Looking at the current diaper industry, under the influence of multiple factors such as the slowdown in the birth rate, the new crown epidemic, and frequent upstream increases, the market scale is obviously shrinking, but there are still new opportunities for development. With the change of the new generation of young parents' concept of parenting and the improvement of consumption level, the driving force of the industry has shifted from demographic dividend to consumption upgrade. For merchants with limited growth and limited living space, it may be a way to break through the iterative subdivision of categories.
In recent years, the large size and high growth rate of pull-up pants have long become the consensus of the industry. Behind the booming sales of pull-up pants is the demand of the two main user groups of older babies and obese babies that cannot be ignored and is increasing year by year. Kantar Worldpanel data shows that in the 52 weeks ending December 3, 2021, more than 60% of China's baby diaper market is contributed by babies over 1 year old. At the same time, with the increase in the number of older babies and the prevalence of obesity among children aged 0-6 across the country①, the pull-up pants market will still have a considerable growth trend in the future.
来源：凯度消费者指数全国婴儿样组
While the market size of pull-up pants is becoming more and more prominent, the scale of premature baby diapers is also growing rapidly, but the volume is small. According to the data of Amojing, combining the two major e-commerce platforms of Tmall and Taobao, the sales of premature baby diapers in 2021 will be 61,200 yuan, a growth rate of more than 50 times compared with the previous year, but it is still very large compared with pull-up pants. gap. It is worth noting that merchants can also look for opportunities in more subdivided tracks: taking pull-up pants as an example, relevant research data shows that XXL+ (XXL size, XXXL size) is the fastest-growing size in the pull-up pants market Number ②; Mothers of children aged 1-3 have a certain degree of product loyalty and care about appearance ③……
In addition to product size, packaging specification is also a breakthrough point worth noting. According to Kantar Worldpanel data, as of 52 weeks to December 3, 2021, large-package diapers with a single pack of more than 40 pieces in the diaper market accounted for most of the market share, while small-package diapers with 1-10 pieces The growth rate is astonishing. The reason is that due to the rigid demand and frequent use of diapers, large-package diapers have always been the first choice for parents to stock up in the past, occupying most of the market share. Nowadays, with the upgrading of maternal and child consumption demand, the demand for special scenarios such as portable travel, baby swimming, and new product trials has supported the sales of small-package diapers. In this context, developing new products in small packages around different usage scenarios may become a new growth idea for the brand.
来源：凯度消费者指数全国婴儿样组
In terms of price, brands can also carry out product segmentation according to the needs of different groups. In first- and second-tier cities, many exquisite mothers prefer high-end products, and are willing to pay for high-premium and high-value-added products such as black technology. Optimistic about the prospects of its high-end products. On the other hand, in the offline visits of the maternal and child industry observation in the past two years, we can also find that many domestic brands have penetrated into the sinking market with high cost-effective products.
Under the fierce competition in the diaper market, category segmentation is indeed an opportunity worth grasping, but the large number of entrants and intensified competition are the ultimate problems that all new outlets need to face. To successfully win out of the industry reshuffle, companies still need to continue Product iteration and R & D innovation, relying on excellent quality and advanced technology to support the brand's competition barriers.
Reference materials:
① According to the monitoring data of 'Report on Nutrition and Chronic Disease Status of Chinese Residents (2020)', the overweight and obesity rates of children and adolescents under 6 years old in my country are 19% and 10.4%, respectively, and the incidence of mild obesity in the 6-8 month age group is relatively low. higher.
② Kantar Worldpanel Research shows that, taking the 52 weeks ending December 2, 2020 as a comparison sample, among the changes in the penetration rate of pull-up pants for each size in the 52 weeks ending December 3, 2021, XXL and XL Yards and XXXL yards are the number of yards ranked first, second and third in growth rate respectively.
③ According to the survey data of iResearch's '2022 White Paper on China's New Maternal and Infant Consumption', mothers with babies aged 1-3 mainly focus on diapers 'the design of pull-up pants/diapers is good-looking' and 'accustomed to using this product' .