Magnesium and Apple Cider Vinegar are just a few of the intriguing trends on Amazon within the Natural Products & Vitamin, Minerals, and Supplements (VMS). What’s particularly unique is the “delivery method” – or the format in which you consume nutrients, such as a liquid, powder or capsule – across both these categories that are causing sales to spike.
We took a deeper dive into these two categories to help you understand what’s causing the growth and which brands are making a splash.
Magnesium
The Magnesium supplement category on Amazon is a great example of the value of even simple e-commerce analytics for brands, which can help them grow their sales and increase brand awareness. The Magnesium category on Amazon has seen impressive revenue growth over the past 24 months, going from approximately $8MM to almost $14MM over that period. The number of items in the category has not increased as much, showing only 10% more items being sold today than 24 months ago.
Magnesium supplements come in a variety of different types, with the top sellers as follows: Magnesium Citrate, Glycinate, Oxide, L-Threonate, Chloride, and Magnesium complexes. The category has seen a healthy 20% growth year-over-year, but the top-selling types of magnesium show wildly varying levels of growth. The top product type in the category is Magnesium Citrate, with a strong 26% market share. However, Citrate has only seen 10% growth year-over-year, which means it is not keeping pace with the category as a whole. Magnesium complexes, on the other hand, have almost tripled in market share in the last two years, going from around 4% of the market to almost 12% today. The real drivers of the category growth are not the top 2 types, but the up-and-comers along with complexes – Threonate and Oxide, which have grown 26% and 32% respectively.
When it comes to delivery methods, the dominant form by revenue has always been capsules. Today, capsules generate almost half of the category’s revenue, and have had a healthy 32% growth year-over-year. However, this growth is dwarfed by another (albeit much smaller) delivery method – Gummies. Gummies as a delivery method has grown by a whopping 130%. Similar to the Apple Cider Vinegar category (which we analyzed here), where Gummies’ dominant growth was due to the top brand, in the Magnesium category it is due mostly to the top brand, Natural Vitality. Their Gummies revenue accounts for over 90% of the category’s revenue for that delivery method. Interestingly, a vast majority of Natural Vitality’s revenue in the category comes from their famous powdered form of Magnesium. However, this delivery method has actually seen a decline in revenue year-over-year, both for the category as a whole and for Natural Vitality. Given this information, we may see Natural Vitality begin to push more towards their fast-rising delivery method of Gummies.
Among the top brands in the category, most have seen modest to solid growth in revenue year-over-year. However, one outlier sticks out among the group – Nobi Nutrition. This brand began selling on Amazon around mid-2018. Since then, they have skyrocketed in revenue to become the #8 top-selling brand in the category. They only have one magnesium product (sold in 1-pack and 2-packs), which is in capsule form, demonstrating that brands don’t have to try and take advantage of every single delivery method, and can stick to a single, tried and true one.
These relatively simple insights into the Magnesium category are just a peek into the enormous value that can be gleaned from Amazon analytics.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Last week, I recorded a video post with some thoughts on the Apple Cider Vinegar category. Here a similar analysis in written form.
Apple Cider Vinegar is a type of vinegar made from cider and has a pale to medium amber color. Unpasteurized or organic ACV contains ‘mother of vinegar’, which is the cloudy sediment at the bottom of the bottle that gives it a slightly murky appearance. Apple Cider Vinegar comes in two main types – filtered and unfiltered. The unfiltered type is the one that contains the ‘mother’ and associated benefits due to the friendly bacteria, proteins and enzymes it contains.
According to 360 Market Updates, the global Apple Cider Vinegar market is valued at 1907.8 million USD in 2020 and is expected to reach 2433.8 million USD by the end of 2026, growing at a CAGR of 3.5% during 2021-2026. The Apple Cider Vinegar Market on Amazon has grown more than 6x in the past two years, growing from a mere $2MM category in May of 2019 to over $12MM today.
It is impossible to discuss the Apple Cider Vinegar market on Amazon without noting the profound effect Goli Nutrition has had on it. This brand entered the Amazon marketplace with its Apple Cider Vinegar gummies in June 2019. In only a month, they became the number one brand in the category by revenue. By October, their monthly revenue was higher than the next 13 brands combined! Today, their revenue is higher than all other brands in the category combined. What is the explanation behind this meteoric rise of Goli in a category that used to be virtually unknown?
The answer lies in a very important data set within e-commerce analytics – product delivery method. Prior to Goli Nutrition entering the market, over 90% of the Apple Cider Vinegar products on Amazon were either in Capsule or Liquid form. Goli Nutrition burst onto the scene with their Apple Cider Vinegar in a novel gummy form. Given the bitter taste of regular Apple Cider Vinegar, it seems that consumers jumped on the opportunity to not only avoid that taste, but to get something sweet-tasting too.
Today, gummies are the dominant delivery method within the Apple Cider Vinegar category, accounting for over half of the category’s revenue on Amazon. It looks as if there is no stopping the continued growth of the category, although we are only about a year into the entry of the difference-maker, Goli Nutrition. Only time will tell whether this burst of growth over the past year will continue; however, our analytics point towards sustained growth of this category due to strong indicators of early success.
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