The Vitamin Shoppe unveils top five health and wellness trends for 2024
The Vitamin Shoppe has released its Health & Wellness Trend Report that provides insight into the top consumer trends in the nutritional supplements industry.
The Health & Wellness Trend Report 2024 provides key insights into what Americans are buying to support their health and well-being, leveraging data from the retailer’s 700 locations and website, as well as industry-wide data from its research partner, SPINS. Additionally, The Vitamin Shoppe commissioned an exclusive 2024 Consumer Survey of 2,000 Americans by Talker Research to provide further context and insights into the numbers behind these trends.
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Here are the top five health and wellness trends of 2024:
1. Nutritional Support for GLP-1 Users: Supplements 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. This year, The Vitamin Shoppe installed longevity-centric product displays in all stores to spotlight key areas of healthy aging needs, including cognitive health, cellular health and mobility support formulas. Cognitive support products are the biggest sales driver by volume in the new Longevity merchandise set, 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 is one of the biggest phenomena in wellness. It's a trend that's made subjects like bloating, IBS and bathroom habits unabashedly public—fashionable, even—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 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).
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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. 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 hydrate but also 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 Vitamin Shoppe recently introduced an endcap display in 500 stores dedicated to functional beverages, such as Kin Euphorics, De Soi, Hiyo and Parch.
"The Vitamin Shoppe offers the largest selection of vitamins, supplements and sports nutrition products of any retailer in America, so we are uniquely positioned to understand the behaviors, attitudes, and goals of the wellness consumer," said Lee Wright, CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe. "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."
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.
While Ozempic and similar drugs are a hot topic for many consumers and media, more Americans say they are focused on wellness priorities such as mental and emotional health (35%), and sleep and rest (33%) than on weight control (25%), according to The Vitamin Shoppe Consumer Survey—evidence that wellness goals remain diverse across different segments of the U.S. population.