What are your goals, your pain points, your bright spots? Independent natural products retailers answer that question in our 2025 Annual Retailer Survey, now in it’s 47th year. This survey is designed to go deeper than the data, to help industry members understand the state of independent retail. Hear directly from our respondents on top challenges in our “Retailers Sound Off” section on page 8, and take a deep dive into the numbers on these next nine pages.

Once again this year, WholeFoods Magazine partnered with Readex Research to survey independent natural organic retailers, gathering results for the 12 months ending in June 2024. To the retailers who participated in this year’s survey, thank you for supporting this educational effort. This survey is used by natural products retailers to measure and improve business, and by natural products industry members throughout the supply chain to better understand and support their retail partners. Your input helps us deliver what we believe is the most accurate picture of independent natural products retailing in the U.S. today.

As you read, keep this important background information in mind: This survey is like sampling a glass of vintage cabernet sauvignon. Each year, we taste from a different vineyard—the different group of respondents that participates in the survey each year. We also ask each year's group of respondents to tell us about their own prior year's results—like sampling two vintages from the same vineyard. This yields our same-store results. 

The key point this survey reveals: What is the bottom line for independent retailers? Did they fare better, or worse, during the 12-month survey period ending June 2024? We answer that question, plus explore its impacts, in this survey.

Taking a wider view of our industry: Sales from all U.S. independent natural retailers hit $12.62 billion in 2024. Expanding out beyond independents, total natural organic sales through all eight retail and food-store channels (including supernaturals such as Amazon Whole Foods Market and Sprouts Farmers Market; conventional supermarkets; mass merchandisers; pharmacies; and vitamin chain stores) was $110.75 billion (see below). For a complete update of the U.S. natural organic retail market, see the Retail Insights® 2025 Retail Universe for U.S. Premium Natural, Organic Food, Supplement & Personal Care Sales on page 32. 

Now, let’s explore the detailed survey findings that can help you determine how your store stacks up in the independent space, and provide you with valuable insights that can help you strengthen your business in the years to come. 

The Retail Insights® 2025 Retail Universe: Natural & Organic Sales

How the 8 channels divide $110.75 billion natural sales and market share.

Part 1: Who responded to the 2025 survey?

Respondents to this survey are primarily owners/CEOs/presidents (64%) and general or store managers (22%). A final 14% had some other job duty, such as category buyer or purchasing manager; IT, logistics, or customer service manager; or nutritionist, pharmacist, or practitioner. 

The average years of current ownership continues to trend down, this year to 22 years, signaling an increasing number of retiring founders selling their stores. The average age of the business since founding was 31 years, typical of all of our annual surveys. The oldest store in the survey was 89 years. The youngest, just one year.

Respondent fast facts:

• 81% of respondents are Natural products or health foods stores. 
• 9% Natural practitioners/doctors carrying natural products inventory.
• 4% Natural products coop stores. 
• 4% Drug stores/natural pharmacies.
• 1% Natural products supermarkets.
• 84% of survey respondents operate one store; 6% operate two stores; 7% operate between three and six stores; 3% operate seven or more stores (one respondent operates nine stores, and another operates 15).
• 69% of respondents rent their space; 31% own the real estate.

Once again, respondents to our annual retailer survey hailed from all parts of the United States, with 26% located in the Midwest, followed by 21% located in the Southeast. Another 17% of respondents come from the West, Mountain West, and Northwest regions, while 16% are located in the Northeast, 11% in the MidAtlantic region, and 9% are located in the South and Southwest (see figure 1). 

Respondents represent every size market, giving us an in-depth picture of independent retail in the natural products industry. 

• 33% Large town or rural area (population less than 50,000)
• 28% Small city (population 50,000 - 99,999)
• 20% Major metropolitan area (population 1,000,000+)
• 13% Medium city or suburb (population 100,000 - 299,999)
• 7% Large city or suburb (population 300,000 - 999,999)

Part 2: What were independents’ results this year, and compared to last?

How to Use This Survey

If you are an independent natural products retailer, you can compare your results to stores in this survey that are most like yours by looking at your perishables as a percentage of your total sales. That number will place you in one of the survey's five groups, which range from no perishables in Group 5 to at least 51% perishables in Group 1. 

By comparing your results to your peers with similar perishables sales, you will uncover the results that are most relevant to you and your business. 

Which group are you in? Find out in these three simple steps:

1. Tally up your sales from four main perishable fresh-foods departments: refrigerated, frozen, produce and prepared foods. 

2. Calculate what percentage of your total sales these four categories represent.
3. Compare your results to similar stores in your corresponding Group—1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 (see figure 2). 

