Since the COVID pandemic, health & wellness has become a top trend within the consumer landscape as consumers were reminded to prioritize their health and wellbeing as lockdowns and skyrocketing rates of infections occurred. The health and wellness industry continues to lead consumer trends and innovation, growing U.S. dollar sales by 6.4% over the past year, ending March 31, 2024. However, most of this growth is due to inflation, with spend per unit on health products rising by the same amount. Nearly half (46%) of health categories have seen price and mix changes outpace actual unit consumption. The question for many leaders today is, “What is the outlook for the health & wellness industries?”
As inflation slows, health brands and retailers will need to prioritize consumption-driven sales. Numerator’s latest report, Health Habits, dives deep into key drivers and trends in health and wellness, offering actionable insights on where to grow next. Read on to discover the top trends in the industry.
What are the newest health trends?
Numerator found three major health & wellness trends that brand leaders must understand:
- The Digestive Boom: Consumers are now more focused on digestion than ever before to stay healthy. The stomach plays a crucial role in how people perceive health and well-being. This growing trend, reflected in the supplements, foods, and medications consumers choose, is driven by several external factors, such as travel and the rise of GLP-1 drugs.
- Simplicity Returns: Nearly four years after the COVID-19 lockdowns, health categories are still grappling with what “normal” looks like, especially as inflation rises. Consumers have complicated the landscape with their shifting preferences, and occasion-based vitamins and supplements now face challenges.
- Retail Movement: Drugstores have traditionally been the go-to destination for medications and personal health products. However, their dominance has weakened over the past five years, with online retail emerging as a strong competitor.
The Digestive Boom: Why is gut health a top wellness trend in 2024?
In the past year, digestive and nutrition-based categories have been the only health sectors that have grown primarily through consumption rather than price or mix changes. Categories such as digestive health, probiotics, and performance shakes have seen less than half of their sales driven by pricing dynamics.
Gut health has become a top priority for consumers in 2024, and Numerator expects this trend to continue in 2025. In fact, this movement was predicted as early as 2023 in Numerator’s annual Visions report, which tracks past and future trends.
Forty-three percent of U.S. consumers now prioritize gut health as the most important symptom to treat or prevent, surpassing concerns like pain or allergies against other health issues. This is reflected in rising household penetration of anti-diarrheal medications and motion sickness treatments, which are among the top four fastest-growing digestive health categories. The travel industry plays a major role in this trend, with over 40% of purchasing changes linked to TSA checkpoints, which have seen a 10% increase.
Rounding out the top four digestive categories are laxatives (such as polyethylene glycol) and saline solutions, which have gained over a million new households driven by urban Millennials. One unique finding is that nearly 1 in 10 new laxative shoppers are GLP-1 users—a group 28% more likely to purchase these products compared to existing buyers. As GLP-1 usage grows, brands addressing its side effects will likely see strong demand.
Consumers are also proactive about gut health, extending beyond traditional health products. While probiotic supplements have shown solid penetration growth, food products offering probiotic benefits, like kombucha and kimchi, have grown two to three times faster. Pre- and probiotic sodas are growing 18 times faster than supplements, and if included in the probiotic category, they would make up nearly a quarter (22%) of total dollar sales.
Health brands must emphasize the importance of gut health. As food becomes a "vitamin" in itself, brands should consider expanding into food categories. Retailers can create new opportunities by rethinking store layouts to connect food products with supplements.
Is consumptive nutrition the latest wellness craze?
Nutrition-based products have driven consumption growth in the health industry, led primarily by performance shakes and powders (often referred to as protein shakes). The category was the fastest growing out of any health category measured by Numerator with dollar and unit growth up by 38% on both measures. From Alani Nu to private label brands, performance shakes have seen stellar growth as consumers look towards getting more of their nutrients through food products over traditional forms such as pills and tablets. Two brands, Premier Protein and Fairlife, stand out with higher penetration and repeat rates.
Fairlife, owned by Coca-Cola, offers indulgent chocolate shakes that have increased adoption at mass and club retailers like Walmart and Costco. They are also 27% more likely to capture Gen Z shoppers than the average shake brand. Premier Protein, known for delivering 30 grams of protein along with essential vitamins, has gained a strong following. Its recent innovations, such as the indulgent cinnamon roll flavor, combined with immunity support messaging, have helped it grow household penetration by over 1% in just a year.
Simplicity Returns: Are consumers still proactive in maintaining their health?
