What's in Their Cart: Emerging Consumer Archetypes Across Beauty & Wellness

Written by Sam Hartman

A routine trip to Target rarely starts with a fixed list. More often, it starts with a vague intention to pick up a few essentials, and unfolds as the store itself begins to guide the journey. The more I watched how people actually shop—across hauls, TikToks, and everyday purchases—the clearer a pattern became.

Endcaps, in-aisle placements, trending callouts, and merchandising logic subtly suggest what is needed, what is desirable, and what feels relevant in the moment. By the time a shopper reaches checkout, their cart reflects not just what they came for, but what the environment encouraged them to consider.

This is not accidental. Retail environments are designed to surface possibility, not just fulfill intent. In doing so, they expose a critical truth about modern consumer behavior: people are not simply executing pre-determined needs. They are actively constructing them in real time. That construction no longer starts in-store.

Today, discovery happens across platforms, creators, and communities before a consumer ever enters the aisle. According to a 2025 report from McKinsey, over 70% of Gen-Z consumers discover new brands through social platforms and peer-driven content, where products are introduced in context—alongside routines, lifestyles, and adjacent categories—not in isolation. Discovery is no longer linear. It is blended, layered, and inherently cross-category.

By the time a shopper reaches Target, they are not discovering categories but instead, validating decisions already shaped across multiple contexts. Nowhere is this more evident than in beauty and wellness.

Consumers Don’t Shop Categories. They Shop Outcomes

For decades, these categories have been treated as distinct systems—skincare separate from supplements, cosmetics separate from hygiene, internal health separate from external appearance. Yet consumer behavior increasingly collapses these boundaries. Shoppers move fluidly between products that promise energy, calm, clarity, confidence, and repair, regardless of where those products sit in the store. We see similar insights across our research, I don’t want to shop for skincare, I want to shop for confidence without putting on a full face.

This shift is reflected in the scale and growth of the industry itself. The global wellness economy reached $6.8 trillion in 2024 and continues to grow steadily, with projections approaching $10 trillion by 2029. At the same time, the beauty and personal care market has surpassed $547 billion in 2025 and is on track to exceed $740 billion by 2030. Growth is no longer happening within isolated categories—it is happening at the intersections between them. The result is a cart that appears inconsistent through a traditional category lens, but highly coherent when viewed through the lens of need states.

The Shift from Perfection to Control

The center of this behavior is not aspiration toward perfection, it is a pursuit of control. Consumers are constantly managing fluctuations; fatigue, stress, breakouts, social visibility, time constraints. In turn, they are selecting products that help them regulate these conditions.

This aligns with broader shifts in how wellness is defined. According to a 2026 study by CivicScience, wellness is increasingly treated as a daily, personalized practice rather than occasional consumption. It is now embedded in everyday decisions. This is why a single trip might include magnesium supplements, a high-performance serum from SkinCeuticals, a trending lip oil from Dior or e.l.f., a functional beverage like Olipop or Hiyo, and an impulse grab like a Laneige lip mask. These purchases are not competing decisions. They are coordinated responses to different aspects of the same underlying goal: maintaining a sense of control over one’s body, appearance, and daily experience.

The concept of “better-for-you,” often used as a guiding framework in both beauty and wellness, reinforces this pattern. While brands frequently position better-for-you as a binary choice—clean versus synthetic, natural versus clinical—consumer behavior suggests a more fluid interpretation. Shoppers do not commit to a single philosophy. They negotiate between multiple priorities.

A consumer may invest in a premium skincare product like Drunk Elephant or Tatcha for perceived efficacy, while simultaneously opting for a lower-cost dupe from The Ordinary or Colour Pop. They may purchase a functional product for its perceived benefits while also selecting something purely indulgent. These decisions reflect a balancing system rather than a fixed identity. Here, I see consumer switching behaviors amplified around aesthetic and emotional desire based outcomes. for example, negotiating glowing skin and prestige by purchasing Ilia skin serum while trading a Chantecaille Cheek Gelee for a Youthforia Blush Oil.

In this context, value is defined by how well a product fits into a broader system of trade-offs.

