Interview with Park Young-sun and Shin Myung-sup, GS Shop beauty development team MDs
Runs 500-member supporter group, reflects feedback from planning stage
210,000 units sold in H1 this year, sales climb after renewal
"Looking outdated was what scared me the most."
Shin Myung-sup, an MD on GS Shop's beauty development team, said this about VU, the company's in-house beauty brand that just underwent a full renewal after four years. The strategy behind the overhaul goes beyond simply cutting prices for a private brand. It incorporates consumer feedback into product development and aims to remake VU into a brand offering strong product quality at reasonable prices.
Park Young-sun and Shin, both MDs on GS Shop's beauty development team, spoke Tuesday at GS Gangseo Tower in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, where they said they aim to grow VU into a brand worth 10 billion won ($7.46 million) by 2029.
VU is an in-house beauty brand GS Shop launched in 2021. The brand originated from a team initially set up to develop private brands across categories including beauty, food and health supplements, but it later narrowed its focus to beauty. Four members of the beauty development team now lead the brand.
VU relaunched with a full renewal in May. While maintaining its existing price competitiveness, the brand actively incorporated consumer feedback into product development. The goal was to move beyond mere value pricing and strengthen the competitiveness of the products themselves. The change was not just cosmetic. Where the previous version of VU focused on the straightforward message that its cosmetics deliver visible results, the renewed brand shifted toward communicating directly with consumers by leveraging GS Shop's strength in customer touchpoints.
"After four years, the existing design and products inevitably started to feel dated," Shin said. "It was difficult to switch to a completely new brand when we already had an accumulated customer base, reviews and brand image." Shin went on to say, "Since GS Shop is a retail channel that approaches customers in a friendly way, we decided to genuinely listen to what customers had to say."
In practice, VU gathers consumer opinions starting from the product-planning stage. It currently runs a roughly 500-member "VU Supporters" group to survey product experiences and areas for improvement. The group includes not only existing VU customers but also GS Shop shoppers who buy basic skincare products but have not purchased VU, to keep the feedback from skewing in one direction.
"Response rates are usually low when surveys are sent to an unspecified general audience, but about 80 percent of our supporters respond to our surveys," Park said. "Customers know their opinions are actually reflected in new products, so they speak up actively."
The results of this approach include the Yuja Serum and the Tone-Up Sun Cream, flagship products among the new items launched since May. The tone-up sun cream, in particular, was tested by sending samples directly to customers, who evaluated its coverage and longevity.
The target audience is clear as well. Product development reflects the skin concerns of customers in their 50s and 60s, GS Shop's core demographic. While beauty products aimed at younger consumers tend to focus on a light, refreshing feel, VU targets customers with higher demand for dryness relief, moisture and anti-aging benefits.
Price is another key competitive factor, though the goal is not simply offering the lowest price possible. VU took advantage of the cost savings from being a private brand, cutting marketing expenses and channeling the savings into ingredients instead. Mobile-exclusive products range from 9,900 won to 15,900 won, while broadcast products are priced from 69,000 won to 79,000 won, with an emphasis on ingredients and clinical testing. This "two-track" approach tailors both product character and pricing by channel. The Dissolving Thread Lifting Ampoule, launched in August, took more than a year to develop. That is considerably longer than the three to four months typically needed to plan a standard cosmetic product.
The two MDs' contrasting career backgrounds have also become an asset. Shin spent about eight years in cosmetics sales at Kolmar Korea before joining GS Shop as an MD. That experience on the manufacturing side gave him an understanding of technical areas such as raw materials, formulations and new materials, allowing him to offer concrete direction for product development. Park, meanwhile, has worked across both broadcast and mobile channels since joining GS Shop. "In the process of not just making products but also thinking about how to sell them to customers, I try to make the most of my previous experience," Park said.
Consumer response has been positive. VU sold a cumulative 210,000 units in the first half of this year. Following the May renewal, seven VU basic skincare products sold exclusively through the GS Shop app surpassed a cumulative 120,000 units within three months of launch.
VU currently offers nine products. The lineup will grow by two mobile-exclusive items and one broadcast item by the end of this year, with plans to expand to 14 or 15 products by next year. The ultimate goal is to become "a brand that gives back" — one that returns real benefits and satisfaction to consumers through reasonable pricing, the two MDs said.
siuu@heraldcorp.com
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