AI-powered beauty and retail tools are now deeply embedded across the entire holiday journey, from search and inspiration to purchase and post-purchase care, with Perfect Corp.’s new trend report framing this as a turning point for how consumers discover and buy products. Brands that lean into personalization, hybrid experiences, and clear value messaging are best positioned to win over today’s budget-conscious, AI-first shoppers.
How AI is changing holiday shopping behavior
Consumers are no longer just experimenting with AI; nearly 9 in 10 shoppers already use AI for retail, and a similar share plan to rely on it even more in the months ahead. Within Perfect Corp.’s YouCam apps community, about 80% of users now use AI tools specifically to help find gifts, showing how central recommendation engines and virtual experiences have become to holiday discovery.
This shift ties directly to shoppers wanting to “buy smarter,” using AI to narrow down choices, compare options, and feel more confident that each purchase fits the recipient’s needs and their own budget. Nearly 1 in 3 consumers in the report say they plan to cut back on non-essential categories like holiday décor, instead prioritizing more practical yet still indulgent items such as fragrance and color cosmetics.
Personalization, routines, and the rise of “guided” beauty
The report leans on the Spate Popularity Index, which tracks search and social signals, to show just how strongly routine-based beauty has taken off. Searches for “skincare routine” are up by about +395% year over year, while “hair routine” interest has surged roughly +1000%, signaling a clear consumer preference for step-by-step, personalized guidance over one-off products.
In the press release, Perfect Corp. founder and CEO Alice Chang said, “AI is fundamentally changing how consumers discover, evaluate, and purchase products,” stressing that shoppers now want guidance, confidence, and value rather than endless, confusing assortments. For brands, this means building journeys where AI does more than recommend a single item; it curates entire regimes, shade families, or gifting sets that fit a user’s specific profile or concerns.
Hybrid shopping, omnichannel AI, and retailer adoption
The trend report shows that about 73% of shoppers expect to blend online and in-store shopping this season, making hybrid the default, not a niche behavior. Shoppers want to use AI-powered try-ons, diagnostics, and recommendations at home, then walk into stores already informed—sometimes even with a pre-curated list of products to test or pick up.
This aligns with broader market data beyond Perfect Corp.: a FedEx report recently found that about 97% of large U.S. retailers plan to use AI in some form during the holiday season, underlining how quickly these tools are becoming standard infrastructure rather than experimental add-ons. For beauty, fashion, and specialty retail, that often means integrating virtual try-on, AI skin and hair analysis, and tailored content into e-commerce sites, apps, and even in-store mirrors or tablets.
What this means for beauty, fashion, and retail brands
Perfect Corp. now powers AI and AR solutions for more than 800 brands globally, with its YouCam apps surpassing 1.1 billion downloads, which gives the company a privileged view into how consumers experiment digitally before they buy. For retailers, tapping into similar technologies can reduce friction, cut returns, and increase average order value by nudging shoppers toward better-fit shades, formats, and bundles.
Looking ahead, the report implies that the next phase of holiday shopping will be defined less by flashy single-use tech and more by deeply integrated AI that feels like a natural shopping assistant—present in search results, PDPs, loyalty apps, and store experiences. Brands that align promotions (like clearly labeled percentage-off deals and curated kits), storytelling, and assortment with AI’s ability to personalize at scale will be best placed to capture consumer trust from early browsing through last-minute gifting.
