On June 11, medical Aesthetics data and intelligence provider, Guidepoint Qsight, released a new report analyzing the spending patterns and preferences of younger generations of medical aesthetics/beauty clients called Needle First: How Gen Z is Rewriting the Aesthetic Patient Journey.
Based on Guidepoint Qsight’s proprietary transaction data, the research provides insights into the top treatments Gen Z is using, visit frequency, and dollars spent.
Related: Meeting the Growing Demand for Aesthetic Treatments Among Gen Z
“Gen Z patients usually arrive at the aesthetic practice with their minds already made up,” notes Erik Haines, Managing Director of Guidepoint Qsight. “While older patients moved to injectables through lower-commitment services, this generation is skipping that progression and going straight to the needle, with South Carolina ranking top state for Gen Z neurotoxin demand.”
Guidepoint Qsight’s patient transaction data provides a unique look into how Gen Z is interacting with medical aesthetics and medical-grade beauty.
“We’ve known for some time that Gen Z patients are already coming in for treatments. The kind of specifics that are less easy for practitioners and brands to come by is granular data on what happens once they're there: how they enter, what they return for, how much they spend, and where the real revenue opportunity is within the cohort,” Haines continued.
The new report draws on Qsight's proprietary patient spending data to give aesthetic practitioners a clearer picture of Gen Z behaviors, from first treatment through ongoing service patterns and annual spend. It provides an overview of 2025 patient behavior and delves into how this consumer cohort is changing the way patients are interacting with the world of medical aesthetics and medical-grade beauty, including:
- Neurotoxins as the dominant entry point for Gen Z, for the first time
- Top 5 treatments Gen Z receives in medical aesthetics practices
- Treatments for which Gen Z makes return visits, by frequency and total dollars spent
- A smaller segment of high-frequency, high-spend Gen Z clients pulls all averages upward
- Compounded GLP-1s as a rising segment among Gen Z
- Geographic concentration of Gen Z neurotoxin demand
The Qsight Gen Z report also analyzes industry trends on which treatments Gen Z patients are purchasing and in what combinations over time, helping practices and manufacturers stay ahead of changing preferences.
“One implication of this data is that if a Gen Z patient's introduction to a practice is an injectable appointment, the quality of that interaction carries more weight than it might for a patient who worked up to injectables over time. Because the Gen Z patient has already done their homework and decided to what to opt for, we can say that first-visit retention for this cohort starts at the needle, not the consultation,” said Erika Sheyn, SVP of Aesthetics at Guidepoint Qsight. “Also, understanding where Gen Z activity is highest in your specific region, and how your practice's Gen Z patient volume compares to the broader market, will prove increasingly useful information for practices’ service mix decisions, marketing investment, and competitive positioning.”
