Lately a lot of startup companies popped up, gaining many interest from the public and investors. E-commerce section had grown up very big. Those companies offer a solution of problems and needs from the market. Just like Althea who knows customers wish and makes it comes true.
Althea bringing K-Beauty straight from its home country
Althea is a Malaysian company established in 2015. It sells Korean beauty product straight from South Korea to Malaysia. The company then rose as the biggest online Korean beauty market in Southeast Asia by 2016.
Its founder, Frank Kang, was thinking of a new startup when his wife gave him an inspiration. Being a Korean couple living in Malaysia, Kang family goes back and forth to Korea a lot. His wife’s Malaysian and Singaporean friends always ask for one thing. To buy Korean beauty products for them.
Pricey, pricey middlemen
Kang wondered why they didn’t just buy in Malaysia. It’s not like it wasn’t available in the stores there. But then he found out that the price could double up in the local stores. Direct orders from Korean shops are also difficult due to the language barrier and shipping problems.
There was also an issue of a product update. K-beauty companies in Korea make at least one new product every month. But with the regulation and long process, products sold at local stores are old products. Many are even discontinued products.
A straight from the source service
Kang saw this as an opportunity. With his link to Korea, he cut down the unnecessary shipment fee and middlemen. He established his own central warehouse in Korea and much cheaper logistic alternative. And then he sells a product three times less the price from other stores.
Althea then grew fast by opening its server to other Southeast Asian countries. From the closest Indonesia and Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand. However it was forced to close down once in Indonesia due to the new regulation, it re-opened in 2018. Albeit now there are limits of order.
With the fast growth, Althea soon holds one of the biggest international sales of K-Beauty products. Second only to giant China. It has also recently opened its’ server for America. In us.althea.kr, American customers can now order the newest K-Beauty products. And have them sent directly from South Korea to their homes.
