Last month, we co-hosted The Lifestyle Playbook : an evening filled with founders, marketers, and operators from some of Belgium’s most exciting lifestyle brands.
While each brand has its own story, the challenges they face are surprisingly similar. Here are the three biggest themes that stood out.

1. The cost of acquisition keeps rising, especially for lifestyle brands

Across fashion, beauty, and wellness, one message came back again and again: Paid acquisition is getting more expensive, and at the same time less predictable.

Meta is more competitive, CAC is climbing, and brands are increasingly dependent on paid channels to drive growth.

How can lifestyle brands combat this? They need to diversify acquisition, strengthen organic channels, and ensure their backend operations are efficient enough to keep margins healthy. You can no longer rely on ads alone - which means your tech stack must work harder.

2. Online vs offline is disappearing: customers shift effortlessly 

Several founders described the same pattern: customers discover through an ad, visit the website, buy in store, return online, and expect everyone to 'remember' who they are.

There’s no such thing as online customers vs store customers anymore.
There’s just one customer, moving fluidly between touchpoints.

That means your systems, such as ERP, e-commerce, CRM, retail, can’t be siloed either.
If discovery is online but conversion happens in-store, your data, marketing, and inventory need to follow that journey without friction.

Brands like Elliot & Ostrich shared how even with limited e-com revenue, their website still acts as a critical billboard for retail, and their best-performing acquisition channel.

3. AI and personalization will reshape the lifestyle shopping journey

One of the most talked-about sessions was on AI-powered experiences.

Imagine this:
A customer lands on your website and the experience instantly adapts to what they need, whether they’re in discovery mode, comparing products, or ready to buy.

No generic recommendations, no static pages. But dynamic funnels that adjust in real time.

Tools like Klevu and Nosto are pioneering this direction, and the message was clear: AI won’t replace creative brand building  but it will massively enhance how customers experience it.

Brands that embrace AI-driven personalization early will create deeper engagement and higher conversion without increasing acquisition spend.

Bonus topic: Subscriptions vs. Memberships

There’s growing fatigue around traditional subscriptions. Chances are your customers already juggle Netflix, phone plans, apps, cloud tools, and more.

Which means subscription models for consumables need a rethink.
The future lies in membership models:

• Community access 
• Early drops
• Partner perks
• Exclusive content
• Co-creation with the brand

Think of it as recurring revenue, but with real emotional value.

The conversations at The Lifestyle Playbook made one thing clear: lifestyle brands are entering a new era. Acquisition is more expensive, the line between online and offline has vanished, and customers expect experiences that feel personal, relevant, and effortless.  It’s no longer about doing more, but about doing it smarter, with technology that adapts, systems that communicate, and experiences that feel uniquely human.