SEOUL, January 22 (AJP) - As Korean beauty products climb U.S. sales rankings, retail giant Walmart is moving to expand their shelf presence, dispatching senior buying executives to Seoul to scout new K-beauty brands.
According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) on Thursday, a twelve-member Walmart buying delegation — including six vice presidents and senior purchasing executives — visited Seoul this week to hold one-on-one business consultations with local cosmetics companies.
The visit reflects surging demand in the U.S. market. South Korea’s beauty exports rose 12.3 percent last year to a record $11.4 billion, with shipments to the United States accounting for the largest share at nearly 20 percent, or $2.19 billion. For the first time, exports to the U.S. surpassed those to China.
The shift is prompting offline retailers to step more aggressively into the U.S. beauty market, traditionally dominated by established specialty chains such as Sephora.
CJ Group’s beauty retailer Olive Young is set to open its first U.S. brick-and-mortar store in Pasadena, California, in May 2026, marking its formal entry into the world’s largest beauty market. The company has said the U.S. launch will focus primarily on skincare products, reflecting global demand trends and long-standing consumer perceptions of K-beauty.
Walmart has identified K-beauty as a potential growth driver for its beauty division, prompting the retailer to send key decision-makers to assess product competitiveness and market fit, KOTRA said.
A total of 57 Korean cosmetics companies, pre-screened and handpicked by KOTRA, participated in the consultations, presenting skincare and functional beauty products tailored to U.S. consumer demand. At Walmart’s request, the list of participating firms was not disclosed due to confidentiality concerns.
“This was an exceptional case,” a KOTRA official said. “It was the first time such a large number of senior decision-makers participated in a single program, and we hope to make this a regular initiative and further strengthen it.”
The official added that discussions with Walmart began during last year’s Korean Wave Expo in New York.
“We previously held talks with Walmart at the New York expo,” the official said. “Given the retailer’s strong interest in K-beauty and consumer products, the needs of both sides aligned particularly well this time.”
Walmart plans to first test consumer response through its online platform before considering expansion into physical stores across the U.S. according to KOTRA.
Several participating companies said the consultations offered rare access to U.S. retail decision-makers at a time of shifting global trade conditions. Walmart officials, meanwhile, said Korean beauty brands demonstrated strong product quality and competitiveness during the meetings.
KOTRA said it aims to build a longer-term cooperation framework with Walmart, supporting Korean firms’ entry into the retailer’s online marketplace and, eventually, its nationwide brick-and-mortar network.
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