"Japanese Consumers Fall for K-Beauty Like Korean Women... Qoo10 Japan Achieves 33.5 Billion Yen in Sales"

eBay Japan is ramping up its efforts to penetrate the Japanese market by promoting K-beauty. eBay Japan is a Korean corporation wholly owned by eBay Japan Holdings, the Singapore subsidiary of U.S. e-commerce giant eBay. Through Qoo10 Japan, one of the four major e-commerce platforms in Japan, the company supports the export of K-beauty products to the Japanese market.

Koo Jahyun, CEO of eBay Japan, hosted the '2026 Qoo10 Japan Mega Debut Awards' at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul on the 14th, announcing the achievements from the first year of Mega Debut and outlining future strategies.

Koo Jahyun, CEO of eBay Japan, is giving a greeting speech at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul on the 14th. Photo by Han Yeju

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Last April, eBay Japan launched 'Mega Debut,' a program to discover and support emerging beauty brands seeking to enter the Japanese market. The program offers an integrated package that includes not only designing discount benefits, but also producing influencer reviews, providing exposure through social media and beauty-focused media, and hosting exclusive Mega Debut live broadcasts.

Over the past year, out of the 200 brands discovered and supported through Mega Debut, 188 were K-beauty brands, with their cumulative sales reaching 3.35 billion yen. According to the company, 48 brands surpassed quarterly sales of 10 million yen, signaling their successful entry into the market.

As a result, Qoo10 Japan has secured a market share of over 30% in Japan's online beauty sector, making it the leading platform. The number of members stands at 28 million, and monthly active users (MAU) reach 35 million. Last year's sales were 68.4 billion won, up 56.3% from the previous year, and both operating profit and net profit returned to the black.

CEO Koo stated, "Our key achievement is that we have built a growth infrastructure that goes beyond being a simple distribution platform and actually creates and establishes brands in the Japanese market," adding, "Qoo10 Japan will evolve into a partner that co-creates global brands, moving beyond simple e-commerce."

Marking the second year of Mega Debut, eBay Japan plans to further expand its support. The brand exposure period will be extended from the previous 7 days to 14 days, and the number of participating brands per week will increase from 4 to 6. The company aims to maximize exposure by strengthening its linkage with the core promotion, 'Megawari.' New programs such as 'Incubation' for rising brands and 'Mega Collabo' for nurturing star brands will also be introduced.

However, e-commerce accounts for less than 10% of the Japanese cosmetics market. Japanese consumers have a strong tendency to test products in person before purchasing, so offline channels such as drugstores, variety shops, and department stores continue to wield overwhelming influence. In addition, there is a marked preference for product safety and brand reliability over price, making it difficult to secure loyal customers through short-term discounts or marketing alone.

An industry insider commented, "Major platforms in the Japanese e-commerce market such as Rakuten, Amazon Japan, and Yahoo! Shopping (operated by LY Corporation) are also strengthening their K-beauty categories, so there is a possibility that Qoo10 Japan's 'K-beauty specialized platform' strategy could become less distinctive. If competition among platforms intensifies, it may be difficult to maintain differentiation with discount- and marketing-focused strategies alone."

In response, eBay Japan is also working to expand offline touchpoints. The company plans to operate two pop-up stores in the second half of this year and open a flagship store in central Tokyo in the first half of 2027, where customers can experience K-products year-round. Kim Jaedon, CMO and Head of Marketing at eBay Japan, explained, "Japan is a country where offline remains very strong. Through Qoo10 Japan, brands can also expand into local offline channels."

Meanwhile, at the awards ceremony, the K-skincare brand 'Shard' won the Mega Debut Grand Prize, while 'Eom,' 'AOU,' 'Whitening,' and 'Veganary by Dalba' received top honors.

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