The Dermalogica range is currently in 80 countries across the globe. The up-scale skin care provider mainly used to distribute its products to spas and beauty salons but has been gradually extended to various retail outlets in recent years.
As the ink dries on this latest deal for Woongjin, the company hopes to start introducing the cosmetics range in Korea within the coming months through a flagship store planned for Nonhyeon, an affluent district in southern Seoul.
“Domestic aesthetic shops are targets in the initial phase, to be followed by duty free shops and cosmetics stores,” say Woongjin rep Yoon Cheol-joong. But notes however that as the sector is new for the company, it needs to paint a clear picture of how it will sell this range of cleansers, exfoliates, toners and masques.
Cheol-joong reveals the brand will start with domestic aesthetic shops to target customers in the initial phase of the business before moving on to duty-free outlets and cosmetics stores.
"We are also considering adopting a doorstep selling policy," she adds.
History of Woongjin's business in the cosmetics industry
To date, Woongjin has mainly been a big name brand in sectors such as renewable energy and publishing but made its first move into cosmetics in the late 80's with the brand 'Koreana' which seen success in a doorstep selling strategy by the time the 90's came around.
By 2010, the company had developed and launched its' own cosmetics brand 'Re:NK' based around celebrity marketing, a successful strategy Woongjin claims has seen it rake in nearly 20 billion in the first three months alone.