Gambling Brands Expand Beyond Betting, Embrace Beauty and Wellness

23 September 2026

The rapid convergence of beauty, health, and wellness into a single consumer spending category is driving gambling brands to strengthen their presence beyond betting. These brands increasingly place their bets in lifestyle and softer, more broadly attractive content.

Beauty, Health, and Wellness: A Growing Market

A new McKinsey study shows consumers increasingly treat beauty, health, and wellness as a single category. When asked about budgeting, 87% of survey respondents understood these as one spend area, up from 65% just two years earlier.

The June study was conducted jointly by the consulting firm and the prestigious Cosmetic Executive Women, Inc. (CEW) beauty society. It surveyed 1,200 consumers, plus 150 beauty-focused executives.

Consumers are prioritizing the integration. Beauty and wellness are no longer just personal services. They can be momentary escapes or ways to deal with stress, said Silvia Kawas, Walmart's senior buying manager for beauty and personal care.

The study's results are showing up in-store, in 2023 alone:

Target launched the Target Beauty Studio

Sephora revamped its online presence to prominently feature a section for wellness and skincare products

Ulta Beauty launched wellness boutiques in 100 locations

and big consumer packaged goods players aren't sitting idly. Analysts cited the rise of vitamin D supplements as a notable wellness phenomenon.

Skin care sales grew 6% in the first half of 2023, per market researchers at NPD.

So financial heavyweights are well aware of the opportunities in the wellness market. Consumers increasingly see the overlap of health, beauty, and self-care.

Responding to this trend, large consumer packaged goods companies are positioning themselves for growth. P&G paid $1.8 billion for supplements brand Ritual in March 2023, for example.

But with that high consumer interest and competition comes consumer weariness. Wellness is everywhere.

Casper and Oura partner to track sleep

PE Nation, an acronym for Physical Energy, a Sydney-based global wellness company, launched a new activewear line.

So brands need ways to stand out. That starts with branding that delights and then points to a recommendation or purchase.

Beauty and wellness consumers are sophisticated.

A McKinsey executive's list of predicted consumer behavior focused on a mindset switch. Consumers want a fun experience, a virtual option for trying products, even customer-facing product visualization. They are "knowledgeable" and don't want a "hard sell." These are customer dollars that want more "refined and engaging" than any pushy sales pitch, the study suggests.

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At the same time, the beauty and wellness categories are getting crowded with new brands, each promising health and wellness for all. That means competition for the same discretionary spending that once went primarily to single-service providers.

But big successes demand a financial plan for strategic investment. It is clear that established brands will work to explain, demonstrate value, or showcase quality to get the attention they need.

Hence, if a wellness brand wants to earn a place within consumers' budgets, it needs a clear value proposition, and that means brands identifying opportunities and communicating them effectively.

Influencer Spotlight

Influencer partnerships and endorsement deals both factor into the success story. Beauty is no different. These collaborations help brands break out, sell more, and win the hearts and minds of consumers.

Better yet, they create word-of-mouth power, which could be particularly helpful in the wellness segment. Make sure to track engagement metrics and content performance.

As per Nielsen's December 2023 report, gambling has three core "driving factors":

Potential upside: if a person thinks an event has upside, that drives interest

The culture of sports betting is established

People enjoy predictions and analysis

Nielsen found that a key determinant of consumer behavior is their trust in experts. Participants acknowledged they valued predictions and were more likely to engage with content that provided them. Nielsen found this was true across demographics.

Knowledge and Engagement

But then there's the matter of knowledge. Thanks to the rise of fantasy sports and sports analytics, betting has become a pastime that requires some specialized knowledge. For instance, understanding of sports rules, statistics, and culture matter to the enthusiast.

And that requires content marketing. If a brand is going to break through, they need to create original, compelling content that resonates. And that requires authentic voices that create moments of recognition, surprise, and emotion which drives engagement.

These are highly competitive categories. Beauty players are gaining retail share every quarter, challenging established competitors. Health and wellness is, as McKinsey points out, becoming ever-more-integrated, social, and holistic. Fitness is also diversifying, with new entrants coming into the market.

Retargeting needs strategic consideration. If a gambling brand or even a beauty company is going to make shopping seamless, it needs to find customers when they are actively interested.

That means smart retargeting, something that re-engages a consumer who showed interest but didn't complete a purchase.

And it means making the digital experience, whether on mobile or website, personalized and frictionless. Research shows that at this point, the costs of poor user experience in e-commerce are significant.

And shopping cart abandonment is particularly challenging for e-commerce businesses. Studies show that in e-commerce, nearly 70% of carts are abandoned, many due to checkout friction.