Global consumer trends

Ask AI, Wellness pragmatism and Greenwashed out. These trends provide insight into changing consumer values, exploring how consumer behaviour is shifting and causing disruption for beauty businesses globally.

Generative AI is becoming a partner in thinking, creativity and socialisation for consumers, enabling them to easily create content, such as text, videos and even music with little technical know-how needed, influencing their decisions and how they interact and engage among themselves and with brands. Consumers use AI to do skin analysis, try virtual makeup and adapt beauty routines to their skin condition accordingly.

Robots scan the shelves in DM at night and analyse the assortment

The DM chain has launched a pilot project, in 50 drugstores in which robots scan shelves at night and analyse the assortment. Soon, the project created in cooperation with Ubica Robotics, will be expanded to 100 stores. DM announced this on their social media profile. Robots create a digital image of the physical reality of dm stores - a digital twin. Thanks to this, dmTech receives information in IT systems such as the actual position of the item on the shelf, gaps in the assortment, store-specific layouts and the best prices. The generated data is used in a wide range of areas, including: to optimise customer shopping paths and to create the most optimal planograms.

Consumers nowadays are adopting a pragmatic approach to their mental and physical health, focusing on smarter ways to optimise their health and enhance how they look. Investing in self-care and wanting to be fit and healthy and look their best is not new for consumers, but how they are doing it is changing. Wellness pragmatists are shifting away from time-consuming multi-step regimes, invasive procedures and solutions that require major commitment, instead seeking more practical options that deliver instant enhancements and proven results that can seamlessly be integrated into consumers’ daily routines. Beauty is also in the spotlight, as consumers seek practical ways to maximise their beauty health promptly. They are drawn to efficient and effective products and embrace the latest scientific and technological advancements to achieve their desired outcomes, spanning functional beauty and personalised skin care and an increased usage of products infused with vitamins and supplements. They do not expect radical changes overnight and are, in fact, setting realistic and attainable goals, but do want to see visible improvements, however they choose to do it.

Thai researchers have developed a new cosmetic formula: liquid soap in effervescent tablets

A team of Thai researchers have developed Asiatic-Acid-Loaded Solid Lipid Microparticles (AASLM), which turn into liquid soap when dissolved in bath water. Researchers highlight portability as a key benefit of the product and travellers as a potential customer base. Effervescent tablets that transform into liquid soap are an innovative proposition for producers of travel cosmetics, enabling convenient and easy use while travelling. For children, fun effervescent tablets can be an attractive way to encourage hand washing, which can result in better personal hygiene.

Consumer nowadays are looking to see more action from corporates and government. They remain sceptical at slow decision-makers and greenwashing and are no longer accepting empty promises and false narratives. Consumers want organisations to step up but be realistic about what they can achieve and show the proof of their eco pledges. They also expect companies to ramp up efforts to make sustainable solutions the norm, not a premium, make it affordable. Beauty companies will need to make clear choices when it comes to sustainability in 2024. Firstly, companies cannot afford to be accused of greenwashing by consumers who see through misleading claims and any lack of authenticity. Companies that are authentic and transparent and make sustainable choices accessible and affordable for consumers can distinguish themselves in the market. By embracing this shift, companies not only align themselves with the growing suwstainability demands of consumers but also position themselves as leaders in a new era where sustainability is the norm, rather than the exception.

KraveBeauty built a campaign based on a production error

KraveBeauty’s “Waste Me Not” campaign shows creative ways to reuse waste - and talks more broadly about the problems of the cosmetics industry. The company transformed a batch of facial cleansing gel that was not suitable for sale into a shower gel, which won the recognition of consumers. In 2022, a production problem resulted in an imperfect batch of the best-selling Matcha Hemp facial cleanser, giving it a different consistency than what customers were used to. The company was left with over four and a half thousand litres of product that it could not sell in its current form. After trying to reformulate the product to meet their standards, KraveBeauty ultimately decided to change things up by adding surfactants and using the product to create a body wash. The shower gel, which retails for $8 per tub, is part of KraveBeauty’s “Waste Me Not” campaign to highlight the often-hidden amounts of waste in the beauty industry — waste outside of plastic packaging, that is. This is also one example of how the company has reused products that would otherwise have been thrown away; KraveBeauty is also selling versions of the new cleanser that have been produced in pilot batches, and both products are only available while supplies last. For companies targeting the beauty space, to unlock opportunities to create new use cases, broaden their customer base and delight existing customers by expanding and enhancing their offerings to serve a wider audience, thereby driving growth, value and loyalty, they should consider the impact of AI, sustainability and social, economic and political factors, as well as pragmatism to increase incentives and innovate around affordability as shoppers relentlessly hunt for deals. This is critical to understanding global consumer trends this year and beyond.