Lotte Mart employees are inspecting ultra-low-cost cosmetics priced at 4,950 won in the “Value Beauty Zone” at Lotte Mart Zetaflex Jamsil branch in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo provided by Lotte Mart.
[Seoul Economy]
Following E-Mart, Lotte Mart is expanding its “4,950 won cosmetics” offerings. While Daiso has been leading the ultra-low-cost cosmetics market by collaborating with cosmetic companies, major supermarkets are also expanding their product lineups to capture customers’ attention.
Lotte Mart announced on the 11th that they will launch new skincare products related to the 4,950 won cosmetics during the “Beauty Flex” health and beauty (H&B) exhibition held from the 13th to the 26th. The products, available on the first day of the event, are nine functional skincare items jointly introduced with specialized manufacturers ‘Dermafirm’ and ‘Jayjun’, and are exclusively developed by Lotte Mart.
The “Dermafirm Melavita Skincare 4-piece set” is a whitening line that helps reduce spots, and buying the toner, serum, cream, and eye cream together costs only in the 10,000 won range. The “Jayjun Retinol Skincare 5-piece set” focuses on elasticity management and utilizes retinol, known for its excellent wrinkle-improving properties, offering basic cosmetics as well as cleansing foam and neck cream for neck wrinkles.
Earlier, in June, Lotte Mart introduced a “Value Beauty Zone” specializing in ultra-low-cost products at their Guri branch of Grand Grocery and started selling 4,950 won cosmetics. The Value Beauty Zone is a dedicated corner designed to allow customers to compare and purchase various beauty products without worrying about prices, with all items priced uniformly at 4,950 won, featuring 28 products from 7 brands. Sales of 4,950 won cosmetics at Lotte Mart in September-October increased more than three times compared to the initial operation period (July-August). The number of operating stores has expanded to 80 nationwide within four months of launching. Popular items include ‘Ziaja’, which ranks first in market share in Poland, and Lotte Mart’s exclusive product ‘Mini Face by Cledbel’. The majority of purchases are made by female customers in their 30s and 40s.
Lotte Mart plans to expand the 4,950 won cosmetics lineup, focusing on skincare. Considering the demand from the main customer base of large supermarkets, the focus will be on basic products such as foundation, cleansing, and masks rather than color cosmetics, as well as strengthening functional lines like spot/whitening, and elasticity/wrinkle improvement. In December, they plan to introduce three new functional cosmetic products for elasticity, radiance, and moisturizing care.
As Lotte Mart expands its ultra-low-cost cosmetics lineup, competition with E-Mart and others is expected to be inevitable. E-Mart started selling ultra-low-cost cosmetics in collaboration with LG Household & Health Care in April this year, along with brands like Punchlab, Dr. Vita, Dr. Pepti, and Rire.
In addition to the 4,950 won cosmetics, Lotte Mart plans to introduce ultra-low-cost moisturizing products to prevent skin dryness during the autumn and winter seasons at the Beauty Flex exhibition. Beauty Flex is Lotte Mart’s largest beauty sale of the year, offering about 1,000 products at discounts of up to 70% over two weeks.
Popular skincare products will be sold at the lowest prices ever during the event. For example, the ‘VT R5 Firming Ampoule PDRN Set (30㎖+2㎖*5)’ will be sold for 18,900 won, and the ‘Isoi Blemish Serum Set (25㎖+5㎖)’, known for ‘Spot Rose Serum’, will be available exclusively at Lotte Mart for 26,180 won. The ‘SNP Gold Collagen 3-item Set (150㎖+150㎖+50㎖)’ will be discounted to 26,900 won, and the ‘Cledbel Collagen Lifting Eye Cream (30㎖*4)’ will be offered at 22,900 won.
Sought-after body moisturizing products during the winter season will also be offered at special prices. Buying two or more ‘Nivea Body Lotion Intensive/SOS (each 400㎖)’ results in a 60% discount, and ‘Kamill Body Lotion Classic/Vital Q10 (each 500㎖)’ sells for 8,900 won. ‘Vaseline Body Lotion 5 types’ provides a 1+1 benefit at 13,900 won. Until the 16th, a 1+1 promotion will be offered for 120 types of ‘Mask Packs’ from 23 popular brands such as ‘Mediheal’, ‘VT’, and ‘Medi Answer’, and ‘149 basic skincare products’ will be sold at 30% lower prices. During the same period, all body care items of ‘Illiyoon’ will be available at a 10% discount.
Yang Woo-seok, the personal care team leader at Lotte Mart & Super, said, “To ease the burden of beauty consumption for customers in the era of high prices, we have prepared ultra-value beauty promotions and ultra-low-cost products,” and added, “We will provide tangible benefits through products that combine reasonable prices with quality.”