admin_fortress | Aug 10, 2021
Published in Health and Wellness
Is Amazon the latest destination for wellness? As we celebrate National Wellness Month in August, we want to dive into the marketplace’s recent wellness boom, the trends we’re seeing today and how health and wellness brands can benefit from the accessibility, convenience and consumer reach of Amazon.
We know the drive of eCommerce and the influence of major online retailers like Amazon are unstoppable forces that continue to grow year over year. Because of this trending shift, customers are increasingly searching for health and wellness solutions on the Amazon marketplace. The options are endless no matter what a consumer is searching for — from vitamins and supplements to nutrition, to other wellness products including essential oils, massage guns, fitness trackers and more. Not only are customers able to shop for all their wellness needs in one place, but they also have the convenience of purchasing it online and getting it shipped to their doorstep in a snap.
At a time when health and wellness are top of mind and customers are predominantly shopping online, companies are able to provide accessibility to wellness solutions on online marketplaces unlike ever before. With 66% of consumers starting their searches on Amazon (Source: Statista), the platform has the potential to capture a majority of the market and meteorically rise as the biggest destination for health and wellness.
Health is Wealth
It’s obvious that consumers are prioritizing their health and wellness in 2021. It has been an upward trend for years and has only been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to a survey performed by McKinsey & Company, 79% of participants believed wellness to be important to them, and 42% considered it to be a top priority (Source: McKinsey). This movement shows no signs of stopping — they also estimated that the global wellness market will eventually reach $1.5 trillion with an annual growth of 5-10% — a sign that health and wellness will continue to be a priority for consumers long into the future.
This projection presents huge opportunities for brands and online retailers, especially during a global pandemic where everyone was impelled to take their health and wellness into their own hands and shop for their needs on online marketplaces like Amazon. Customers are consistently searching for solutions for their health, nutrition, fitness, sleep, beauty and skincare on Amazon, and data shows that they are willing to spend the money on it. While it can seem like an overly saturated ecosystem to navigate through, those companies succeeding during this monumental shift are now adopting omnichannel strategies and are strongly considering marketplaces like Amazon in order to capture consumers where they’re currently shopping.
Whole Foods
As a next step to becoming the hotspot of health and wellness, Amazon purchased the health food behemoth Whole Foods for $14.7 billion in 2017. Not only do the Whole Foods stores serve as pickup points for groceries and various products ordered online, but they are now integrated with Amazon’s proprietary technology capabilities for a holistic shopping experience for their consumers. This includes speedier checkouts, member promotions, and quicker order fulfillment — who doesn’t love that?
Amazon’s dominance of the online retail space combined with the drawing power of Whole Foods places Amazon as a true key player in the world of health and wellness. It confirms that the retailer is thinking big and long-term in terms of growth and is considering its consumers’ needs and shopping habits at every pivotal moment.
Amazon Elements
With wellness as a consistent top priority, it’s no surprise that Amazon launched a wellness brand of their own to capture some of the consumer share. The marketplace launched Elements a few years back, their own-brand product line consisting of health supplements, vitamins, protein powders and baby wipes. Convenience, variety and accessibility have always been Amazon’s strong suits, so it is a strategic move on their part to join the personal care industry which generates billions on the marketplace annually. While we’ll be interested to see where Amazon takes the brand and what other products will be introduced in the future, there is still plenty of market share to go around.
Amazon’s Top Trending Wellness Categories & Products
So what kind of health and wellness essentials are seeing the highest potential on Amazon? Let’s take a look at the top trending wellness products that are driving the sector’s biggest sales.
Essential Oils & Aromatherapy
From managing stress to easing symptoms of physical pain, essential oils and aromatherapy tools like electronic or reed diffusers stimulate our olfactory senses and can be used for different purposes to improve our overall health and wellbeing.
Health Powders
Collagen, matcha, protein powders. There is no shortage of health powders available on Amazon to help jumpstart a healthy lifestyle.
Skin Tools & Devices
Skincare tools like gua sha stones, microneedle rollers and lymphatic drainage paddles are seeing major growth on the marketplace. Even more so, electronic devices that stimulate collagen production and cellular growth like facial wands and microdermabrasion machines continue to be popular among skin-conscious consumers.
Vitamins & Supplements
The largest driver of Amazon’s health and wellness sales, vitamins and supplements like probiotics, multivitamins, and other ingestibles consistently dominate in the online space.
Journals
Wellness journals are a newer trend that grew in popularity in the market in the last few years, as consumers increasingly take control of their mental health and use journaling as a mechanism to relieve stress and anxiety.
Massage Therapy
At a time when people are prioritizing fitness and working out at home more than ever, massage guns are now a staple in many fitness-focused homes to relieve sore muscles.
Weighted Blankets
If you’re tossing and turning at night from anxious thoughts, weighted blankets are a great tool to encourage a healthier sleep and feel less stressed.
Blue Light Glasses
As consumers look at all areas of physical wellness, many can’t forget the stress that phone and computer screens put on their eyes. Blue light glasses are a simple solution that has blown up recently to promote better eye health.
Reusable Everyday Items
Sustainability continues to be an important concern for consumers as they look to reusable options for everything from water bottles, to makeup pads, to resealable food storage bags.
Fitness Trackers
Not only are we prioritizing our health more than ever, but we are looking for ways to stay on target and track our progress along the way. That’s where the wearable technology of fitness trackers comes in. Fitness trackers have skyrocketed in popularity, tracking physical activity, sleep patterns, steps, heart rates, calories burned and more.
Now that we know that Amazon has true staying power in the world of health and wellness. how do you as a brand cut through the clutter and competition of the Amazon marketplace? With thousands of brands saturating the space, it can feel overwhelming to tackle the online marketplace. But don’t let that thought discourage you — there are gains to be won if you get your strategy right.
At Fortress Brand, we know health and wellness and we know Amazon. With exclusive partnerships with over 45 health, wellness and beauty brands on Amazon, we offer marketplace management solutions that work for you and your brand so that you don’t have to deal with the chaos. And we do it all under one roof — that means setting up your storefront, optimizing your product listings, creating custom branded content, setting up PPC campaigns, fulfilling orders and storing inventory and monitoring your online presence. It’s a true collaboration between our team and your brand, all to ensure your growth in the marketplace.
Send us an email at [email protected] if you’re interested in partnering with us for your Amazon strategy We’re ready to talk when you are!