media, “Korean cosmetics should indeed be withdrawn; their prices in the domestic market are not competitive” and “The marketing, public relations, and even after-sales and customer service of Korean cosmetics are far worse than several other brands.” According to data from the “2023 China Cosmetics Yearbook” produced by CHAILEEDO, the sales of Korean cosmetics in China have declined by 26.1%, accounting for only 6.6% of the overall market share of the Chinese cosmetics market.
From this, it is not difficult to see that Korean cosmetics, which rose with the trend of “Korean culture,” are no longer favored by Chinese consumers due to their own strategies and the rise of domestic beauty brands, causing sighs of regret. In the face of the localization of European and American brands and the rapid rise of Chinese brands, Korean cosmetics may need to improve in terms of product development, marketing strategies, and service quality, in addition to adjusting their channels.
