Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** This article examines Cellerap’s strategic pivot toward high-income consumers aged 40 and above in the local premium skincare market. By leveraging its presence at Cosmoprof Las Vegas, the brand is strengthening distribution channels through department stores, esthetics, and dermatology clinics, underscoring a targeted approach to growth.
Cellerap, a premium K-beauty brand, participated in ‘Cosmoprof North America Las Vegas’, the largest beauty expo in North America held from July 13 to 15, ahead of its entry into U.S. Costco stores in November, attracting significant attention from U.S. and global buyers.
Fugenbio (CEO Kim Yoon-soo) announced on the 21st that Cellerap will simultaneously enter 250 Costco stores across the United States starting this November. Through this, Cellerap plans to fully accelerate its U.S. market strategy.
Typically, foreign brands entering U.S. Costco offline stores go through a process of verifying marketability via online malls or a small number of test stores before gradually expanding. However, Cellerap’s simultaneous entry into a large number of stores nationwide without such a process is considered exceptional. According to the company, this unprecedented move is due to Costco headquarters recognizing Cellerap as a premium K-beauty brand already validated in the domestic market.
Cellerap’s signature ‘Biogenic Essence’ has surpassed cumulative sales of 8 million bottles and cumulative revenue of 200 billion KRW as of the first half of this year. Dubbed the ‘National Essence’, it has established itself as a representative product in the domestic premium skincare market.
Cellerap views Costco not merely as a sales channel but as a strategic base for targeting the U.S. market. In particular, Costco’s core customer base—women in their 40s and 50s—aligns with Cellerap’s primary customer demographic, raising high expectations for success. The brand’s high customer loyalty, with a repurchase rate of 52%, also brightens the outlook for Costco sales.
Cellerap’s core competitiveness lies in the ‘CLEPS Biosynthesis’ platform, independently developed by Fugenbio. Based on the new bioactive substance CLEPS, it offers differentiated skincare solutions that activate cellular sugar consumption, inhibit the formation of Advanced Glycation End-products (AGEs), and improve various skin indicators such as elasticity, hydration, texture, tone, and lifting, while maintaining the skin’s natural healthy condition. These efficacy claims have been academically validated through publication in the SCI-level international journal ‘Cosmetics’.
Based on Costco sales performance, Cellerap is setting high-income middle-aged and older consumers aged 40+ as its core target, aiming squarely at the U.S. premium skincare market. To this end, it will pursue local PR, digital marketing, and collaborations with influencers and experts, while simultaneously targeting premium distribution channels such as department stores, premium retailers, esthetics clinics, medical spas, and dermatology clinics.
Prior to its Costco entry, Cellerap laid the groundwork for U.S. market expansion by participating in the recently held ‘Cosmoprof North America Las Vegas’, the largest beauty expo in North America.