"What? Why Is It Different from Korea?"... Olive Young Faces Backlash in U.S. Debut Week

Confusion Over Migration from Global Mall to U.S. Mall
Fewer Products and Higher Prices
Olive Young Promises "Best Shopping Experience"

CJ Olive Young has officially embarked on its expansion into the U.S. market by opening its first offline store in Pasadena, California. However, the company is facing backlash from its core customer base—local K-beauty online mall consumers. During the launch of its U.S.-exclusive online mall, Olive Young forcibly migrated the accounts of existing global mall users and changed the benefits structure, leading to complaints from loyal customers.

According to industry sources on June 9, Olive Young recently posted a lengthy statement on its official Instagram account to address consumer complaints that arose following the launch of the U.S.-exclusive online mall, 'Olive Young US.' This came about ten days after the U.S. online mall was launched.

In the statement, Olive Young said, "We are closely reviewing customer feedback regarding products, membership programs, promotions, and the overall shopping experience," and added, "We will continue to make improvements to provide a better shopping experience for our U.S. customers."

Previously, with the opening of the U.S. online mall and the migration of existing global mall accounts for U.S.-based customers to the new site, there was a series of complaints from local consumers that some previous benefits had been reduced.

The primary complaint centers on changes to the membership system. On the existing global mall, customers could maintain the highest membership tier by spending 300 dollars or more within the past six months, but on the U.S. mall, the threshold has been doubled to 600 dollars. Points accumulated on the global mall were also adjusted during the migration to the U.S. mall, affecting both membership tiers and points. An Olive Young representative explained, "The global mall was used by customers worldwide, including in Vietnam and India, so the minimum criteria were lower. In the U.S., we adjusted the standards to reflect local conditions." They added, "In the U.S., benefits available offline are also reflected online, so it cannot be said that benefits have simply been reduced." Regarding point benefits, the representative said, "Since customer consent is required, points are being transferred with a time lag only for those who have agreed. The points that customers have accumulated have not disappeared."

The product selection has also been significantly reduced. In particular, due to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, the sale of sun care products is restricted, resulting in a much smaller product lineup on the U.S. mall compared to the global mall. For example, searching for sun care products on the Olive Young global mall yields 797 items, while the U.S. mall offers only 92 products—about one-eighth the amount. U.S. consumers have responded on social media, saying, "We can no longer buy the products we used to purchase from the global mall," and indicating their intention to move to other K-beauty platforms like StyleKorean and YesStyle. Olive Young explained, "The reduction in sun care products is a result of complying with U.S. FDA regulations."

Pricing competitiveness has also become a source of controversy. For some products, prices are significantly higher on the U.S. mall compared to the global mall, prompting complaints from U.S. consumers about having to pay more for the same items. For instance, the discounted price of the Anua PDRN Hyaluronic Acid Capsule 100 Serum (30ml) on the Olive Young U.S. mall is 27.50 dollars, whereas on the global mall, a set including the same size serum and a cream (30ml) is being sold for 26.53 dollars.

The dissatisfaction is immediately reflected in the numbers. The Olive Young U.S. app, released on the U.S. App Store, has seen its rating drop to 2.8 out of 5. Online communities such as Instagram and Reddit are filled with requests to "bring back the global mall," and even online petitions for its restoration have appeared.

In fact, comments on Olive Young's posted statement include messages like, "We don’t want U.S.-customized products; we want access to the global mall," and "Please reopen the global mall," with hundreds to thousands of likes supporting these complaints.

While Olive Young promised to expand its product lineup, introduce new brands, enhance membership benefits, and increase promotions in its statement, it did not address specific measures regarding the consumer demands for reopening the global mall or maintaining the previous membership tier system.

An Olive Young representative said, "Just as all overseas brands operating in Korea have their own Korea-exclusive online malls, Olive Young is establishing a local corporation and conducting business in the U.S. under the same concept," adding, "We plan to sequentially release benefits and promotions tailored exclusively to U.S. consumers, so the shopping experience and customer satisfaction will improve going forward."

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