Interview with Miin Cosmetics

The aim of this interview has been established to gather some relevant and qualitative information, pertaining to the phenomenon of K-beauty. Hence, the interview structure has not been deployed for a data analysis. In fact, sales data has not been a required request to perform this investigation. On the other hand, a subsequent data analysis might be taken into account. Since the K-beauty model has become a trendsetter, this model is also continuously offering space for new compelling entrepreneurial ideas on the retail scene. To satisfy the interview purpose, Miin cosmetics has been taken on the spotlight. Miin cosmetics is a remarkable example of a European-based business, which is navigating K-beauty. The content has been structured as a summary derived from the content of an interview conducted with the Regional Manager of Miin Cosmetics, Italy.

 -Question: Miin Cosmetics at a glance- history, value proposition, the current role of Miin Cosmetics within K-beauty;

  Miin Cosmetics' project dates back to 2014 with its first opening in Barcelona. Our founder is a Chinese makeup artist keen on Korean beauty products. After she had fallen in love with Spain thanks to a romantic novel, she noticed that the beauty obsession for Korean beauty products was still undeveloped in Europe. That revelation brought her to think that even European girls would have been in love with Korean cosmetics benefits right after a few uses. The fact beauty lovers are willing to queue to get snapped up by cosmetics in Asia is commonplace. It’s definitely something singular. As so, we first entered the market with our flagship store in Barcelona by proposing an assortment of cherry-picked Korean brands evaluated by ourfounder. One year later, we then went online through e-commerce to meet the impressive generated demand. In 2015 we decided to open a second store in Madrid to then starting an expansion throughout Europe. We have currently stepped into Germany (Monaco), France (Paris), and Italy (Milan) quite recently. Initially, we had held a space at La Rinascente, but we opted to open a new retail point in the city centre. Miin Cosmetics can be deemed as the first official entry of Korean cosmetics in Italy; nonetheless, we have to cope with many competitors for price and product type. Though, we keep a warehouse located in our headquarter. That is to say, we can manage our own inventory, which is made not by any product near to expiry. In the inception, we highly leveraged this fact as a piece of information to even get our customers to understand of a higher mark-up on our product selection. It’s a source of quality coming directly from distributors. Indeed, Miin Cosmetics fills orders only with ad-hoc distributors and doesn’t source from any wholesaler.  For the brand Klaris, for instance, we are the exclusive distributor on the Italian territory. We hold some brand exclusivity in Spain as well. Direct and close relationships with brands have a strategic relevance for our business. It’s about a “physical” choice with no mediator figure. The brand model we look at to decide to collaborate has a centrality role for us.

   As for our value proposition, Miin Cosmetics is dedicated to offering solely tested and feedback-provided brands. To do so, we purposely try all our items to fully meet this proposition. Moreover, our brand selection is highly represented by natural, clean, and effective brands. We are also eager to foster that good chemical-labelled cosmetics should not be banned by customers per se. We are actually cognizant that some chemicals are pivotal for a cosmetic formula. Our task is also to promulgate this thought to our clients.

 -Question: K-beauty in Europe and the recent entry of AmorePacific in France;

   The fact that K-beauty is growing attention worldwide is already a truism. AmorePacific is a great K-beauty representative. For us, however, it can’t be deemed as a direct competitor since it has entered the French market with one of its famous luxury-positioned brand, Sulwhasoo. This positioning is quite distant compared to our brand range. What is true is that AmorePacific has an edge on the INCI product selection. In a broader sense, I personally positively regard the entrance of AmorePacific in Europe as an event to further support the communication of the K-beauty awareness and hence, to enhance the product value.

-Question: An opinion on the possible “transformation” of  K-beauty according to Miin Cosmetics;

 Miin Cosmetics is greatly committed to building a strategic networking including Korean cosmetics companies. Those companies have already forecasted what is going up on the beauty scene and what has the best likelihood to penetrate the market successfully. In this way, we usually ask for advice for what to bring on the retail showcase.

-Question: Spanning from social media, bloggers/ influencers and the possible convergence between Western and Asian (Korean) influences’ styles;

 Yes, a kind of convergence of influencing styles is in place. This is due to multiple factors. Young Korean travels take a great chuck of the credit for that. Spreading the gospel of Korean beauty products is still an early stage for our business. I was quite impressed in realizing the level of Italian knowledge on K-pop. K-pop is very hot in Asia and in Russia, and this phenomenon highly influences people. There is also an ever-growing demand for Korean food, which has been leading to plenty of new restaurants openings to accomplish this request. When we talk to routine, we want to include many aspects such as culture, food, and a way of thinking. After all, beauty is not only about wearing products/apparels; it’s a way of living. It is also something that it’s worthwhile to start embracing since the young age. In this light, we would like to stir our originality with our forthcoming “beauty style” launch, that is, a beauty tea.

 -Question: A quick opinion toward the channel of travel retail;

  Travel retail is definitely an intriguing revenue stream generator. Many Korean brand items are extensively sold through this channel, but the bar set to directly enter this space is high. As a consequence, even if we are not in the travel retail arena presently, we still consider this channel as a vehicle to create collaboration with some distribution chain. We hence keep it into considerations as a future opportunity.

 -Question: One must-have according to Miin Cosmetics;

 As far as I am concerned, the cleansing phase should never be omitted irrespective of the rituality adopted. We highly try to get customers recognized of that, and we like to share the importance of a thorough cleansing with all of them. You know, by using a micellar solution someone can only clean the surface of the skin. Instead, a good cleansing starts from deep inside. For this reason, we always recommend an oil-based makeup remover to start your ritual. We appreciate that our customers are more and more following this cleansing "gospel". Back to your question, sheet masks they are the most sold item in terms of volume. Generally speaking, people who wear cosmetic masks can be deemed "expert" in their routine. However, we have categorized two patterns on this specific usage: a segment of trained cosmetic routine users and fun-loving sheet masks’ users. We have found out that especially younger customers pick sheet masks as a way to firstly interact with our products. The fact that sheet masks are customizable skincare solutions makes some difference. We all appreciate those customers who only decide to buy just one item of our masks assortment.

 -Question: Future challenges for K-beauty and Miin Cosmetics;

  We are currently committing to extend our brand portfolio and to increase the distribution range by opening new flagship stores in Europe, and in Italy as well. Our opening plan will be based on the online-based data regarding our product demand. We are thinking to new openings building a new set of more responsive point of sales towards the final user.

 -Question: Required and desirable skills to work within the K-beauty world.

  Firstly, for those people who spontaneously show keen enthusiasm for K-beauty, I regard this as quite important. One way to do, for instance, is by being engaged in using some Korean masks. Besides, to me, individuals who possess a great sensibility and curiosity is highly valuable. I personally equal curiosity as a key factor of one’s personal growth. Flexibility is another skill I appreciate. Flexibility helps an individual to keep advancing. The more is present, the more it allows organizing and consequently, the more increases your abilities. Lastly, it is strictly important that someone must love himself, paying his/her skin back with the same passion.

 The content of the interview has been edited and condensed.