Cosmed overtakes Watsons as largest drugstore in Taiwan

台灣藥妝店康是美（Cosmed）超越屈臣氏（Watsons），成為台灣藥妝店龍頭

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Cosmed has surpassed Watsons to become Taiwan’s leading drugstore chain for the first time, its parent company Uni-President said Tuesday.

Uni-President said Cosmed and Starbucks Taiwan have each hit the 600-store milestone, per CNA. A new Cosmed outlet was also unveiled in Taipei’s Nangang District as part of a joint “Yuanxiu Store” concept with 7-Eleven, scheduled to open on Sunday.

Cosmed said, since setting a store growth target in 2022, its rapid expansion allowed it to surpass Watsons. The milestone reflects years of aggressive network expansion across Taiwan, it added.

Beyond store numbers, Cosmed said it is transforming its positioning from a traditional drugstore into a lifestyle retail platform covering beauty and health goods. The new Yuanxiu concept store features South Korean beauty brand counters debuting in Taiwan and a focus on mini-sized products.

Consumers are about five times more likely to try such products than full-size items, the company explained, per UDN. This prompted it to expand its lineup to more than 100 travel-size and sample products.

Cosmed, Starbucks, 7-Eleven, and 21Plus will launch a nationwide promotion from May 22 to May 26, per Liberty Times. All stores will offer a 12% discount on purchases with no minimum spending requirement.