Musinsa Beauty is accelerating its push into the offline beauty market based on an expansion of direct purchasing and an upgrade of its logistics infrastructure.

Musinsa said on Tuesday that Musinsa Beauty will unveil its first permanent offline beauty store on the second floor of the Musinsa Mega Store Seongsu, which opens on April 24. The 483-square-metre space will house about 500 brands.

Musinsa Beauty established a dedicated beauty buying organisation in the first quarter and hired new specialists to strengthen its offline business. It is introducing a direct purchasing model in which Musinsa buys and distributes products itself, and building partnerships with about 400 brands, including emerging and indie brands. Musinsa expects the direct purchasing model to reduce inventory management burdens for small and mid-sized beauty brands and support stable cash flow to strengthen their growth foundation.

Musinsa will expand its integrated logistics operations solution, Musinsa Fulfilment Service (MFS), to the beauty category. Brands using MFS will be provided with logistics management infrastructure through Musinsa's own logistics centres, covering inbound handling, sorting, storage, packaging and dispatch.

On its online store, it will expand its "mubaedangbal" service, which offers free shipping and same-day dispatch, to beauty brands. Under the service, products are shipped on the day of order. In Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area, it will operate seven-day-a-week delivery that allows customers to receive Saturday orders on Sunday, as well as immediate exchange and immediate refund services.

A Musinsa Beauty official said, "Starting with Seongsu, Musinsa will continue to expand customer touchpoints in beauty and serve as a key channel for emerging and indie brands to enter the offline market." The official added, "We will grow together with participating brands through all-round investment across all areas, including direct purchasing, logistics and delivery."