Identity Is Built Through Combination

Identity, too, is constructed differently. Rather than being expressed through loyalty to a single brand, category, or prestige tier, identity emerges through combination. The products that coexist within a cart—and sit next to each other in a consumer’s mind—collectively signal how a consumer wants to feel and be perceived.

To better understand how this plays out, we captured four behavioral archetypes—not as fixed segments, but as modes a single consumer moves between depending on context.

The It Girl

In one moment, a consumer may operate in “It Girl” mode—focused on aesthetic control. Her purchasing decisions are shaped by visibility, relevance, and cohesion. She moves between prestige and accessible products—Cremo alongside L’Oreal, OUAI next to TRESemmé, MaryRuth’s Multivitamin with Arrae or Lemme—prioritizing those that align with current cultural signals and contribute to a curated appearance.

The Wellness Balancer

In another moment, that same consumer may shift into “Wellness Balancer” mode—prioritizing internal regulation while navigating real-life trade-offs. Her cart reflects a system of rituals—Protein Popcorn from Khloud, Pre + Post + Probiotics from Golí, functional beverages from Gorgie, Purely Elizabeth Cookie Granola—balanced with convenience and occasional indulgence. For her, beauty and wellness are inseparable, both serving as tools for maintaining equilibrium.

The Skincare Scientist

At other times, she may adopt a “Skincare Scientist” mindset—focused on outcome optimization. She becomes ingredient-literate, routine-focused, and more skeptical of brand messaging. Her purchases lean toward brands like La Roche-Posay, CeraVe, Bioderma, and eos—products with clear functional benefits and clinical backing that leave them feeling fresh and clean.

The Dupe Queen

And in moments of financial trade-off, she may operate as the “Dupe Queen”—prioritizing efficiency without sacrificing identity. She actively compares products, seeking alternatives that deliver similar results at a lower cost. Her cart might include MCoBeauty Blush or Versed Blush instead of Rhode, Magic Molecule instead of Tower 28 SOS Facial Spray, Lifter Gloss instead of Fenty Fussy Gloss or general economic choices that have the same level of efficacy in place of prestige brands. Value, for her, is defined by equivalence, not hierarchy.

Brands Are Still Operating in Silos

These archetypes are not mutually exclusive. A single consumer may shift between them depending on context, need, or constraint. This fluidity challenges traditional segmentation models and suggests that brands must account for multiple behavioral logics within the same individual.

As a result, competition extends beyond category boundaries. Brands are now competing with any solution that addresses the same moment of need—whether that moment is driven by insecurity, aspiration, fatigue, or recovery- instead of just those next to it at the shelf. With more and more discovery happening outside of the aisle, especially for Gen-Z, I’m not going to Target with the intent to peruse the skincare aisle, I’m going in pursuit of feeling like the version of myself that I want to see this week.

Despite these shifts, many brands continue to operate within outdated frameworks. They prioritize consistency over adaptability, define narrow target audiences, and remain confined to category-specific thinking. In doing so, they overlook the complexity of how consumers actually navigate their choices.

From Categories to Context

The opportunity moving forward is not to simplify consumer behavior, but to better align with it. This requires a shift from category-based thinking to systems-based thinking. Brands must consider how their products fit into routines, how they interact with adjacent purchases, and how they contribute to a consumer’s ability to manage competing priorities.

Designing for the cart—and the mind—becomes essential. Understanding what sits next to a product, both physically and cognitively, offers insight into how it is being used, justified, and valued. Equally important is the recognition that contradiction is not a failure of the consumer. It is a feature of the system. The most effective brands will not attempt to eliminate these contradictions, but to participate in them, offering flexibility rather than rigidity.

Stop Defining Your Product. Start Defining the Role You Play

Ultimately, the Target run is not a random collection of purchases. It is a reflection of how consumers navigate a world of competing demands with limited time, attention, and resources. It is a system of trade-offs, continuously adjusted in real time. And for brands, it offers a clear directive: stop asking what category you belong to, and start understanding the role you play within that system.

The images included in this article are used under the fair use doctrine for commentary, criticism, and educational purposes only. All rights to these images remain with their respective copyright holders.

ABOUT LPK

LPK is a modern brand consultancy working across food, beverage, beauty, and wellness. We apply strategic foresight to decode evolving consumer behavior—helping brands move beyond static positioning and design for how people actually make decisions in real time.