Hwahae launches global website to expand K-beauty reach

Birdview, the company behind South Korean beauty platform Hwahae, is launching an English version of its website to make K-beauty products and insights more accessible to international customers.

The move comes as the demand for Korean beauty products grows, notably in markets like North America, where exports have reportedly hit new highs in the first half of 2024.

Features and functions

The Hwahae global website brings many popular features from its Korean counterpart to international users, including a category-based ranking system. It is driven by consumer reviews and intended to help users discover which products are popular.

The website also features the Hwahae Awards, which recognize top beauty products based on consumers’ votes. It also offers AI-based personalized recommendations, which are tailored product suggestions based on the skin type and ingredient preferences of the consumer browsing.

The website offers approximately 8.8 million verified user reviews translated into English through advanced language models. There are plans to expand this service to Japanese next year.

Boosting K-beauty visibility

The global website launch is part of Hwahae’s broader strategy to support Korean beauty brands in reaching international customers. Hwahae hopes to help these companies build brand recognition abroad by increasing visibility for brands already popular in Korea.

The company hopes that the platform’s focus on authentic user reviews and personalized recommendations will position the website as a critical resource for global consumers interested in K-beauty.

The Hwahae global website brings many popular features from its Korean counterpart to international users.Hwahae also announced its plans to expand its services by becoming a “K-Beauty Acceleration Platform” the following year. This plan includes opening new sales channels and launching a marketing program to support partnerships between global influencers and Korean beauty brands.

Growing global demand

International interest in K-beauty is on the rise, driven by social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. The company says that many content creators have been referencing Hwahae for product information, leading to a significant increase in global traffic to its Korean site.

According to Market Defense, social media also drives awareness and traffic for K-beauty brands on Amazon. Searches with the hashtag #kbeautymakeup were up 85% year-over-year on TikTok. This led to the partnership between Kolmar Korea and Amazon earlier this year.

Major Korean beauty businesses are showing an increased interest in global markets to diversify beyond China, while international markets crave more cosmetics from South Korea.

As K-beauty surges in popularity, North American mothers are driving the latest wave of growth. Landing International previously analyzed the impact of K-beauty on US consumers and identified growth opportunities for retailers.