In 2025, European retail is defined by disruption, tech shifts, and increasingly complex consumer desires. Beauty brands and retailers need to adapt—fast and smart. Across Europe, the last five years post-COVID have been transformative, shifting the economy, how businesses operate, and how consumers think. In 2025, consumers are living in a state of permacrisis, businesses have been forced into huge U-turn changes, and shopping patterns and behaviors are more complex than ever.But despite all this, Europe is experiencing what some are calling a retail renaissance. Over the next five years, real retail sales across the Eurozone are projected to grow 1.7% per annum, outpacing 1.4% real gross domestic product (GDP) growth, and retail investment volumes are also on the up, hitting €25.4 billion ($29 billion) in 2024, according to real estate investment major AEW Capital.So, what exactly does the future of beauty retail look like for Europe? And where are the biggest opportunities for growth and evolution in this dynamic space? BeautyMatter attended one of the region's key retail events last week in Barcelona, Spain—Shoptalk Europe 2025—to find out more.“If retail over the past year has taught us anything, it's that the coordinates we thought we were following no longer hold,” said Hannah Redfern, Senior Vice President at Shoptalk Europe and Shoptalk Luxe, during her opening remarks. “Retail is evolving—rapidly, weirdly, spectacularly. It's a strange old world we're operating in.