Female shoppers spend billions of dollars on wellness products each year, yet we believe brands and retailers aren’t taking full advantage of the opportunity and actually see them. WSL Strategic Retail, in collaboration with key retail and brand leaders, has uncovered four pillars upon which the next revolution of women’s wellness depends.

Where Women Go, So Goes the Retail World. Are You On Board?

Retailers and brands following the female wellness consumer should mind the gap. The U.S. women’s health and sexual wellness market represents a $360 billion opportunity, according to a report by Amboy Street Ventures. Yet America’s 168 million women spend much less – just $269 billion in the category, roughly $1,600 a year each.

This gap between spending and opportunity aligns with our own How America Shops® research conclusions: That while there’s now a lot more product for certain women’s health and wellness conditions, what’s now available is not easy to shop. And many other needs remain unmet and marginalized in this burgeoning category.

This may be a symptom of myopic thinking. When you look at the approaches retailers and brands have been taking, women’s wellness has typically been viewed as a problem-specific market opportunity, not an evolving, life-long customer base.

Which is why in June, WSL Strategic Retail is hosting its third in-person symposium on “Women’s Wellness: The Next Revolution.” Here, representatives of Walmart, Ulta, HerMD, Holland and Barrett, MECCA, and others will confront how social change, technology, demographics, and shifting expectations are shaping the industry.

And, importantly, we’ll explore what more must be done to actually see this crucial consumer and meet her where she is.

4 Areas Where Women’s Wellness Needs More Understanding

Sure, the women’s wellness category is flourishing with more products, but not progress. There is still so much to be done, and to get there the industry requires dramatic change. A revolution.

Based on our How America Shops® consumer research and direct discussions with retail and brand leaders, that change starts with closing the gap on these four not-to-be-ignored essentials.

The definition of women’s wellness is expanding beyond menstruation and menopause as researchers recognize her wellness needs change throughout life, starting in her youth. Yet we see less innovation to resolve female hormonal conditions outside of menstruation and menopause. For example, the female market seeks products to help with pre-menstruation, fertility, perimenopause and age-related sexual issues. And these maturing needs are surfacing earlier than you might think: 25% of Gen Z and Millennial women search for information on menopause, our research shows. Brands and retailers are missing a lifelong customer if they fail to see each of these important stages and how their products and shopping experiences can fit into them.

More than three in four of all women (and close to 90% of Millennials and Gen Zers) conduct their own research on health topics ranging from urinary tract infections and menstruation to thinning hair and osteoporosis, our How America Shops® research shows. The way women seek this information is continuous and evidently unsated, so they’re tunneling into new resource territories. These include new, less-trusted areas such as artificial intelligence and interactive digital technologies like sexual health apps (e.g.: The Coach and Ferly). Not surprising, thanks to a growing number of female sexual health products that heighten curiosity and encourage women to seek answers to new questions. However, retailers and brands in any wellness category can only secure trust if they back up their products with proven results and easy-access intelligence.

A growing number of women feel an imperative to be healthy because they can’t afford to be sick. Not only for themselves but for the families they take care of.  As a result, much of the wellness industry has transitioned from sick care to self-care. Still, while women strive to be healthy, many are scared off financially. One in five women avoid or delay menopausal treatment due to financial concerns, GoodRx reports. Similarly, many women dismiss using GLP-1 drugs for weight-loss thinking treatments cost $1,000 a month. Fortunately more affordable options and resources are emerging. But more are required. Brands, retailers and medical communities that step forward and highlight their role in serving these health needs affordably will benefit themselves and the women they serve.

Longevity is a very hot health topic, but what does it mean? For instance, two-thirds of our How America Shops® respondents told us that longevity signifies staying physically healthy, but nearly one-third also believe it stands for “looking good for someone my age.” One in four define it as staying sexually active. Living longer also involves sharply different objectives and therefore product solutions among different generations: Gen Zers are likely to be more focused on aging prevention while Boomers seek products that minimize the effects of aging. In short, the goal of living long is not necessarily triggered by a milestone birthday; it can start early and evolve with the female mind, body and life stages. The products that brands and retailers design and market to support longevity will gain relevance if customized to speak to women across these stages.

Women’s Wellness is a Revolution: What’s Next

A wellness revolution suggests not only wide-reaching change, but longer-living change. Retailers and brands that don’t recognize an individual woman’s wellness passage as a lifelong one are missing this broader story, and opportunity.