Olive Young and Musinsa Hit 5 Trillion Won in Sales, Accelerate Expansion into New Businesses

CJ Olive Young and Musinsa, leading platforms in beauty and fashion, each reached about 5 trillion won in gross merchandise volume (GMV) last year, setting up an "invisible" rivalry. Both companies are now moving aggressively beyond their core beauty and fashion categories into new business areas, where they are beginning to compete head-on.
According to industry sources on the 22nd, GMV generated on Olive Young and Musinsa last year is estimated to have exceeded 5 trillion won each. Olive Young purchases products directly and sells them to consumers, so it treats GMV as revenue. Musinsa, by contrast, takes commissions on sales made through its platform, so its net revenue is lower than its GMV.
The two companies have rapidly grown into leading vertical platforms in beauty and fashion, respectively. A common thread now is that both are accelerating efforts to broaden their business portfolios.
Olive Young recently launched "Olive Better," a wellness platform focused on healthy living. The company aims to cultivate the wellness market centered on health, separate from the beauty market where it has traditionally concentrated its efforts.
In fact, Olive Young’s non-beauty sales have been growing rapidly. Non-beauty revenue, which was in the 30 billion won range in 2022, jumped to about 80 billion won in 2023 and then to roughly 530 billion won in 2024. As of the cumulative third and fourth quarters last year, non-beauty sales surpassed 500 billion won, underscoring strong growth outside beauty. With the wellness business now in full swing, non-beauty sales are expected to climb even more steeply this year.
By expanding both online and offline channels, Olive Young increased its annual revenue by 40% in 2023 and by 24% in 2024. Its store network grew from 417 locations in 2014 to 1,371 in 2024, more than tripling over a decade. Over the same period, the share of online sales, which first exceeded 20% in 2021, has risen to nearly 30% as of 2024.
Fashion platform Musinsa is diversifying its business with a focus on beauty, traditionally Olive Young’s home turf. After launching its dedicated "MUSINSA BEAUTY" section in 2021, Musinsa introduced its private-label (PB) brand Oddtype in 2023. In August 2024, it appointed Karina of the K-pop group Aespa as a brand ambassador and kicked off a large-scale beauty marketing campaign. More recently, it has been accelerating the push by opening the first Musinsa Standard standalone beauty store at Hyundai Department Store Mokdong Branch in Yangcheon District, Seoul.
Musinsa aims to extend its existing business model—supporting the growth and overseas expansion of fashion brands—into the beauty sector as well. To build expertise, it is nurturing indie K-beauty brands based on the know-how it has gained from creating and exporting its own PB brands. Starting with Oddtype, the company has expanded its PB lineup to include Witzy and Musinsa Standard Beauty. As a result, beauty GMV grew more than 50% year-on-year in 2024, and the number of beauty brands available on the platform has reached around 2,000.
Household-goods retailer Daiso is also moving into beauty. By introducing ultra-low-priced cosmetics, the company saw beauty sales in 2024 surge 144% compared with the previous year.
An industry insider stated, "For Olive Young and Musinsa, which have grown as specialist platforms in the domestic market, expanding their business scope alongside overseas expansion is a natural direction as they search for new growth engines." The person added, "The key will be whether they can persuade consumers in these new business areas."
unsaid@fnnews.com Kang Myung-yeon Reporter