Walgreens Boots Alliance may lead top online retailers in the Health & Beauty category by online sales. However, that success has come despite struggles with its physical stores, many of which are still expected to close as Walgreens prepares to go private in a reported $10 billion deal with the private equity firm Sycamore Partners.
Nevertheless, at the top of the online retailer rankings by ecommerce sales in the Health & Beauty category in the U.S., several trends are evident.
The first is that — despite widespread pharmacy closures in the U.S. — one of the sector’s biggest names is still finding growth opportunities through web sales. In addition, Health & Beauty brands that were founded decades ago without being reliant on physical stores have maintained success in the digital age. Third, these merchants sit atop one of the healthiest categories in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 2000 Database, which ranks North America’s top online retailers by web sales.
Who are the top online retailers in Health & Beauty?
Among the top online retailers in Health & Beauty, No. 1 is one of the best-recognized names in the U.S. pharmacy space, Walgreens Boots Alliance. Walgreens has faced challenges over the past decade at its chain of pharmacy locations — and it’s not alone.
A study published in 2024 in the journal Health Affairs assessed from 2010 to 2021, U.S. pharmacy closures outnumbered new openings. In total, the authors found that 29% of almost 89,000 retail U.S. pharmacies operating during that period ultimately shut down. Walgreens competitors CVS and Rite Aid also closed locations over that period, with Rite Aid eventually filing for bankruptcy in 2023. The past decade has also seen Walgreens’ market value fall to less than $8 billion after rising above $100 billion in 2015.
So what kept Walgreens afloat? While online sales at CVS remained flat year over year and Rite Aid’s declined 5% in 2024, Walgreens’ ecommerce activity remained resilient.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. ranks No. 14 overall in the Top 2000. Digital Commerce 360 projects that Walgreen’s online sales will reach $10.38 billion in 2025.
Walgreens Boots Alliance web sales by year
Those web sales are happening as Walgreens still expects to close more stores. The company shared in 2024 that it might close up 25% of its 8,600 stores by 2027. However, it has also been staffing up on leadership for its future, hiring new executives in merchandising and ecommerce in 2025 while pushing ahead with online offerings. Along with Walgreens’ Q1 2025 earnings results, CEO Tim Wentworth highlighted the expansion of its virtual care service, which as of January reached “30 states, available to nearly 90% of the U.S. population.”
Other Health & Beauty leaders
Behind Walgreens are two other names with long histories.
No. 2 in Health & Beauty is iHerb, Inc. The company, which was started in 1996 and ranks No. 28 in the Top 2000, saw $3.57 billion in web sales in 2024. It was the only company other than Walgreens to exceed $3 billion in the Health & Beauty category that year.
Moreover, the vitamin and supplement retailer has an expansive global reach. Among only five online retailers in the Top 2000 that did more than $1 billion in web sales and relied on sales outside the U.S. for more than half of their totals in 2024, iHerb claimed the largest share at 75.2%.
At No. 3 in Health & Beauty, Amway was early to ecommerce in 1999. However, the multi-level marketing company, which dates back to 1959, established itself — like Walgreens — long before ecommerce was an option. Unlike Walgreens, though, Amway built its name by growing networks of individual sellers to take its products straight to their friends and colleagues. Amway ranks No. 34 overall in the Top 2000 and saw $2.64 billion in web sales in 2024.
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