This website will offer limited functionality in this browser. We only support the recent versions of major browsers like Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.

Hero Image

July 11th, 2025

The Holistic Health Shopper Typologies: Food performance and wellness by generation

Insight
Hero Image

Unlocking the future of wellness: How different generations shop for health

We’ve seen everyday shopping evolve into personal wellness rituals, guided by social experts. ‘Living well’ now goes beyond supplements – reshaping categories from frozen food to pet care. Consumers are seeking emotional, physical, and mental benefits in every product, prompting retailers to rethink store layouts and experiences to deliver holistic wellbeing across every shelf. 

Understanding the shopper psyche is key to decoding The Holistic Health Shopper across lifestyle drivers. Our five generational typologies – from pragmatic Boomers to digital-first Gen Alpha – highlight how diverse and values-led wellness behaviours have become. In this final piece, we link these insights to real retail strategy, showing how smart stores are tailoring experiences, zones, and tech to meet each generation’s unique needs. 

 

Meet the generations shaping the wellness market

Meet the generations shaping the wellness market

The Ageless Architects – Baby Boomers

Boomers are pragmatic, loyal to trusted brands, and focused on healthy aging. They’re drawn to natural, sustainable products that support independence, energy, and disease prevention. Think: vitamin supplements, anti-aging skincare, and low-sugar foods. They want quality and results – clear, proven, and reliable.

The Wellness Jugglers – Gen X

Busy and practical, Gen Xers juggle personal health with family responsibilities. They favour ready-to-eat meals with clean labels, stress-relief products, and home wellness tools like air purifiers. Transparency, efficiency, and value drive their buying decisions. They’re also increasingly interested in managing their children’s unique health needs.

Holistic Hackers – Millennials

This group takes a tech-savvy, systems-based approach to wellness. They research everything – from clean ingredients to ethical sourcing — and personalise routines using apps, wearables, and AI tools. For them, health is about optimising life for the whole family, including solutions for children’s neurodiversity, functional nutrition, and sustainable living.

The Mindful Mavericks – Gen Z

Mental health is front and centre for Gen Z. They seek authenticity, value ethical consumption, and use social media to discover new trends. From adaptogenic drinks to high-protein clean snacks and sustainable beauty, they vote with their wallets and expect transparency from the brands they support.

The Wellness Seedlings – Gen Alpha

Though still young, Gen Alpha’s wellness journey is already taking shape. Influenced by health-conscious parents and digital media, they gravitate toward fun, functional products – organic baby food, kid-friendly probiotics, and non-toxic bath items. Playful packaging and digital integrations are key to winning their (and their parents’) attention.

Why it matters for marketers

Despite common themes appearing, each generation has a distinct mindset and health priority, from managing chronic conditions and stress to supporting children’s cognitive development or maintaining mental wellbeing. What truly unites these consumers is their growing demand for transparency, function, and authenticity. 

Generational Wellness at a glance

As we’ve explored, The Holistic Health Shopper is no longer a niche persona but a generationally diverse and values-driven force reshaping the wellness market. From Boomers prioritising healthy aging to Gen Alpha growing up with probiotics and playful packaging, wellness is now a lifestyle expectation across every aisle. For brands and retailers, the challenge and opportunity is to meet these evolving needs with authenticity, transparency, and tailored experiences that resonate deeply with each generation’s unique wellness journey. 

With consumers making snap decisions based on visual cues, packaging is evolving fast. What colours, symbols, and ‘lab language’ are brands using to signal performance and wellbeing? And how this semiotics are shaping the future of shelf appeal? 

In our next piece we’ll explore how design is becoming a silent salesperson in the wellness space and even show you our very own product tailored to The Holistic Health Shopper.

#Insight

18 minute read

The Holistic Health Shopper: The ‘rise’ of wellness is now second nature

Read More
#Insight

10 minute read

The Holistic Health Shopper: The social education of food performance

Read More
#Insight

9 minute read

FORGET THE SOCKS! FATHER’S DAY IS ALL ABOUT THE GIFT OF WELLNESS

Read More