Weight Loss Drugs, Longevity Top Consumer Health & Wellness Needs
Living a healthy life is an ongoing quest for many Americans, and keeping up with the latest wants and needs of consumers is a challenge for retailers.
In its Health & Wellness Report 2024, The Vitamin Shoppe has identified the top five trends for the year following the completion of a survey of 2,000 American consumers.
“It’s a time of meaningful evolution in our industry, with innovations such as GLP-1 medications driving increased attention on the importance of healthy nutrition while social media continues to create surges of interest in a wide range of health and wellness supplements and products,” said Lee Wright, CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe.
The top five trends identified in the survey are:
1. Nutritional Support for GLP-1 Users: Supplements including proteins, multivitamins, fiber, and probiotics are taking on new importance for patients who are taking semaglutide or tirzepatide weight-loss drugs, such as Ozempic and Mounjaro. A sales bump in certain supplement categories that support proper nutrition can already be seen at The Vitamin Shoppe. Ready-to-drink protein beverages, for example, were up 10% in 2023 versus the previous year, and meal replacement products tailored to weight management are up 13% in the first four months of this year. Industry-wide, protein supplements and meal replacements were up 15% for the 52 weeks ending November 5, according to SPINS data.
2. Quest for Longevity: From lifespan to healthspan, the quest for longer, more active lives is being driven by cutting-edge research, technologies, and tools, including a heightened focus on nutritional health and supplements. Cognitive support products are the biggest sales driver by volume, while cellular health support saw the biggest sales gains in 2023, up over 45% from the previous year.
3. Gut Health Gets Fashionable: With billions of views across social media, gut health and #GutTok content are one of the biggest phenomena in wellness. It’s a trend that’s made subjects like bloating, IBS, and bathroom habits unabashedly public while raising awareness about the microbiome and the benefits of supplements like probiotics, prebiotics, psyllium husk, and digestive enzymes. At The Vitamin Shoppe, the best-selling ProBioCare range of probiotics and digestive health products increased sales by 24% in 2023, with another 44% jump in the first quarter of 2024. According to SPINS, overall sales of digestive health and enzyme products increased 9% for the 52 weeks ending November 5 (multi-outlet + convenience store channels).
4. Women’s Health for Ages 40+: This year, The Vitamin Shoppe introduced three new brands—Health & Her, Wile, and Solaray her life STAGES—and more than 40 new products to its dedicated Women’s Health product displays, one of the biggest expansions of the section in years. The products encompass a range of new formulas addressing the unique needs of women ages 40+ as they reach milestones such as perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause, including areas of hormonal health, emotional health, and sexual health. According to SPINS analysis, women are increasingly seeking out case-specific supplements for these kinds of need states; sales of PMS formulas, for example, increased by 12% for the 52 weeks ending October 8.
5. Functional Beverages: Consumers increasingly want their beverages to not just hydrate, but to enhance wellness goals with a range of vitamins, adaptogens, nootropics, and botanicals. Sales of the functional beverage category have grown across channels, with ready-to-drink functional beverages growing 20% in the natural channel for the 52 weeks ending November 5, and 5% in the larger multi-outlet and convenience channels, according to SPINS.
The sales shifts and themes in this report have emerged during a post-pandemic period when Americans are highly focused on wellness priorities. In The Vitamin Shoppe Consumer Survey, 55% of respondents said their lifestyles are either “much more” or “somewhat more” healthy since the pandemic officially ended in May 2023. Only 10% said their lifestyles are less healthy, while 35% said “neither more nor less” healthy.
