In a UK high street first, Boots is bringing Korean wellness innovation to customers through a dedicated K-Wellness offering, making the latest trends from Seoul more accessible than ever.
The move builds on the success of K-Beauty at Boots, with Korean beauty sales delivering triple-digit year-on-year growth, with one K-Skincare product selling every seven seconds. On boots.com, the category continues to attract more customers, with active shoppers up over 20% year-on-year.
The K-Wellness launch reflects the growing influence of Korean innovation on beauty and wellness routines. Searches for ‘wellness’ on boots.com have increased by more than 200% over the past 12 months, underlining the growing customer demand for a blended beauty and wellbeing approach.
As part of the K-Wellness launch, Boots will exclusively introduce three trending Korean wellness brands, RIN, PrePear and Seoul Tonic, online and in over 50 stores. They will be joined by BB LAB, a leading and established brand in Korea, available on boots.com and in 200 stores this November.
The K-Wellness launch will also feature three Boots-sourced ranges, Seoul Bloom, Yongsan Wellbeing and HABI. Created in collaboration with Korean experts, the brands draw on the country’s rich heritage and expertise in wellness innovation.
Spanning ingestible beauty, traditional Korean ingredients and entirely new functional formats, the new K-Wellness ranges build on Boots’ established presence across the K-wave. With more than 40 brands already available across K-Beauty, K-Fragrance, K-Hair and K- Pharmacy, customer appetite continues to grow with searches for ‘K-Beauty’ on boots.com increasing by over 70%.
Joe Thorley-Mitchell, director of Boots brand, said: “Launching into the K-Wellness space represents a bold new era of wellness, both for Boots and the wider industry. Whilst the pace of innovation continues to accelerate, we’re doing the same – tapping into what we do best by bringing the latest trends straight from Seoul, at surprisingly affordable price points.
“From chia fibre jellies to collagen cool melts and popping vitamins, we’re bringing some of Korea’s most exciting products to Boots. With dedicated Wellness Zones in over 30 stores and more than 500 Health and Wellness Specialists across the UK, we’re making it easier for customers to discover the latest trends with expert support they can trust.”
Underpinning Boots’ approach to K-Wellness is Boots Ignite, an accelerator programme designed to identify, launch and scale evolving brands, including RIN, Seoul Tonic and PrePear. By connecting emerging brands with retail reach, Ignite responds to evolving consumer interest and brings new brands to market in weeks rather than months. The programme has helped bolster Boots K-Beauty offering, introducing 21 brands, including Medicube – which has seen an increase of over 20% year-on-year in searches on boots.com.
Grace Vernon, director of international retail prtnerships, Boots Ignite & Trends, said: “Social media is accelerating cultural trends, with Korea leading the way in beauty and wellness innovation. We’re seeing customers increasingly looking to this market for new products, formats and approaches and we’re excited to bring some of these latest trends to Boots, including ingestible beauty products, collagen jelly, hyaluronic acid supplements, glutathione oral dissolving films and red ginseng shots.
“At Boots, we’re looking beyond social media popularity to identify brands that bring meaningful innovation and reflect the growing connection between beauty and holistic wellbeing. K-Beauty has demonstrated how Korean innovation can influence everyday routines in the UK, and we see K-Wellness as the next chapter in that story. Our focus is on identifying what’s coming next and making these emerging innovations more accessible to our customers.”