% Perishables Range and Average $ Perishables by Group

As in this survey every year, we segment respondents by the percentage of fresh perishable foods they sell, meaning refrigerated grocery, frozen foods, fresh produce, and prepared foods. Average perishables percentage of sales for this year's vintage of natural foods store came in at 39%, similar to results in prior years’ survey results. (Please see Figures 6 and 7, as well as expanded coverage below for detailed sales by department.) 

Regarding our methodology, every respondent has equal weight, regardless of whether they have one store or a dozen. We ask respondents to report an average operating result for those with multi-stores. For each variable, we take the center point result after discarding the outliers on the high and low sides. We only use surveys that tell us the percentage of sales by department for all departments, regardless of what other questions they may answer.

Same-Store Sales Change Year-Over-Year - 2025 vs. 2024

By mid-year 2024, sales were strengthening in independent natural products retailers, with this year's survey respondents reporting an average 2.59% year-over-year increase in sales (see Figure 3). Interested readers will enjoy reviewing our January 2025 issue with interviews of many of these same independent natural retailers, who reported significantly strengthening sales in the second half of 2024. This forecast bodes well for next year's survey, when we will report results for the 12 months ending this coming June 2025.

Annual Profit & Loss Percentages

Survey respondents turned in net profits averaging 2.76% overall, which is quite respectable considering all the external and internal pressures they faced this year. Small supplement-focused stores banked the highest profit percentages: 5.35% for Group 5, and 4.88% for Group 4. Our largest perishables stores in Groups 1 and 2 preserved 2.35% and 2.76% net profit, respectively, rather remarkable considering their high labor costs of 20% to 21%. (See Figure 8, plus expanded coverage below for detailed breakdowns of net profits, labor costs, rent, and advertising and marketing spend.)

Total Sales Per Year, Per Gross Lease Area (GLA), and Per Retail SF

Average sales for all stores in this year's survey were $1.59 million, with average annual sales per gross lease area (GLA) square foot of $561.51. 

When measuring just the retail selling area, annual sales per retailing square foot reached a robust $683.26. As the perishables percentage of sales increased, so did average annual sales, which range from $436,750 in Group 5 up to $5.38 million for those stores in Group 1.

Percentage Sales by Department

Overall for this year's survey, vitamins and supplements made up an average of 28.7% of total sales. HABA (personal care) clocked in at 6.8%, with dry grocery posting 16% of total sales. Bulk foods made up 3.7%, while non-foods and household registered a surprisingly strong 5.8% overall. 

The four perishables departments; refrigerated grocery, frozen, fresh produce, and prepared foods combined to reach 39.1% of sales. 

Annual % Increase and % Decrease in Same-Store Sales by Department

The lion's share of profits go to the high-perishables stores in Group 1, which are up 3.91% overall with a $210,260 gain. Group 2 follows, with an increase of $31,815.

Taking a closer look at which specific categories drove sales, the highest percentage increases were concentrated in the four perishables departments in Groups 1 and 2: refrigerated grocery, up 4.2% in Group 1 and 3.9% in Group 2; frozen, up 3.9% and 3.6%, respectively; produce, up 6.3% and 5.6% in these two groups; and prepared foods, up 6.9% and 5.4%, respectively. 

Group 1 also saw dry grocery grow 3%, and bulk foods increased by 2.1%. Stores in Group 3 saw a significant 2.2% increase in supplements and vitamins. 

Very few departments in any group saw sales decreases, but there were some declines. The -0.5% decrease in fresh produce sales for stores in Group 3 is a red flag. These stores averaged just 1.6% of sales from produce, and only 16% of sales from all perishables. That appears to be too few to attract daily shoppers looking for dinner or other meal periods. In fact, stores in Group 3, at 2,800 GLA square feet, are really overgrown supplement stores, with 44% of sales from vitamins and 12% from health and beauty aids, generating over half their sales from these two categories. (See expanded coverage below for annual dollar increase/decrease in same-store sales by department.)

Annual Net Profit $ & %

Average Sales Per Customer, Average Customers & Sales Per Day

As we've seen in prior surveys, as the percentage of perishables sales increases, so too do store sizes, customer counts, and sales per day. Average sales per customer were $42.69, and ranged from $40.22 in Group 1 to $48.06 in Group 5, one of the tightest clusters of average transactions we've seen in the survey. Customer counts were lowest in our smallest supplement stores, at 30 customers per day, and highest in our largest fresh-food stores, at 395 customers per day.

E-commerce Sales

Nearly six in 10 stores (59.5%) told us they do not sell online, and 15.4% report online sales of less than 5%. One in six stores (16.9%) generate between 6% and 74% of sales from e-commerce. Just over one in 20 stores (6.2%) get between 75% and 99% of sales from e-commerce. Two percent of stores sell exclusively online, and their results do not influence survey data (see Figure 10).

