Prime Highlights
- Wellness products are becoming popular holiday gifts, moving beyond traditional items like clothing and perfumes as shoppers focus more on self-care.
- Major retailers such as Ulta Beauty and Target are giving wellness items more visibility in stores, showing strong confidence in the growing demand.
Key Facts
- Ulta Beauty began expanding dedicated wellness sections in its stores in 2021, offering products like probiotic gummies and aromatherapy oils.
- Beauty and wellness spending peaks during November and December, making the holiday season a key period for retailers to promote these products.
Background:
Wellness products are steadily carving out a place on holiday shopping lists, moving beyond New Year’s resolutions to become sought-after gifts in their own right. Major retailers such as Ulta Beauty and Target are giving supplements, sleep aids and self-care items more prominence well ahead of the festive rush, reflecting changing consumer priorities.
Beauty has long been a strong holiday category, with November and December accounting for roughly a quarter of annual spending on prestige beauty products, according to market research firm Circana. This year, shoppers plan to spend an average of $247 on beauty gifts, making it one of the top spending categories.
Industry experts say the shift gained momentum during the Covid-19 pandemic, when consumers began to focus more on self-care and feeling healthy “from the inside out.” Products once confined to pharmacy shelves, such as vitamins, eye drops, teeth whitening kits and full-body deodorants, are now appearing in beauty aisles with upgraded packaging and stronger branding, often backed by influencers and celebrities.
Ulta Beauty has been one of the most aggressive adopters of the trend. This year, Ulta announced plans to significantly expand those wellness sections in a portion of its stores, while adding dozens of new brands to its assortment.
According to Ulta executives, wellness shoppers span multiple age groups, with particularly strong growth among millennials and higher-income households. The company says customers are increasingly buying these items both for personal use and as holiday gifts.
At Target, wellness has become a cross-category focus, spanning nutrition, beauty and activewear. Executives say items such as protein snacks, fitness apparel and skincare kits are proving popular as gifts, and the retailer is considering dedicating even more space to wellness in the future. Supplement brand Grüns, known for its superfood greens gummies, is leaning into the season with holiday-themed packaging and flavors designed for gifting and stocking stuffers.
Other retailers are following suit. Walmart is highlighting wellness gift sets aimed at millennial and Gen Z shoppers, while electronics and department stores like Best Buy and Kohl’s are promoting health-focused products ranging from wearable rings to massage devices and portable ice baths.
