Page 39 - Demo

T he onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns in March brought a sharp increase in sales of vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS) in multiple markets including Australia, the US and the UK as consumers looked to boost their immune health and reduce stress and anxiety. A May 1 article by management consulting firm LEK indicated that US weekly VMS sales grew between 20 and 140 per cent a week, supported by an increase in VMS social media searches. Consumers reported an increase in their monthly spend of 10 to 15 per cent on VMS products. And it appears the pandemic is reaching new category consumers, according to a separate survey LEK ran on March 30 where nearly 20 per cent of consumers who previously reported ‘never’ using the VMS category were expecting to increase usage in the following three months. An April WWD article in the US citing IRI data backs up the LEK findings, outlining a 23 per cent jump in VMS sales in March, with vitamin C, elderberry, zinc, echinacea and ginger attracting some of the largest percentage increases. Immunity products have consistently occupied several top places in Amazon’s health and household, and vitamins and dietary supplements product rankings during March and April, on both sides of the Atlantic. In Australia, consumers would have noticed several categories of vitamins ‘stripped’ from supermarket shelves, with Blackmores CEO Alastair Symington saying sales of the group’s “immunity products’’ such as vitamin C and ArmaForce boomed in March and April. What’s selling differs for each market Australia has a history of vitamin manufacture and export, so it’s not surprising that Australian VMS listings on eBay are half those of the UK and nearly 25 per cent of those of the US (Australia, US, UK eBay data as at 17 June 2020). VMS listings are fragmented. In Australia and the UK, the subcategory with the top listings has less than 2.5 per cent share, and in the US four per cent share. And the top 10 VMS ingredients listings vary by market, as evidenced by the top 10 VMS categories (by number of listings). Further, categories with the most listings – and ‘consumer chatter’ – aren’t necessarily those with the most sales. Top 10 VMS categories by number of listings In the US, LEK had noted consumer ‘chatter’ on social media spiking by between three and 16 times in March about vitamin C, vitamin D, elderberry and echinacea. An April newhope.com article citing Amazon data suggested that one in five of the top VMS products sold were elderberry based, with a further one in five being vitamin C. Immunity supplements sales growth was expected at above 25 per cent for 2020, up from 8.5 per cent in 2019, according to Nutrition Business Journal. But the US eBay sales data tells a slightly different story, where vitamin C, zinc and multivitamins rule the sales volume per week and elderberry and echinacea aren’t to be seen in the top eight. In the UK there has been a concerted campaign by the government and public health departments, backed up by the media and social media conversations, to promote vitamin D as sunlight-starved Britons quarantine indoors (unrelated to any COVID-19 immunity benefits). This has evidenced itself by vitamin D topping the number of items sold per week and coming second in dollar sales per week. Although the overarching trend is towards supplements for immunity and stress/anxiety management, the ingredients being used to do this differ by market. The common denominator is vitamin C in the top eBay sellers: For context, the stress and anxiety relievers include vitamin B, omega, moringa (also for antibacterial), turmeric and magnesium. Zinc and collagen are more for immune system and skin/bone health respectively. Turmeric also aids arthritis, and magnesium is a natural anti-inflammatory. In all three markets there was little difference in sales between the number three and seven sellers by volume. It’s evident from the above that while the Americans are into zinc for its immune system benefits, it’s less on the radar for Brits and Aussies. Americans, in dollar terms, are spending more on non-core vitamins (ie, not vitamins B and D). The UK volume is all in the ‘basic’ vitamins for their top three, where in Australia the stress relievers are numbers three to five. In terms of items sold per week, Australians are bigger on the stress TO PAGE 38 INDUSTRY INSIGHTS AU US UK 1 Probiotic Multivitamin Vitamin C 2 Magnesium Vitamin C Magnesium 3 Vitamin C Probiotic Vitamin D 4 Vitamin B Collagen Vitamin B 5 Multivitamin Omega Omega 6 Collagen Vitamin D Probiotic 7 Omega Vitamin B Veggie 8 Vitamin D Magnesium Turmeric 9 Veggie Biotin Collagen 10 Glucosamine Veggie Fish Oil AU US UK $ sales/ week # items/ week $ sales/ week # items/ week $ sales/ week # items/ week 1 Vitamin C Vitamin C Vitamin C Vitamin C Vitamin C Vitamin D 2 Omega Vitamin B Zinc Zinc Vitamin D Vitamin C 3 Collagen Omega Multivitamin Multivitamin Omega Vitamin B 4 Glucosamine Magnesium Collagen Turmeric Vitamin B Turmeric 5 Magnesium Turmeric Omega Omega Turmeric Magnesium 6 Turmeric Vitamin D Moringa Vitamin D Magnesium Omega 7 Vitamin D Collagen Probiotic Collagen Probiotic Zinc 8 Vitamin B Probiotic Magnesium Magnesium Zinc Collagen Rank determined using the 50 listings with the highest average weekly dollar sales of each vitamin, mineral or supplement (share of sales data based on average weekly sales of top 50 listings). AUG, 2020 RETAIL WORLD 37