Top 3 Driving Forces Behind the Growing Industry
About the Author
Be Well
We aim to inspire and provide businesses and establishments with actionable strategies that sustainably incorporate and monetise wellness.
Most businesses consider wellness-related initiatives marketing or CSR expenses. Whereas to Be Well, wellness is not a trend, it's a paradigm shift.
At Be Well, we believe that a diligently formulated and executed wellness strategy could benefit the triple bottom line.
Moreover, our deep connections with wellness influencers as well as dedication to nurture and harness propitious wellness businesses promote non-zero-sum sustainability between stakeholders.
There is no doubt that the wellness industry is on the rise. According to the Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness market[1] is worth USD 4.4 trillion in 2020 and is forecast to reach USD 7 trillion by 2025. To put things in perspective, the wellness economy grew by 11% during the pandemic outbreak in 2020, whilst the global GDP declined by 2.8%.[2]
It is clear who the post-pandemic winner is, and here are the reasons why.
1. Pandemic-led
The 3-year battle against pandemic is a wake up call. It has highlighted the importance of health and self-care, as well as the gap in the public health sector.
With the several rounds of lock-down, the public have been deprived of space for physical exercise and social interaction. In turn, many of us indulge ourselves in unhealthy snacks and elaborated home cooked meals (or take away meals) for short term comfort (and survival!). All these contribute to our unhealthy lifestyle, which dent our physical, mental, social wellbeing.
As a result, consumers recognize the importance of placing greater emphasis on wellness real estate (+22.1%) mental wellbeing (+7.2%), public health, prevention & personalized medicine (4.5%), healthy eating, nutrition & weight loss (+3.6%).
Further, the lock down paved way for the rise of technology led wellness products and services. Health app downloads increased by 67% and over 71,000 health and fitness apps were launched globally. Wellness equipment providers like Pelaton has seen a 139% increase in revenue and stock soared 434% during the height of covid[3].
2. Higher spending power
With higher purchasing power, and absence of travelling expenditure, consumers are more inclined to allocate their spending on self-care. There is a great shift towards wellness services, such as personal training, nutritionists, counselling, which place great emphasis on physical and mental health.
The average wellness spending per capita has grown by 6.6% to USD 563 in 2020.
3. Impact-led
As society becomes more affluent, we as consumers become more demanding. Our needs have evolved from basic consumptions to the enjoyment of experiential wellness programs, and now leaped to the need to create positive impact, both internally and externally. An example would be dining on a holiday, to dining at a local’s home for the full immersive experience, and now consumers’ are becoming more aware of the impact the meal generated, be it from carbon footprint, and all the way down to their gut health.
Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the impact of lifestyle and environmental factors on their wellbeing – and now they are turning to wellness to meet their needs.
To conclude, there are strong driving forces that push the wellness industry to a whole new level. We are certain that the demand is there, and the next question to ask is which direction is the wellness industry heading to, and how can we build the wellness community and our businesses to satisfy the growing appetite of the wellness scene.
Get in touch to learn how we have promising wellness business bridge the gap of growth, partnership and most importantly financial sustainability.
Footnote:
[1] Global Wellness Economy includes (1) healthy eating, nutrition & weight loss, (2) Physical Activity, (3) Personal Care & Beauty, (4) Wellness Tourism, (5) Traditional & Complementary Medicine, (6) Wellness Real Estate, (7) Public Health, Prevention & Personalised Medicine, (8) Mental Wellness, (9) Workplace Wellness
[2] Unfortunately, with a combination of the social unrest in 2019 and COVID-19, Hong Kong’s wellness market has shrunken by 21% in 2020.
[3] Pelaton is experiencing financial distress and drastic change in management by the end of 2020.
