How K-beauty turned dollar store Daiso into retail giant

Daiso is closing in on 5 trillion won ($3.7 billion) in annual sales as foreign tourists flock to the Korean budget retailer for inexpensive K-beauty products and souvenirs.

“My friends who recently visited Korea told me I had to go to Daiso,” said Priya Acharya, a 28-year-old tourist from India, after filling a basket — mostly with beauty products — at a store in Myeongdong, Seoul, on Wednesday.

“I like how inexpensive basically everything is,” she said. “I wish I could buy more things, like face masks, but I don’t have much space left.”

The scene reflects Daiso’s rapid emergence as a must-visit shopping destination for international travelers alongside established beauty retailer Olive Young.

At Daiso’s Myeongdong Station branch, beauty products are the top-selling category and foreign card transactions account for a significant share of purchases, according to chain operator Asung Daiso. The second-floor beauty section was crowded with overseas shoppers Wednesday.

Daiso’s sales have nearly doubled in four years, rising from 2.6 trillion won in 2021 to 2.95 trillion won in 2022, 3.46 trillion won in 2023, 3.97 trillion won in 2024 and 4.54 trillion won last year.

Spending on foreign cards is rising even faster. Transaction value from overseas-issued credit and debit cards jumped 130 percent in 2023, 50 percent in 2024 and 60 percent in 2025. It doubled year-on-year during the first eight months of this year.

Experts say the store's pricing policy, which strictly keeps products in the 500 won to 5,000 won range, is behind the rapid expansion of the dollar store.

“Daiso hit the bull’s eye amid the prolonged high inflation period as well as the low-growth phase,” said Lee Eun-hee, an emeritus professor of consumer science at Inha University. “Daiso merchandizers have excellent taste in selecting products of high enough quality that can meet the customer’s expectations while keeping them at very low prices.”

As the number of young foreign customers goes up, Lee added that it is not easy for them to allocate a huge budget for shopping.

“As the shopping polarization of overseas visitors continues, more people are turning to Daiso because the products are satisfactory despite their affordable costs.”

Daiso’s beauty product sales have helped propel its recent growth.

Although Daiso does not disclose the exact earnings from its beauty products or how much the category takes up in the total revenue, the retailer has enjoyed the beauty boom.

According to the retailer, the year-on-year growth rate of its beauty product sales reached 70 percent in 2025, 144 percent in 2024, 85 percent in 2023 and 50 percent in 2022.

Leaning into the growing demand for affordable beauty products, Daiso even opened its first beauty-dedicated store near Konkuk University in Gwangjin-gu, eastern Seoul, last month.

As the number of beauty brands sold at Daiso shot up to about 170 this year from just seven in 2022, the number of beauty products sold at Daiso surpassed 1,900 this year from about 120 in 2022.

“Musinsa recently opened a beauty-dedicated store in Hongdae and look how it has been selling exceptionally well, especially among foreign customers,” said a retail industry official.

“Olive Young has been cemented as a must-visit spot for international tourists in Korea. As Daiso sees more sales from its beauty products, it will likely expand the beauty section across the stores visited by more overseas travelers.”