Competition from online sellers is a pain point for many of our respondents. One retailer told us, “The click and receive mentality is hurting brick and mortar business—more so locally owned [small] business. Big Box stores have the resources to incorporate online and physical sales, whereas small businesses are challenged by the expense to do so and deal with the obstacles larger businesses create for smaller businesses (knowingly and unknowingly).”

Still, there is optimism among the respondents. Another retailer observed, “I think brick and mortar is doing well, despite earlier predictions that we saw when COVID lockdowns happened. People like in-store shopping. We heard from [one major supplement manufacturer] that the vast majority of their business is in-store in the natural channel, which emphasized our observation.”

% of Sales from E-commerce

Part 3: How did retailers market and manage their business?

Cost of Goods, Gross Profit Margin, and Inventory Value & Turns

Cost of goods (COGS) margins hovered around 60%, slightly higher for large perishables stores in Group 1, at 62.54%, and slightly lower for supplement-focused stores in Group 4, at 58.95%. These margins compare favorably historically, proving that independent natural retailers have weathered supply chain, inflation, and competitive storm clouds.

Consistent with our yearly survey findings, stores with higher perishables sales turn their inventories over faster than stores with fewer perishables and more shelf-stable items such as vitamins and supplements. Our largest perishables stores turned inventory 13.66 times per year, or just over once per month, every 26.7 days. At the other end of the spectrum, our smallest supplement-oriented stores got fewer than five inventory turns per year (4.56), which is about once every 80 days.

Investing in Employees

The high-perishables stores in Group 1 require nearly five full-time-equivalent employees (FTEs) per 1,000 square feet (4.85/M). Stores in Group 2 appear to be staffed leaner than all other groups, at 1.82 FTEs per 1,000 square feet. This may be because, at 4,700 GLA average, they have more square footage than they need for their $1.5 million average volume.

Staffing came up as a pain point for respondents. One told us, “With minimum [wages] increased in some states, entry level positions are now paid at a much higher [rate]. The value of some of the roles does not demand $15.00 per hour. It creates a natural increase for the experienced staff. So labor cost and cost of goods on the rise is challenging.”

Another explained, “I can not understand why the government thinks that by raising minimum wage and increasing benefits we will better the economy. That will only force small businesses out of operation, decreasing competition in the market for consumers and raising pricing across all industries for all consumer goods.”

What’s Selling

Regarding what products are driving purchases, we asked survey respondents to identify the one product or type of product that had the greatest impact on sales. In the supplement category, respondents pointed to blood sugar support, immune support, magnesium, healthy aging, berberine, CBD, curcumin, and probiotics.

Personal care items got several mentions, including castor oil, clean skincare products, shampoo, toothpaste, and soaps. In grocery, snack foods like chips, pretzels, and granola are driving sales, along with energy drinks, kefir, goat-milk products, and fresh produce.

We also asked about private label (see Figure 13). Nearly half (45%) of stores carry their own line of private label nutritional supplements, an historically high percentage of survey respondents. About one-fifth (18%) carry fewer than 25 private label SKUs, and another 18% carry between 25 and 199 SKUs. Just 8% of stores carry more than 200 SKUs, with one respondent telling us they stock 330 SKUs.

Shopping Preferences

All of the retailers who responded to this year's survey reported that they permit customers to shop in-person, in-store. More than half (59%) take orders by phone, email, or text. More than one in three stores (35%) let customers pre-order to pick up in-store while 29% ship via UPS, FedEx, USPS or other common carrier. One in five stores (20%) support curbside pickup of pre-orders, and just under one in five (18%) take orders off their website "Contact Us" area. 

Among the less-popular options: Fewer than 10% of stores support online ordering and payment, or use an online ordering/delivery app. Five percent allow their employees or contractors to deliver orders direct to customers' homes. Just 3% have the courage to use a third-party warehouse to hold and ship inventory to customers. An additional 2% of respondents told us they do something else to help their customers obtain products, such as offer drive-thru pickup as an option (see Figure 14).

READ ON for even more date and insights.

Related: 2025 Retail Insights® 2025 Retail Universe for U.S. Premium Natural, Organic Foods, Supplements & Personal Care

Independent Retailers Sound Off: Wins & Worries

Profit & Loss $ - Selected Items

Annual Net Profit

Net profit dollars ranged from $23,366 in Group 5's small supplement stores to $126,420 in Group 1's large perishables stores. Once again, we see stores in Group 3, the mid-range for perishables, 10% to 29% of sales, averaging about 2,800 gross lease area square feet, are too big to be small, and too small to be big. Meaning, they don't carry a critical mass of fresh foods that attracts daily shoppers looking for dinner items, but must cover a large rent for the extra square footage required for walk-in coolers and refrigeration. As a result, profits suffer, at 1.96% of sales, and just $24,320.

