The increasing popularity of weight-loss drugs including Ozempic and Wegovy has businesses scrambling to adapt to the new shopping habits of thinner, less-hungry customers.
Although glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, known as GLP-1 drugs, were developed to treat chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease, a May survey by the nonprofit health policy organization KFF found 40% of respondents said they mainly used them to slim down.
The results have been felt by clothing retailers, especially those that cater to the type of customer who can afford the monthly, $1,000 cost of Ozempic, the Washington Post reported Sunday.
Research by Impact Analytics, which helps companies manage inventory, found that purchases of smaller-sized women's clothing increased 5% from 2022 to 2024 on New York City's affluent Upper East Side, which has a high percentage of non-diabetes prescriptions for weight-loss drugs, the Post said.
On Madison Avenue, home to many retailers' flagship stores, sales of women's long-sleeve, button-up shirts in Sizes XXS, XS and S increased by 12%, while sales of L, XL and XXL decreased by nearly 11%, according to the study.
Sales of men's clothing have reportedly also shifted toward smaller sizes in a noticeable but less pronounced way.
"Most brands are actively observing, reacting to and jumping on these trends," Nora Kleinewillinghoefer, a partner at the management consulting company Kearney, told the Post. "They're thinking about different product ranges. They're thinking about inventory management, how to shift the size curve downward."
GLP-1 drugs mimic a hormone that makes people feel full after eating, and a November 2023 report by J.P. Morgan Research said data showed that users purchased about 8% less food to eat at home than the average consumer over the previous 12 months.
Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show processed-food manufacturers including General Mills and Conagra reported declines in sales of snacks from 2023 to 2024, the Post said.
In July, PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America division, which sells Cheetos, Doritos and Lay's potato chips, also reported a 4% quarterly drop in sales.
Slimmed-down people tend to switch to buying healthier foods, which could force grocers to rethink how to stock and arrange their stores, said Simon Somogyi, a Texas A&M professor who studies the behavior of food consumers.
"It sounds odd because it's a good thing that people are buying more healthy food, but it's not typically in line with retailers' strategy," he told the Post.
In December, Weight Watchers launched a program aimed at users of weight-loss drugs and Nestlé, the world's largest food and beverage company, has started selling products to support weight loss.
A Nestlé spokesperson said the company didn't consider weight-loss drugs a threat to its business but instead an opportunity to push into an emerging market, the Post said.
