Consumer interest in being healthy has never been higher, experts agree, and during the COVID-19 pandemic that has translated into higher sales in categories like supplements, at-home fitness and self-care.
“Strategics and private equity and everybody follows consumers, so I’d expect that there’s going to be more activity in the [wellness] space,” Tsai said. “There’s beauty wellness, but there’s also physical-fitness wellness. Wellness sits in a Whole Foods, it sits in a GNC, it sits in Sephora and Ulta — there aren’t that many categories that do that.”
Strategic buyers are focused on consumer health, and wellness, broadly speaking, continues to be a high priority to them as it relates to where they’re looking to do deals and where they’re going to invest dollars, said Susan Roddy, managing director at Houlihan Lokey. While a plethora of online fitness options has emerged since mid-March, when many in the U.S. started working from home, the ones that are able to foster loyalty and encourage repeat visits will be more attractive to investors, the source noted. “How sustained is the loyalty? These [platforms] need to create real businesses, or you’ll see that same switching behavior you see in boutique fitness.”
“Consumer behavior is changing. The one place they’re going to continue to invest and not pull back on likely is wellness,” said Kelly Dill, principal at venture capital firm Imaginary Ventures, which backs supplements line Hum Nutrition, baby food offering Cerebelly and fitness app Fitplan. “We’ve realized how important immunity and self-care and taking care of yourself is in all of this, so if you’re going to pull back on one thing, it’s probably not your health and wellness.
It’s no longer enough for businesses to simply use Black models. “It has to be 360 — you cannot just rely on representation in imagery or people will be talking on Instagram and Twitter, said Lucie Greene, trend forecaster and strategist. “Are there any people of color on your board or in your executive leadership? Is there a pay disparity? With this era of hyper-transparency, this has already started to go even further, given the core consumer is more ethnically diverse than ever.
“Brands that have grown rapidly through COVID-19 will generate strategic valuations,” said Hood. “Even though it’s explainable, a brand that flatlined or declined during the pandemic is not considered a strategic asset — those businesses will be impacted.”