The Evolution of Self-Care

SUMMARY

THE EVOLUTION OF SELF-CARE

By IRI's Mindy Albuck and Lynne Gillis

Today, nearly 70% of Americans do something to support their health and wellness several days a week or more. This commitment to wellness only grew during the pandemic. According to a recent IRI survey of Americans aged 17-plus, 1 in 3 now does more now versus last year to support their overall health and wellness.

This growing wellness focus powered an impressive 16% uptick in CPG retail health care sales in 2020. At the same time, consumers are adopting new technologies, shifting their focus to preventive “well care” products and starting to focus on shorter, “snackable” wellness moments.

Observations:

• On average, consumers are trying to address 6.6 health and wellness goals. The most widespread ones are improving/maintaining physical fitness/strength, weight management and improving/maintaining physical appearance.
• Consumers want self-care solutions that extend beyond traditional OTC products and provide a holistic foundation for wellness.
• How consumers solve for their health care needs is highly individualized. Consumers can be split into seven distinct self-care segments based on their wellness approaches and products used.
• Sales for plant-based foods and beverages increased 34% in 2020 versus 2019. The percentage of people buying them also increased from 49% to 54%.

Opportunities:

• Reach consumer segments and their increasingly holistic approach to wellness with distinct products and services across the food and beverage, personal care and beauty, vitamin/mineral/supplement (VMS), OTC and pharmaceutical, and home health care categories.
• Address the nearly unanimous consumer agreement that mental health is as important as physical health with nutrition, environment and VMS information and solutions.
• Support the estimated 50 million Americans affected by sleep-related problems with solutions addressing these issues.
• Meet a desire for plant-based products that has been driven mostly by increased spending on meat substitutes and nut-based milks.

This report shares more about what's happening in the self-care market and the additional opportunities you can leverage for your CPG or retail business.

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