Three digital consumer trends with big implications for small retailers
By Colleen Bryon
The biggest consumer trends affecting natural health retailers in 2025 may not be wellness fads like chlorophyll or gut health (Though those are still going strong on TikTok!). Instead, perceptions of corporate excess are poised to drive more consumers to community-driven stores.
Trend 1: backlash against big grocery chains
Now more than ever, brands are heavily scrutinized. In 2024, for example, a Reddit page with more than 95,000 members spearheaded a boycott against the leading grocery chain in Canada. This boycott is part of a larger movement over consumers’ growing frustration with big companies’ climbing prices and soaring profits. Natural health retailers can succeed in 2025 and beyond by delivering what grocery giants can’t: community, candor, and genuine care.
Leverage the trend: Lean into your identity as a mission-driven, independently owned, small business. On your website, emphasize your community connections and company values, like purpose over profits, to set yourself apart from grocery giants.
Trend 2: decline of trust in big, faceless brands
For huge grocery chains, regaining consumer trust in 2025 will be an uphill—and potentially impossible—battle. A 2023 report on trusted brands in Canada revealed that the country’s leading grocery retailer ranked way down in the 304th spot. When shopping for healthy food and supplements, consumers want retail alternatives they can feel good about, and health food stores are perfectly positioned to bridge this trust gap.
Leverage the trend: Put your best face(s) forward. Bolster trust and engagement by building your online brand around the faces of your founders, staff, and product manufacturers. A generic Instagram post about your latest immune support endcap? Fine, but impersonal. An eye-catching post about your in-store holistic nutritionist setting up the endcap? Authentic and humanizing!
Trend 3: demand for personalized social media experiences
The modern shopper doesn’t just want personalized social media interactions—they expect them. A 2024 survey of more than 1,000 consumers found that 81 percent prefer brands that provide personalized experiences, which could mean anything from using the customer’s name when you reply to a comment to predicting their preferences online. You might be nailing these interactions in your physical store, but are your website, newsletter, and social media equally warm and inviting?
Leverage the trend: Take the time to truly connect with your customers on social media. Respond to every comment and direct message (if time allows!). Keep your tone conversational and friendly, as if you’re chatting with a customer in-store. No one wants to feel like they’re conversing with a bot or PR representative.
So, what consumer trends do you foresee for 2025? Share your predictions by emailing colleen.bryon@alive.com. We’d love to hear from you!