NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 30, 2020 / As people remain sheltered in place across the globe, the daily habits of consumers have drastically changed to reflect our new reality of virtual connectedness. How we eat, socialize, spend money, buy food and shop has greatly shifted, leaving some industries reeling to survive and others benefitting.

One such industry experiencing increased demand is the health and wellness category. Companies selling food, medical care items and wellness items like supplements, vitamins and CBD have seen a 21.6% boost since the lockdown began, according to a recent study conducted by Yotpo, an eCommerce Marketing Platform, who polled 2,000 consumers between the ages of 14-73 about how their shopping habits have changed during the pandemic.

Shifts in Customer Engagement

The survey found that as businesses shift online, consumers are becoming more responsive to marketing messages from email, SMS and social media, while browsing online more often and buying online more frequently. This means consumers are more likely to open emails, click through, claim offers and browse new websites. The study also found that consumers are now more likely to purchase goods from lesser known brands when larger companies run out of stock. This is good news for smaller companies, who've seen an increase in sales and traffic as consumers modify their brand loyalty preferences.

How Have Smaller Health and Wellness Companies Adapted?

As consumers swap in-person shopping and fitness services for contact-less deliveries and virtual classes, small businesses in the health and wellness category are adapting to meet their customers' needs. Heivy, a New York based collagen company and top seller on Amazon, has adapted to the pandemic by offering discounts for larger orders, increased email communication with customers to ensure their daily supply and even tapped into the local community to offer wellness tips from home.

Heivy Collagen Company CEO Stacy Lin said, 'We weren't surprised that as stay home orders increased so did the demand for collagen supplements. People are trying to stay mentally and physically balanced from home and recognize that nutrition is a key component. Our customers were interested in placing larger than unusual orders to maintain their supply, as well as being very kind and responsive overall. We wanted to keep that line of communication open so we started ramping up our messaging and inventory to ensure our customers were covered.'

Like health and wellness, the fitness market has also seen an increased demand for supplies and virtual workouts. Ricardo Andre, founder of Hudson Boxing in New York City, has benefited from the strong camaraderie emerging among local health and wellness businesses in New York.

'We're all working together to support each other, especially in New York. Our Hudson Boxing studio has shifted to online workouts, and I think that's here to stay in some respects, until things return to normal. We're working on conditioning and shadowboxing, since most people don't have heavy bags at home, or full gyms. So when my clients ask what supplements to take to stay healthy, I recommend Heivy collagen for joint and bone strength. It helps with recovery and burnout and keeps you going, especially until we can be back in the gym together. It's nice to have New York City companies working together.' Andre said.

In recent weeks, as more consumers are shopping online, the world has witnessed an increase in consumer demand for healthy food, medical items and nutritional supplements as the world unites around an unprecedented global event. For businesses and marketers to keep up, they must humanize their brand with genuine messaging, create new product offerings and build a community of trust with their customers. Brands in every category - from activewear, to supplements, to pet food, recognize the importance of being there for their customers, and this time will have major implications for the future of digital marketing and sales as we know it.

Media contact：

Jane Wang
jane@52usa.com
https://heivy.com/

SOURCE: Heivy