Millennials helped turn digital commerce into a daily shopping habit. They came of age with smartphones, mobile apps, social platforms and one-click checkout. Now they’re pushing shopping into its next phase, where search, AI tools and merchant apps compete for attention before a purchase ever reaches checkout.

At the same time, the data also shows a grounded reality. Millennials may be digital shoppers, but they’re not done with physical stores. They still buy groceries mostly in person and make frequent trips to the store. They blend old habits with new tools, moving between aisles, apps, search engines, AI assistants and online marketplaces.

The customer has evolved. It’s time marketing does too. Today’s consumer isn’t the same as they were three years ago. They don’t just engage with marketing. They dissect it, exploit its patterns, and discard whatever doesn’t serve them. This is the apex consumer. On the other hand, marketing appears more advanced than ever, but it’s operating on a model built for a slower, more predictable game—one consumers have already moved past. 

The shopping journey used to start with a search bar. Now it starts with a conversation. Consumers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence tools to research products, compare options, and make decisions before they ever land on a brand’s website, walk into a store, or open an app. For retailers, the immediate challenge is visibility: AI is reshaping how brands get discovered, evaluated and surfaced in the first place.

For decades, the beauty industry has been driven by innovation. New ingredients, new formats, new claims, new technologies, and an endless stream of product launches have fueled growth and consumer excitement.

But as we look toward 2030, a different reality is emerging. Consumers are no longer simply searching for the newest product. They are searching for confidence in their decisions.

Today’s beauty shopper is more informed than ever before, yet many feel increasingly overwhelmed. According to McKinsey’s 2025 State of Fashion & Beauty report, 72% of consumers say they are overwhelmed by the volume of new product launches across beauty categories, with younger consumers reporting the highest levels of decision fatigue. NielsenIQ similarly reports that more than 64% of global consumers feel overwhelmed by the number of choices available in beauty and personal care.

Shoppers look through clothes at a thrift store in California. The rise of thrifting, sparked partly by economic uncertainty, could help textile recycling and waste diversion efforts, researchers and thrift store leaders said during a recent webinar. Thrift stores are a first line of defense against textile waste, and changing attitudes about thrifting and resale could help shape recycling systems and divert more material from landfills in the coming years. 

The consumer is changing fast. Four trends—the tech-driven path to purchase, the health revolution, the experience economy, and the resourceful consumer—will redefine the sector. Will brands keep up? In today’s complex and fast-changing consumer landscape, two forces —the rapid advancement of technology and sustained cost consciousness— stand out for their breadth and persistence in shaping the sector.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is beginning to gain traction in consumer markets, with shopping emerging as its primary application. Twenty-six percent of consumers use generative AI tools for shopping, ahead of other uses such as managing health and wellness (22%), planning trips and family events (21%), or obtaining financial advice (18%).

According to the “State of the Consumer 2026” report by McKinsey & Company, there is a significant generational gap in AI usage. Generation Z is the group that has most fully integrated AI into the shopping process: 28% of those born between 1994 and 2010 say they use tools such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overview, or Gemini for shopping, compared to 16% of  baby boomers (1949–1968). Millennials, born between 1981 and 1993, stand at 27%, and Generation X (1969–1980) at 23%.

Global Beauty Views 2026 brings together expert insights from 20 key beauty markets, offering a data-led view of how consumer preferences, routines, and buying behaviour are evolving across the world. The report captures how global pressures—such as inflation, digital acceleration, and shifting cultural values—are reshaping beauty, while highlighting the local nuance that defines success in each market.