COVID-19 changed how Americans view their lifestyle in respect to health. During the pandemic, occasion-based vitamins and supplements thrived as consumers invested in products focused on mood & mental support, hair, skin, nails, and immunity. But as the post-pandemic world stabilizes, these categories are starting to decline.
For example, household penetration for immunity-related vitamins and supplements has dropped by over five percentage points since 2020, with demand for immunity products five times more likely to be tied to COVID-19 than to the flu. Despite this decline, consumers are not deprioritizing their health. Seventy-five percent of lapsed immunity buyers continue to purchase regular vitamins, minerals, and multivitamins such as Vitamin B and Magnesium, likely due to lower prices. Numerator's omnicharacteristic data shows that the price per volume of immunity products is nearly three times higher than that of regular vitamins & supplements.
Consumers are becoming more educated about health, recognizing that regular vitamins & multivitamins can serve the same purpose as more expensive immunity-specific products. Brands in the health space should either educate consumers on the unique benefits of occasion-based formulas or expand their offerings to include individual vitamins and minerals.
As consumers stay proactive about their health, total units of cold, cough, and flu medication have dropped by 5.4%, despite a stronger flu season. This decline spans nearly all age groups except Gen Z. Gen Z households have increased their spending on these medications by over 6%, outpacing other generations nearly fivefold. Brands should explore why Gen Z is more active in this category. Numerator's psychographic data shows Gen Z is more likely to have respiratory issues and take COVID risks. They are 17% more likely to have asthma, 1.5 times more likely to use tobacco, and less likely to take extra COVID precautions. Brands should keep these factors in mind when engaging this group.
Retail Movement: Where are shoppers going to purchase health & wellness products?
Not long ago, drugstores were the go-to for over-the-counter drugs and health products. But today, online retailers have taken the lead in health trends, capturing the largest share of dollar market share. Drugstores and mass retailers have seen significant losses as online shopping rises.
What makes online growth particularly interesting is that only 13% of it comes from other channels. This suggests that consumers are adding more health shopping occasions to their routines and use online for it, driven by the convenience of nearly limitless shelf space. Amazon has won the largest share of the market, with categories like bladder control pills, energy chews, and superfoods experiencing double-digit growth. Smaller brands are winning in these niche spaces, while bigger brands face the challenge of proving value to online consumers.
Amazon’s repeat purchases have grown by two percentage points since 2020, fueled by the popularity of its Subscribe & Save feature, which has driven an 18% increase in household spending.
Physical stores can leverage third-party delivery services like DoorDash to offer faster home delivery than typical ship-to-home options. Reevaluating promotions and improving their effectiveness will be key to competing with online deals.
Are shoppers still going to drugstores?
When online shopping pulls from other channels, it mostly comes from drugstores. Two major factors are driving this shift: convenience and price. A third of online health shoppers say the in-store experience is unenjoyable, with more than 20% citing poor assortment and stock availability. Additionally, as retailers crack down on theft, 11% of online shoppers report avoiding in-store shopping because of locked-up items.
Over 21% of online shoppers cite lower prices as their primary motivation for buying health products online. Drugstore promotions have decreased by 37% over the past two years, compounding the challenge.
However, not all is lost for in-store retailers. Many consumers still report two drawbacks to online shopping: shipping times and fewer opportunities to use coupons. In response, brick-and-mortar stores can partner with delivery services to offer faster delivery and reassess their promotions to give shoppers the perception of a better deal.
Final Considerations: What is the future of health & wellness?
For health brands and retailers, Numerator’s analysis points to three key strategies:
- Think bigger: Health & wellness trends are impacted by other industries you might not expect, from travel patterns to food and beverage innovations and will continue to do so. Understanding these interactions will help brands identify key opportunities in the world of overall health.
- Track public health trends: External factors, like COVID-19, flu, and the rise of new drugs, such as GLP-1, will shape future demand and innovation as consumers become more vigilant with their health. Leveraging consumer data will help contextualize its relation to public health.
- Rethink promotions and channels: As consumers seek deals and shift online, brands must invest in e-commerce and reinvest in smart promotions to remain competitive. Utilize datasets that offer single-source omnichannel visibility and promotional information to inform your strategy.
By staying on top of these trends, health brands and retailers can successfully navigate the evolving health and wellness landscape in 2024 and beyond. Partner with Numerator to help shape your strategy by reaching out to us.
