Alice Ford
London, 20th February 2025: The “New Year, New Me” mindset is resonating with consumers more than ever, with health-conscious Brits swapping late nights for the gym and wellness in 2025.
New insights from Experian and Reward – analysing consumer spending over six weeks to 20th January including the Christmas period – reveals that nutrition and fitness spending rose by 6%.
Gym membership spending rose by 11% over the Christmas period, with a 4% increase in January, indicating a proactive approach to fitness even before 2025 begun. Looking at demographics, 18-34 year olds saw the largest increase in growth (+8% year-on-year) as younger generations opt for active lifestyles over late nights and social drinks. Those aged 35-44 also increased fitness-related spending by 7%, as they prioritise their well-being too.
Spending on specialist grocery products2 rose 6% in early January, while Home Meal Services
saw an 11% uplift, reinforcing the trend toward health-conscious choices. This growth is driven by older generations, with 65+ consumers increasing spend by 9%, reflecting their growing engagement with online shopping.
Over-65s driving ecommerce growth
Examining preferred spending channels, e-commerce remains dominant, with online spending up 7% YoY. While 18-24-year-olds drove much of this growth (+8%), the same increase was observed among 65+ consumers, reflecting a shift toward digital adoption among older shoppers as well.
Colin Grieves, Managing Director of Experian Marketing Services, Experian UK&I said: “The sustained growth in health and wellness spending reflects evolving consumer priorities and it’s crucial that retailers understand what trends are emerging in the market.
“Businesses that align with these trends and deliver high-quality, convenient solutions via the right channels will be well-positioned. For example, digital adoption amongst older shoppers reveals that brands catering for that audience must have their online services fit for purpose.” To download the latest report from Experian and Reward click here.
Methodology
Analysis is based on insights generated by Reward from transactional and merchant data derived from its Customer Engagement programmes.
Using insights from over 1.4 billion card transactions from 10% of UK households across 4,000+ retail brands, Reward analysed spending patterns in the Nutrition and Fitness market and Wider Retail sectors for December and January (01/12/23-20-01-24 vs 01/12/24-20-01-25). The data has been scaled to estimate nationwide trends.
This approach provides an indicative view of consumer behaviour, highlighting key shifts in spending across gyms, fitness, grocery, and wellness-related categories.
About HDI
Hospitality Data Insights (HDI) is a leading UK insights business, providing independent data insight to global and national brands operating in the UK hospitality sector since 2017, supporting over 100 different clients spanning Pubs & Bars, Restaurants & Casual Dining, QSR, Coffee Shops, Delivery, Convenience, Drinks Suppliers & Manufacturers, Investors and Consulting Firms.
HDI turns vast amounts of high-quality data into meaningful products and services that help operators improve their investment decisions, offer development and customer marketing; and help manufacturers sell and support their brands more effectively.
Since late 2022, HDI have extended their capabilities into the UK grocery sector, tracking online pricing for 10 national grocers and monitoring customer spending patterns within over 40,000 individual convenience & grocery stores.
About Reward
Reward is a global leader in Customer Engagement and Commerce Media, operating in more than 15 markets across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Uniquely positioned at the intersection of banking and retail, Reward’s platform combines technology, data insights and digital marketing to deliver personalised products and services that help brands deepen connections with customers.
As businesses strive to better understand and influence customer behaviour, Reward is poised to lead in the fast-growing commerce media space, offering consumer insights that enhance omnichannel experiences, boost sales and build customer loyalty.
Beyond unifying consumer insight and commerce, Reward is on a mission to make everyday spending more rewarding and every interaction count, delivering billions in rewards to customers.
For more information, please visit www.rewardinsight.com
