Nutritional and wellness supplements are growing as Christmas gifts

Maybe Santa will give you some supplements this year.

Along with typical holiday wish list items like clothing, fragrances, and gadgets, the wellness category is poised to gain popularity this shopping season and beyond — especially as retailers desire Alta Beauty and goal Give it more shelf space long before your New Year’s resolutions start.

Beauty is always the top-performing holiday category. November and December combined account for about 25% of annual spending on prestige beauty products, which includes brands typically sold by specialty beauty retailers and department stores, according to market research group Circana. Holiday shoppers said they plan to spend an average of $247 on cosmetics while buying gifts this year, the fourth-highest spending holiday category, according to Circana’s annual survey.

However, the beauty category’s assortment has become broader with the addition of more health and wellness-focused items, such as products that promise to improve nutrition, hydration and sleep.

Wellness has gained attention since the Covid pandemic as consumers prioritize self-care and feeling good from the “inside out,” said Larissa Jensen, global beauty industry advisor at Circana.

Health-related products that are typically relegated to drugstore shelves, such as teeth whiteners, vitamins, full-body deodorants and eye drops, have gotten a glow-up, she said. Some now come in more attractive packaging, have gained support from influencers and celebrities or have moved into the beauty section as retailers seize the opportunity to blend beauty and wellness and become a one-stop shop.

Ulta Beauty, in particular, has dedicated more space in its stores to wellness. The specialty retailer, which has more than 1,450 stores nationwide, has always carried some individual items related to wellness and “beauty from within,” said Laura Pires, the retailer’s vice president of wellness.

However, as demand grew post-pandemic, Ulta began opening wellness stores within its stores in 2021 and devoted about four to eight feet of shelf space to items including probiotic gummies, sleeping masks and aromatherapy oils. In August, the company said it would expand the size of those health stores to up to 45 feet in about a third of its stores. It has added nearly 30 new health care brands to its stores, bringing its total to about 100, Beres said.

Customers shop of all ages, but Ulta has seen growth especially with millennial shoppers and consumers with household incomes exceeding $100,000, she said. She said the innovation has sparked more interest, especially as customers are looking for solutions for key life stages that brands have ignored in the past, such as pre-pregnancy, post-pregnancy and menopause needs.

This year, Ulta is carrying some gift sets of health items, including an Advent calendar of essential oils from Saje Natural Wellness and a beauty sleep gift set from Kourtney Kardashian’s vitamin brand Lemme, she said. However, she said she expects wellness to become a bigger part of vacations in the future as the category grows.

“It’s the perfect combination of being able to give someone else the gift of relaxation during the holiday season in a way that’s really upscale and, frankly, hasn’t been on the market before,” she said.

One of the brands in Ulta’s wellness store is Neom Wellbeing, a UK-based company that sells home fragrances and body care products. NEOM is sold online through Amazon and its website, with many of the top sellers focusing on improving sleep.

Amanda Kahn, NEOM’s U.S. general manager, said the company’s early sellers this holiday season were stocking up on items that cost less than $20. While shoppers are looking for value due to inflation, healthy items are attractive because they are also practical, she said.

“It feels really good while providing a benefit that everyone can use,” she said.

Bath and Body Workswhich is known for its scented soaps, candles and lotions, has launched more health-focused products as well. Early this month, for example, it began selling a new wellness fragrance line called “Water Winter Mint” with scents of mint, alpine water, and ingredients including hyaluronic acid and shea butter.

More customers have turned to mall staples for body care products or gifts that boost mood and solve health-related challenges, such as dry skin or difficulty sleeping, said Christy Lewis, the company’s senior vice president of merchandising.

Bath & Body Works plans to continue expanding its aromatherapy line and ingredient-based products, she said. It has aromatherapy body products with natural essential oils and has launched a holiday collection with the scents of pine, eucalyptus, nutmeg and vanilla.

“We’re already seeing consumers buying them for themselves, but also as gifts for the holidays, because who doesn’t want to relieve stress or sleep, especially in November and December?” She said.

Nutrition and health has been a popular category at Target as well, Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez said during a Minneapolis-area store tour in October. He said wellness cuts across many of the categories Target sells, such as Joylab, a private label brand that offers bright colors and floral prints for exercise gear, Khloe Kardashian’s Khloud protein popcorn, beauty kits and skin masks.

Some of these items are giftable as well, he said. Gomez said he bought the protein powder for his nephew as a gift.

Wellness could gain more square footage at Target next year, he added. It’s one of the ideas Target is considering as its deal with Ulta Beauty expires in August and the closure of branded beauty stores inside hundreds of its stores, Gomez said.

Grüns are one of the healthiest items on Target’s shelves. Super Greens Gummies are a fruit snack for adults, but contain a nutritional punch similar to powdered greens, said founder and CEO Chad Janis. Its name is inspired by the word “grün” which means green in German.

Retailers including Walmart, Sprouts Farmers Market Sam’s Club sells gummies that have expanded to include other lines for children and immune support since the company was founded in 2023.

While sales of vitamins and supplements tend to spike in the new year, Janice said the company hopes its gummies will be a gift or stocking stuffer. It sells some holiday-inspired items, including a Grinch-inspired lemonade flavor and a holiday-themed Target package.

Walmart carries some healthy items for the holidays, too, seeing millennial and Gen Z shoppers searching for self-care and wellness items year-round, like body wash gift sets from vitamin maker Olly and vitamin patches from Barrière that look like stickers or temporary tattoos.

Even outside of the beauty aisles, retailers have turned to wellness as a gifting category, e.g Best buywhich sells Oura Rings and has demos of health-tracking wearables, and ColeWhich carries items including massage guns and portable ice baths.

This holiday season, wellness may also receive more attention from shoppers who purchase items for themselves while shopping for gifts for friends and family, Circana’s Jensen said.

“Here’s a little decoration for you along with the lip gloss and teeth whitening products for me,” she said.

However, in the coming years, Jensen said she expects health and wellness to gain prominence on holiday wish lists due to its higher prices and wider acceptance. She compared it to anti-aging skin care products and gift sets.

It once seemed taboo, she said, and now it’s an item people demand.