Front Row is opening its sixth global office in Seoul, South Korea, as Korean beauty brands accelerate their international expansion and increasingly turn to digital marketplaces to reach US consumers.
Led by Jinny Kim, Senior Vice President, Korea, the office will connect Korean beauty, health, wellness, and pharmacy brands with Front Row's marketing and e-commerce services. Seoul joins the company's existing locations in New York City, San Diego, Hamburg, Bratislava, and Amsterdam.
“The primary driver is really a strategic opportunity,” Christopher Skinner, co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Front Row, told BeautyMatter. “We're seeing K-beauty, in its most recent incarnation, have an extreme groundswell of US consumer demand, and more channels through which to build a business.”
The expansion also reflects growing private equity and investor interest in Korean beauty, which places greater emphasis on converting rapid international sales growth into profitability.
Front Row was formed through the consolidation of specialist marketing and commerce agencies, including Amazon marketplace agency Fortress Brand, beauty branding agency School House, founded by Skinner, and European digital marketing company Finc3. The businesses came together under the Front Row identity in 2023, with subsequent acquisitions including Shopify specialist Build in Amsterdam and digital marketing agency Socium Media.
The company combines branding, creative services, digital advertising, and marketplace management. It employs more than 550 people and works with beauty brands including Glossier, Tatcha, Ouai, Sol de Janeiro, K18, and La Mer.
The Seoul office brings Front Row closer to prospective Korean clients rather than servicing them exclusively from the US and Europe. Skinner said local leadership would help the company navigate differences in working practices, decision-making, and business culture.
“Every region has a level of nuance to the way that they do business,” he said.
Kim, who has 25 years of experience across Coupang, Dentsu, Ogilvy, Mintel, and GroupM, will develop local client relationships and coordinate with Front Row's existing international teams.
According to Amazon’s US marketplace data, shared by Front Row, Korean facial skincare reached $818 million in the first half of 2026, up 80% from $456 million a year earlier, compared with 27% growth for Amazon's overall facial skincare category.
Korean haircare sales also increased 51% during the period, while K-beauty generated an estimated $172 million during Prime Day week, up 38% year over year. Amazon has expanded its Korean Beauty storefront to include more than 1,200 brands and 20,000 products, alongside curated merchandising and exclusive US launches.
Amazon’s growing importance in selling beauty offers Korean brands another route to American consumers beyond specialty retailers such as Sephora and Ulta Beauty. However, rising marketing costs, promotional spending, and the complexity of managing multiple sales channels can make profitability harder to achieve.
“When you're working across marketing costs, promotional spending, or you have fragmented execution, sure, some of those might drive revenue, but that doesn't necessarily correlate to a healthy business,” Skinner said.
For Korean brands, the challenge is increasingly about converting initial consumer interest into repeat purchases and sustainable growth.
“I think the big challenge is, how do you turn product excitement into lasting awareness? How do you turn awareness into repeat purchases? How do you turn repeat purchases into profitable growth?”
Front Row plans to support Korean brands through Amazon and TikTok Shop management, content localization, retail media, and direct-to-consumer e-commerce. Its services will also aim to address unauthorized resellers and control of marketplace listings and pricing, although the company has yet to demonstrate how effectively its existing model will translate to the Korean market.
For Front Row, the immediate priority is establishing a client base in South Korea, with Kim responsible for developing local relationships and adapting the company’s services to Korean businesses. Skinner said the company deliberately invested in local leadership before announcing any client partnerships.
“We really believe in investing in the right people, tech, and tools before getting in front of clients,” he said.
Over the next two to three years, Front Row intends to grow its presence in Korea by drawing on its existing teams and expertise in the US and Europe rather than building separate operations in Seoul. Skinner said success will be measured by client acquisition and retention, alongside the sales growth and profitability of the brands it supports.
“I believe it [the Korean office] allows Korean brands to connect directly with our current US partners, and vice versa,” he said. “I think that cross-pollination of insight will just make each region stronger.”
Front Row plans to mark the opening with an event in Seoul in early 2027. While the company has not disclosed further hiring or investment plans, its first Asian office represents an opportunity to establish a presence in a market that is increasingly important to its existing business.
For now, the expansion is focused on connecting Korean brands with American consumers rather than a broader push into Asia. Whether Seoul becomes a significant contributor to Front Row’s international operations will depend on the relationships Kim establishes and the company’s ability to convert Korea’s growing demand for international commerce expertise into long-term client business.