CJ Olive Young Expands Support for SMEs Struggling Due to COVID-19... Hosts Untact Product Review Event

A representative from a small and medium-sized enterprise participating in the 'Joyful Companionship' untact product evaluation is explaining the product. (Photo by CJ Olive Young)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] CJ Olive Young has rolled up its sleeves to promote coexistence with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) struggling due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

CJ Olive Young is accepting applications to participate in the ‘Untact (non-face-to-face) Product Evaluation Meeting’ for selecting tenants for the ‘Joyful Companionship’ program in collaboration with the Small and Medium Business Distribution Center until the 27th of this month.

‘Joyful Companionship’ is a leading coexistence program in the industry that CJ Olive Young has been running since 2016 to achieve mutual growth with SMEs. It discovers emerging brands with excellent quality and provides opportunities to enter major Olive Young stores and the official online mall. Embracing the spirit of coexistence, it has actively supported not only sales channels but also marketing costs to promote sales.

This year, CJ Olive Young plans to further expand the opportunity to enter the ‘Joyful Companionship’ program for SMEs facing unprecedented difficulties due to COVID-19. To this end, the target number of brands to be selected and piloted for entry through the product evaluation meeting has been increased by about twice compared to the first half of the year. In addition, the recruitment guidance platforms have been diversified so that more companies can participate in the evaluation meeting and seize coexistence opportunities.

CJ Olive Young will hold the entry product evaluation meeting around mid-November after document screening and review for ‘Joyful Companionship.’ The evaluation meeting will be conducted in an ‘Untact’ manner using a video conference system once again, following the first half of the year. Olive Young merchandisers (MDs) will provide sales channel linkage consulting through one-on-one consultations with companies that pass the document screening, and the finally selected brands will be piloted in major Olive Young stores and the official online mall early next year.

In fact, brands that have entered through ‘Joyful Companionship’ are growing noticeably by developing self-sustainability comparable to other brands. The bath product brand ‘Poknam,’ which entered last year, saw sales from September 1 to October 21 increase about sixfold compared to the same period in the previous year when it first entered. Also, the lifestyle brand ‘Wiggle Wiggle,’ which entered in 2017, significantly raised brand awareness by collaborating in CJ Olive Young’s company-wide ‘Smile Project’ promotion this spring.

Applications to participate in the product evaluation meeting are available until the 27th on ‘I’m Stars,’ a support website for SMEs operated by the Small and Medium Business Distribution Center. Recruitment categories include ▲basic and color cosmetics ▲body products ▲hair products ▲perfumes ▲health functional foods, among others. Detailed information can be found on the ‘I’m Stars’ homepage and the coexistence platform ‘Sangsaeng Nuri’ operated by the Win-Win Growth Committee.

A CJ Olive Young official said, “As Olive Young has grown together with SMEs, continuing coexistence efforts to overcome difficult situations together will be more meaningful than ever. We will discover promising small brands that will lead the next generation of K-beauty with excellent product capabilities and strengthen our incubating role to support their sales channels and growth.”

Meanwhile, to date, CJ Olive Young has discovered about 70 brands and handled approximately 600 products through ‘Joyful Companionship.’ In May, marking the 4th anniversary of its launch, the cumulative sales of brands that entered through ‘Joyful Companionship’ surpassed 10 billion KRW, demonstrating the fruits of coexistence efforts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.