The rise of menopause wellness

HEALTH AND SPACIOUS; BEAUTY

From supplements to sleepwear to skincare, there is a growing demand for brands to enhance the menopausal experience.

More than three quarters of women have made lifestyle changes as a result of experiencing menopause.
According to GenM research, the invisibility report91% of menopausal women have never seen any specific marketing for menopause products and 90% wish brands included menopause more.

This presents an opportunity for the retail sector, but how are they responding? In researching for this editorial, I struggled to find retailers that were stepping up in terms of products and knowledge. Boots and Holland & Barratt are making big strides (I’ll cover that later) and Primark recently introduced a proper clothing collection. Maybe my search terms were not clear enough? (Google: ‘retail menopause products, UK’).

According to new research from Kantar’s Insights division, 76% of menopausal women do not feel represented by brands at all and 87% of menopausal women said they feel ‘ignored by brands’.

Statistics (and my Google search) show that, for the most part, middle-aged and menopausal women feel marginalized by brands and retailers, who believe they should be doing more to provide better solutions to improve the menopausal experience and provide marketing and advertising. that resonates with and is representative of your demographic.

The Kantar study was conducted in association with Over The Bloody Moon, an organization that provides support and information related to menopause. Its founder, Lesley Salem, affirms that brands have a very important role to play in remedying this situation: “We know from our community that the majority of women are looking for ways to manage their menopause, so that they can continue to function optimally.

“While we always recommend that women visit a healthcare professional first to assess their options, brands can play a vital role in educating and empowering people throughout their journey and directing them to resources and proven tools. When doctors and brands work together, that’s when the magic really happens.”

Boots
Boots was the first pharmacy to offer HRT drug over the counter and now offering a menopause skin care collection. Boots worked in conjunction with the University of Manchester, surveying 7,000 menopausal women about their skincare needs prior to launching the range. In September, Boots hosted a celebrity live show called Menopause Monologues with six celebrities. The retailer also partnered with GenM and introduced a ‘Menopause friendly’ symbol that will be displayed online and in store along with products and services that may help with some of the signs and symptoms of menopause. Retailers stock 99 menopause-specific products.

Holland and Barratt
Holland & Barrett today launched (a pilot test) in partnership with Menopause Mandate, a free national menopause helpline. Earlier this month, the retailer launched an in-store and online menopause support service, training over 4,000 UK store colleagues to become “menopause counselors”. It has also started opening ‘Pause and Listen Rooms’ in some of its stores around the city, which are dedicated rooms that offer “a quiet space and cool places” for customers and colleagues to speak with a trained menopause counsellor. The retailer stocks 45 menopause-specific products.

Primark
Primark has launched its first collection aimed at women going through menopause. In a move designed to help alleviate symptoms such as hot flashes and sweating, the retailer has created a 14-piece range of sleepwear, underwear and base layers that features product innovations such as anti-discharge technology, cooling yarn, control of odors and temperature control. .

It would appear that while some retailers are making inroads into this space, most are missing out on 13 million potential consumers by failing to meet the needs of menopausal women.