Weight-loss drugs are influencing shopping

On TikTok and in celebrity interviews, weightloss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy have been one of the hottest topics of 2023. Elon Musk boasted of losing weight through the use of the latter, while the Kardashians have all been accused of using it although denying all rumours about it. Like rhinoplasty and facelift in the 2000s, the epidemic of slimming injections in the media has convinced first the stars and then the rest of the world to solve an aesthetic problem in a drastic way, underestimating the risks and contraindications of taking the drug. Although, in the United States, the now viral underground billboards in New York and the unscrupulous advertising of the drug have raised several criticisms, the success of the «magic pen» initially known as an anti-diabetic has reached a revolutionary success (pharmaceutical companies are already selling dupes, as they have run out of stock), even influencing the fashion industry. According to a study just published by Impact Analytics, the GLP-1 drug epidemic is «disrupting the apparel industry» and «retailers need to take immediate notice of this paradigm shift.»

The Impact Analytics report highlights the need for retailers to take into account consumers' changing demand in connection with the increasing use of slimming injections, because the more people lose weight, the more they will need new clothes. Since retailers buy stock up to six months before a product is actually launched on the market and demand forecasts are based on an unreliable history, say Impact Analytics' analysts, from now on it will be necessary to include the impact of weight loss drugs in the stores' buying process, in order to «improve sales and margins on the entire stock investment.» If new criteria are not included, explains Impact Analytics, the « consequences could be disastrous.» « Retailers risk seeing their entire profit margin eroded, with more than 10 per cent of their apparel inventory remaining unsold at the end of the year.»

So far, the forecasts noted by experts a few weeks after the Ozempic and Wegovy boom have proved to be in favour of clothing brands. According to analysts at Deutsche Bank AG, sportswear brands will be the first to benefit, as consumers' weight loss will trigger not only the need to buy smaller sizes, but also to buy new clothes in order to be able to exercise more. Analyst Adam Cochrane states that GLP-1 drugs could provide a «structural tailwind» to the fashion industry. While this autumn's record heat and inflation are severely damaging winter sales, the growing popularity of slimming drugs could lift their fortunes. Indeed, the popularity of weight-loss drugs is creating a domino effect on numerous business sectors, from food (US supermarket Walmart points to Ozempic as the cause of the recent loss of sales) to tobacco and alcohol, as the drug decreases patients' predisposition to addiction.