In an interview with Mint, Paul Lee, managing director & country head of Amorepacific India, said the company has made investments here since 2012, and has plans to introduce more products and even consider local manufacturing.
“Amorepacific has designated India as a strategic core market… We take pride in having established a wholly owned subsidiary in India—not recently, but over a decade ago, which reflects our deep belief in the market potential,” Lee said. “Going forward we will continue to lead the expansion of K beauty in India through our proprietary technology, differentiated product offerings and localized marketing strategies.”
According to Lee, the company plans to introduce more of its 30 global brands to India—currently it sells five—and also develop products suited to Indian skin tones.
Amorepacific largely retails its products online, following a shift where the company closed its standalone stores for brands such as Innisfree, and instead focused on e-commerce channels and its own brand websites. At its peak, it operated 23 stores in India. However, it continues to sell through multi-brand beauty stores.
K-beauty brands have seen an explosion in popularity in India due to demand for products that offer benefits like “glass skin” and spot correction treatments.
India’s beauty and personal care market is projected to reach $45 billion by 2030, growing at an annual rate of about 12%, according to a recent study by beauty retailer Kindlife and Datum Intelligence. K-beauty stands out as a breakout segment, estimated to grow from $0.4 billion in 2024 to $1.5 billion by 2030, at a 25.9% annualized rate.
Lee said the demand for Korean beauty products in India is far from saturated, with brands finding newer shoppers in tier-II and tier-III cities.
Online retailer Myntra said 50% of its demand comes from tier-II and tier-III cities, especially for Korean beauty products. “We see about 54% growth in customers in non-metros for international beauty brands; it’s north of 250-300% for Korean beauty,” said Sharon Pais, chief business officer of Myntra.
Online platforms such as Nykaa continue to launch more Korean brands such as the viral TIRTIR make-up brand, Numbuzin and AXIS-Y.
Lee pointed out that with growth rates of 40-60% over the past five years, India is one of the fastest growing markets for the group. “In the recent two years, we have been able to double our business, driven strongly by the performance on e-commerce and also from multi-brand retail stores. We see India as a long-term opportunity with no signs of saturation,” Lee said.
In 2024, the South Korean beauty giant reported $3.48 billion in revenue globally. The company, founded by Kyungbae Suh in 1945, has a portfolio spanning cosmetics, perfumes, beauty devices, hair care and body care. Top brands include Sulwhasoo, Iope, Aestura and Ayunche, among others.
Companies like Amorepacific have also been able to increase demand for their brands by launching more affordable trial packs. For instance, it sells an 8-gm pack of its top-selling Laneige lip sleeping mask for ₹600, while the 20-gm version is available for ₹1,420.
This has also helped boost demand from smaller towns in India.
“Previously, demand was more focused on metro cities or the top 5-10 cities. However, with improved digital access, demand has extended to tier-II and tier-III cities,” Lee said, adding that most new products will, by default, have smaller-sized packs to make K-beauty products more accessible to consumers in these areas.
The company competes with LG Household & Health Care that sells personal care brands like The Face Shop.
Lee said it could bring more global brands to India. “We have more than 30 brands in the group and currently we’re operating five in India. We also have plans to launch more India-specific products—all these are actively prepared and are under the process of our internal plan. Yes, there will be more products in India,” said Lee.
Lee said the group is reviewing local manufacturing. “It’s at very initial stages, but yes, the demand on the ‘made in Korea’ product is definitely there— this is something which we as a group need to consider very carefully,” he said.
Devangshu Dutta, founder and chief executive of Third Eyesight, said there is a wave of demand for Korean food, content and beauty products.
“It’s a cultural expansion of all things Korean, which has been happening not limited to India but global,” Dutta said. “Given our population and income profile, there is room for brands to cater to different segments and for the market to further expand.”
Dutta added that this expansion will also eat into market shares of incumbent players, he said.
The demand for anything Korean has also prompted home-grown companies to roll out products that mimic the benefits of Korean products. Mint had earlier reported that Indian personal care companies such as Sugar Cosmetics and Pilgrim, too, are launching more K beauty products in line with demand for such trends.