1. What’s the quick origin story of your brand, and what makes your product or positioning genuinely different from other options in your niche?

Leo Park: Seoul Beauty Club started from a simple observation. Western consumers had access to Korean beauty products, but almost no access to Korean beauty thinking. People were buying products without understanding routines, sequencing, or philosophy, which led to confusion and disappointment.

Instead of starting as a product first brand, we positioned ourselves as a guidance first commerce platform. Our differentiation is not just what we sell, but how we help customers decide. Education, context, and trust sit in front of every transaction. We focus on translating Korean skincare logic into something usable for real life, not chasing trends or viral launches.

2. Since launch, what have been the 1–2 real turning points for your brand-specific decisions, pivots, or experiments that noticeably changed your growth or profitability-and what did you learn from them?

Leo Park: The first turning point was deprioritizing influencer heavy launches and leaning into education driven content. Early traction came from flashy tactics, but retention suffered. When we shifted toward slower, more explanatory content, growth became more durable and margins improved through higher repeat purchase.

The second turning point was treating community feedback as product input rather than marketing signal. Once we started building around real questions and confusion from customers, conversion and loyalty improved simultaneously. The lesson was that clarity scales better than hype.

3. Which 2-3 channels drive most of your revenue right now (for example SEO, paid social, email, marketplaces, influencers), and what have you learned about making those channels work in your category?

Leo Park: Organic social content, email, and community driven referrals drive majority of our revenue today. The rest is attributed to paid social (Meta).

Organic content works because skincare is a trust based category. People want explanation before persuasion. Email performs well because it allows us to educate over time rather than push promotions. Community referrals convert because they come with context and shared experience.

The key learning is that in beauty, channels that allow storytelling and education outperform channels that rely purely on interruption.

4. How are you thinking about search in 2025 – Google, AI assistants like ChatGPT, and other discovery platforms? What, if anything, have you changed in your content or site to stay visible as AI search grows?

Leo Park: We think of search as intent resolution rather than traffic acquisition. As AI driven search grows, generic product pages matter less and structured understanding matters more.

We are investing in educational content that answers why, when, and how questions clearly. We focus on first party explanations, clear routines, and expert grounded language that AI systems can reference confidently. The goal is not just to rank, but to be understood and trusted by both humans and machines.

5. What do you do to turn first‑time buyers into repeat customers and advocates? Are there specific experiences, content, or community touches that work especially well for you?

Leo Park: We focus on post purchase clarity. Customers receive guidance on how to use products, what to expect, and what comes next. This reduces anxiety and increases confidence.

We also invite customers into conversations through content and community rather than pushing discounts. When people feel informed and supported, they naturally return and recommend. Advocacy comes from feeling understood, not incentivized.

6. If you had to write a short playbook for an ecommerce founder one stage behind you, what would you double down on over the next 12 months – and what would you stop doing entirely?

Leo Park: I would double down on understanding repeat behavior early. Retention teaches you more about your product than acquisition ever will. I would also invest in owned channels like email and community before scaling paid spend.

I would stop chasing every new channel or trend. Shiny tactics are distracting when fundamentals are still forming. Focus on one core narrative and execute it consistently.