Three Million Reasons to Get Excited About the Baby Care Category

Baby Feeding

Baby Feeding is the largest part of the market, making up 48% of the total Baby category. Of this, just over half is baby milk, with the remainder being baby food[4]. 

Baby milk is the most brand-loyal segment, with 70% of shoppers more likely to switch stores rather than switch brands[2], so it’s important to have the top brands on shelf otherwise shoppers will go elsewhere. Aptamil is the number 1 brand with 46% share, followed by Cow & Gate with 31%, then SMA at 15% and HiPP Organic with 6%[4]. The good news here is that you can cover 92% of a very brand-loyal market just by stocking Aptamil, Cow & Gate and SMA. 

Stage 1 is the most important, followed by Stages 2 and 3, and larger stores should stock the ‘hungrier babies’ variants too. 83% of sales are milk powder[4], but bottles of ready-to-feed milk are important too, especially for impulse or distress purchases in more transient locations such as fuel forecourts. 

Baby food is more focused on age stage than on brand, so a product range that covers all the ages in multiple different formats will sell the best. A good range comprises pouches, jars, snacks and porridge (or baby rice). The biggest brands are Ellas Kitchen, Organix, Heinz, Kiddylicious and Cow & Gate. It’s worth remembering snacks for slightly older children too, such as Sunny raisins.

Baby Nappies

The nappies market is highly competitive, with discounters and supermarkets using their own label products to attract as many young families into their stores as possible. This means margins on nappies can sometimes be quite low, which makes commercial sense for large stores because the rest of the shopper’s basket makes up for it, but it can be a challenge for smaller stores with a lower breadth of range. That said, in the convenience channel there are Pampers £5.49 PMPs available that are attractive to both wholesalers and retailers, and these help Pampers to an 88% share of the convenience market[5].

In the wider UK market, Pampers is still by far the dominant nappies brand despite the intense own-label competition, with 54% of the total UK market[5]. The biggest trend in the nappies market is the shift from taped nappies into untaped or ‘pants’. For very small stores, taped nappies are still the core recommendation, but if you have enough space you should definitely range pants alongside the regular taped nappies. Start at Size 6, then 5, 4, 3 and 2. Pants are slightly more premium than standard, taped nappies, so you’ll grow your basket value by tempting shoppers to trade up.

Baby Wipes

The baby wipes category is quite straightforward… mostly. Huggies and Pampers are the two leading brands, and both offer good value products coming in at around £1 or even less for multipacks. Both brands also offer trade-ups to more premium options. Price is the first thing a shopper considers in their buying decision, followed by brand and whether they want a sensitive or a fragranced product.

That said… the third-largest brand in the UK is Waterwipes, whose products retail at a much higher price (usually around £3 or more). They have a highly loyal base of shoppers and they’re a great way to grow incremental sales if you have space for them on shelf.

Baby wipes aren’t just for babies – they’re used for many different purposes. As such, they have a relatively high rate of sale, and even stores with no baby care category at all should still consider having wipes in stock.

Baby Toiletries

Johnson’s Baby is synonymous with baby toiletries and unsurprisingly it’s the biggest brand in the UK, with a 37% share. There are trade-up options available too, however, including Childs Farm and Aveeno Baby, which are ranked 2 and 3 in the market respectively and combined together they match Johnsons’ market share[6].

Remember that baby toiletries aren’t just for babies. Cotton buds are multi-purpose, baby shampoo, baby bath and baby moisturiser are popular with some adults with sensitive skin, and baby powder and baby oil are both popular with grown-ups too (don’t use them at the same time though – they make a paste…).

Nappy and healing creams are important too, with Sudocrem and Bepanthen being the leading brands.

Children’s Medicines

Lots of products to talk about here, but by far the most important are Calpol Infant, Calpol Six-Plus, Nurofen for Children and Calprofen. Calpol is paracetamol-based, whilst Nurofen for Children and Calprofen are both built around ibuprofen, so it’s important to have both types in stock. 

Aside from these key SKUs, there are children’s versions of a number of different medicines, most notably Benylin cough remedies. Large and specialist stores can stock these alongside other range extensions including Vicks Vaporub, Calpol saline nasal spray, Calpol vapour plug, and other common children’s health care products such as gripe water, teething gel, head lice shampoo and children’s vitamins.

If you’re a DCS customer, you’re eligible to attend our Baby Care virtual event on Wednesday 23rd  March. Just get in touch with your DCS account manager for more details.

Sources:

1: IRI – Total Market – Value Sales – 52we 18/01/2020

2: Supplier manufacturer data (MSL Study, Danone)

3: Shopper IQ Advantage Data

4: IRI – Total Market – Value Sales – MAT: 18.09.2021

5: IRI – Diapers – Value Sales – L12M to Jan 2022

6: Nielsen – Baby Toiletries – Value Sales – MAT we 5th Feb 2022