Annual Net Profit $ & %

Annual $ Sales by Department

Dollar sales by product department reveal smaller, supplement-focused stores sell far more vitamins, minerals and specialty items than do larger fresh-food stores.And as you'd expect, the larger the store, the more refrigerated, frozen, fresh produce and prepared foods it sells.

$ Year-Over-Year Change by Department

Annual & Weekly Labor Costs

Labor hasn't gotten cheaper, averaging 20.22% overall in this year's survey. Small supplement stores kept labor in the affordable mid- to high- teens, 15.8% to 17.7%, respectively, for Groups 4 and 5. But larger perishables stores in Groups 1 and 2 appeared to have to pay a premium for professional culinary help, driving labor costs to 21.04% and 20.55%, respectively.

Monthly Rent

Remember, the average age of stores in our survey is 31 years; long enough to benefit from favorable long-term leases, and enough time to reach a mature sales level. Rents overall came in at 4.42%.

Monthly Advertising & Marketing Spend

Advertising and marketing expenses clustered around 1% of sales, consistent with prior years' surveys. Retailers tell us word-of--mouth is still able to drive awareness and sales.

Breakdown of Advertising & Marketing Spend

Average monthly advertising and marketing spend was $1,863 across all five store groups. Our two large fresh-foods stores spent most heavily, at $5,962 per month for Group 1 and $1,603 for Group 2. Social media saw the most dollars invested monthly, averaging $892 in the survey, but skewed heavily towards Groups 1 and 2, which spent $3,560 and $858 per month, respectively. All groups took advantage of radio advertising, averaging $663 per month in the survey, but once again skewing heavily towards Group 1, at $1,780 per month. In-store materials enjoyed strong support across all survey groups, averaging $115 per month, with Group 1 spending the most; $445.

Advertising/Promotion Strategies

A large majority (69%) of retailers advertise and promote their business through social media, and over half (52%) use in-store materials and events such as lectures, handouts, sampling and store newsletters. Just under half (48%) use owned websites, and nearly a third (29%) spend ad dollars on radio. Another 22% take out online ads on third-party platforms. More than one in five (21%) take advantage of direct mail, and 10% allocate ad spending to TV. One in 20 (5%) still find the Yellow Pages useful, and 16% use some other form of advertising and promotion such as local newspapers and sponsoring sports and other events. Local business coupon booklets, billboard and public transport ad spaces, and good old word-of-mouth all play a role in store promotional activities. A surprising number (7%) told us they don't do any advertising or promotion; significantly larger than in recent surveys.

Merchandising Methods

About 7 in 10 (69%) of survey respondents employ educational handouts in-store. Nearly 2 in 3 (65%) utilize social media and blogs to get the word out, and are willing to spend on this method to do so. A strong majority, 60%, use in-store sampling and demos. One in three (33%) provide customers with a printed store newsletter, and the same percentage email their store newsletter. Just under a quarter (23%) present consumer lectures, and about a fifth (19%) rely on online nutrition databases. Six percent of respondents are unashamed to admit they use no merchandising method whatsoever. Other responses: reward program, free magazines.

READ ON for even more date and insights.

Related: 2025 Retail Insights® 2025 Retail Universe for U.S. Premium Natural, Organic Foods, Supplements & Personal Care

Independent Retailers Sound Off: Wins & Worries

Expansions and Remodels 

About 7% of respondents told us they expanded or remodeled their stores last year. Expansions or remodels ranged from 250 to 3,000 square feet, and cost between $75 and $125 per square foot.

Departments Expanded or Remodeled

About two-thirds of expansions or remodels included the juice bar, café, deli, bakery, and prepared foods; refrigerated foods; and vitamins, herbs and supplements departments. About one- third of expansions and remodels addressed dry groceries, and non-foods and household products. Stores appeared satisfied with the frozen foods, produce, bulk, and personal care departments, as well as their services and practitioner areas, as none of these we expanded or remodeled last year.

Expansion and Remodeling Future Plans

Six percent of respondents plan to expand or remodel their stores or departments in 2025. Plans are more robust for the coming year compared to last year, with the minimum target 500 square feet, rising to a maximum 6,000 square feet. Retailers were less sure about per-square-foot costs, with none expecting to spend any less than $90 per square foot, and expressing concern that cost overruns could push costs above $200 per. The departments most often on the schedule for upgrades were vitamins and supplements department and the services and practitioner areas.

New Stores

Four percent of survey respondents told us they opened one new store last year and 6% intend to open one new store this year. No retailers closed any of their stores last year, and 2% reported planning to close one store this year.

Forecast Sales 2025

Related: 2025 Retail Insights® 2025 Retail Universe for U.S. Premium Natural, Organic Foods, Supplements & Personal Care

Independent Retailers Sound Off: Wins & Worries