The global wellness market has surpassed $2 trillion, fueled by a generational shift where health is no longer a hobby but a daily practice. But as the industry moves past January’s surge of motivation, many brands face a familiar challenge: the “February Slump,” when even the strongest New Year’s resolutions begin to break down.
While many brands look to promotions and pricing to retain customers, Create Wellness looks somewhere else entirely: the supply chain. By treating fulfillment as an extension of its products, Create Wellness is rewriting how wellness brands turn January momentum into long-term loyalty.
Here’s how they do it:
Understanding the “Maximalist”
Today’s wellness market is dominated by the “Maximalist Optimizer,” largely Gen Z and Millennial consumers who account for roughly 41% of annual wellness spend.
These customers aren’t casual shoppers. They’re research-driven, data-aware, and focused on outcomes. When something breaks, especially early, it creates friction not just in delivery, but in belief.
For them, a delayed shipment isn’t just inconvenient. It interrupts momentum and introduces doubt at the exact moment a new habit is forming.
“When a customer is motivated and ready to begin a new habit, a seamless delivery experience reinforces trust and consistency,” says Sienna McCormick, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Create Wellness. “If their product arrives on time and exactly as expected, it confirms they chose the right company to support their goals. That reliability turns a first-time customer into a long-term subscriber.”
The Psychology of “Day One”
At the core of Create’s strategy is a belief most brands overlook: a missed shipment is a broken habit.
Wellness products aren’t occasional indulgences. They’re daily commitments. Once a routine starts, tolerance for inconsistency drops fast.
“Customers treat wellness products as consistent essentials,” says McCormick. “As their habits become an important part of their day-to-day lives, tolerance for delays drops significantly. We’re seeing higher expectations around predictable shipping times and proactive communication.” For Maximalist consumers, convenience and consistency aren’t “nice to haves.” They’re part of the product experience.
Fulfillment as a Wellness Strategy
This understanding has pushed Create to rethink fulfillment not as a back-office function, but as a core part of the wellness experience itself.
“We’re investing in fulfillment as an extension of the wellness experience itself,” says McCormick. “When wellness becomes a daily priority, reliability matters as much as the product.”
That philosophy shows up in three operational priorities:
1. Protecting Efficacy: In functional nutrition, freshness is critical. Create Wellness emphasizes strict lot tracking and expiration management to ensure customers receive products with the quality they expect.
2. Seamless Continuity: With more consumers prioritizing wellness daily, Create Wellness designs its subscription experience to be simple. The strategy focuses on making the customer experience “effortless, dependable and supportive of their long-term habits.”
3. Proactive Transparency: When issues do arise, Create Wellness addresses them directly.
Does your logistics partner treat fulfillment as part of the product?
In the wellness industry, consistency is the ultimate retention tool. From temperature-controlled storage that protects product potency to automated lot tracking for strict expiration management, ShipMonk specializes in the high-stakes logistics of health and nutrition.
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How Create Wellness Protects the Habit at Scale
January is the ultimate stress test for wellness brands, bringing huge spikes in first-time subscribers, paired with new customer expectations.
The biggest challenge is handling that increase without sacrificing accuracy or speed. For Create Wellness, the challenge isn’t growth. It’s preserving consistency while growing.
“Our partnership with ShipMonk has been critical in managing the surge each year,” the team explains. “Forecasting partnership and operational flexibility help us absorb the volume increases while maintaining reliable delivery times and managing risks of service disruptions during the busiest time of the year.” Sienna McCormick, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Create Wellness
This approach aligns perfectly with ShipMonk’s philosophy on the merchant experience.
As Aras Kolya, ShipMonk’s Chief Revenue Officer, notes, “Fulfillment is a critical part of the customer experience. If you’re spending all your energy on acquisition but ignoring the post-click experience, you’re leaving money on the table. Our vision is to solve operational challenges for merchants so they can focus on growing their brands.”
The Future of Retention
The brands that win won’t be the loudest. They’ll be the most consistent. By treating fulfillment as part of the wellness experience itself, Create Wellness isn’t just shipping supplements. They’re protecting habits, reinforcing trust, and sustaining momentum long after January fades.
In the business of behavior change, consistency isn’t a KPI. It’s the product customers come back for.
Beat the February Slump with a supply chain built for loyalty
Don’t let seasonal spikes or shipping delays break your customers’ habits. Whether you are scaling a subscription box or managing a high-growth supplement brand, ShipMonk provides the operational flexibility and transparent pricing you need to scale without friction.
Get a Custom Fulfillment Quote for Your Wellness Brand >>
Frequently Asked Questions
ShipMonk is a tech-enabled third-party logistics (3PL) provider that helps ecommerce brands manage inventory, packing, and shipping. By integrating proprietary software with major ecommerce platforms, ShipMonk provides real-time visibility and automates the fulfillment process, allowing brand owners to focus on growth rather than logistics.
Yes. ShipMonk offers specialized fulfillment solutions tailored to the health and nutrition, apparel and accessories, and beauty industries. Key features for these brands include:
–Climate-Controlled Storage: Essential for protecting temperature-sensitive vitamins, supplements, and serums.
–Expiration Date & Lot Tracking: Strict management of “First-In, First-Out” (FIFO) inventory to ensure product freshness and compliance with safety regulations.
–Subscription Box Expertise: Seamless handling of recurring orders, kitting, and assembly for brands focused on long-term customer loyalty.
A robust 3PL like ShipMonk uses forecasting and operational flexibility to absorb sudden volume increases. With a network of multiple fulfillment centers and automated warehouses, they maintain reliable delivery times and accuracy even during the busiest months of the year
Absolutely. ShipMonk supports “brand-elevating” packaging, including custom boxes, branded stickers, gift messaging, and unique dunnage to create a memorable unboxing experience that reinforces brand identity.
