The Analyst’s Take: Online supplement sales projected to double between 2019 and 2022

While the coronavirus pandemic has surely created many lasting shifts in consumer behavior, one of the most impactful in the supplement industry is the significant growth of e-commerce sales. E-commerce has, of course, already had significant momentum, boasting the strongest growth of any channel over the past decade. For context, brick-and-mortar growth in 2019 was 2.8% while e-commerce grew at nearly ten times that rate—26.5%. Still, online supplement sales are expected to grow a stunning 61.4% in 2020.

The growth this year is notable, but even more notable is the long-term impact of consumer sales shifting to e-commerce. Nutrition Business Journal expects that many consumers who discovered online platforms as a result of quarantine and stay-at-home orders in 2020 will remain loyal to this channel moving forward. As a result, online sales are projected to grow from $5 billion in 2019 to over $10 billion in 2022 and are expected to represent 19.6% of all supplement sales by 2023. This doubling (and another doubling after that) is not surprising to anyone paying attention; it just wasn't clear it would happen this fast. This movement will no doubt have a ripple effect across the industry and impact retailers, distributors and brands alike.

Learn more in NBJ's 2020 Supplement Business Report, the industry's go-to guide for data and insights on the supplement market.