- Contents
- *Scope and Themes
- What you need to know
- Definition
- Diapers and training pants
- Wipes and moist towelettes
- Baby care needs
- Data sources
- Sales data
- Consumer survey data
- Consumer qualitative research
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
What you need to know
After several years of effectively flat sales growth, the $7.8 billion disposable baby products market has posted gains in 2014, with birth and fertility rates beginning to stabilize and rising consumer confidence. Looking forward, Mintel’s research suggests that key opportunities for new product introductions and innovations include more natural and customizable products, and others that focus on relaxation or help babies sleep. Research also shows that many parents associate powerful emotions such as joy, pride, stress, guilt and uncertainty with baby care products, suggesting many inroads for connecting with consumers.
This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Disposable Baby Products—US, April 2014 and previous reports with this same title in April 2013, March 2012, March 2011, February 2010, October 2007, November 2005, and September 2002. It also builds on Mintel’s Oh Baby—US, February 2009 report.
Definition
Mintel defines the US disposable baby products market as consisting of the following product categories:
Baby care needs
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Baby soaps
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Baby ointments/creams
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Baby powder
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Baby lotions
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Baby shampoo
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Baby oil
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Petroleum jelly
Value figures throughout this report are at retail selling prices (rsp) excluding sales tax unless otherwise stated.
Sales data
Market Size and Forecast, Segment Performance: based on Information Resources Inc., InfoScan Reviews; US Census Bureau, Economic Census; Progressive Grocer's Consumer Expenditure Study
Retail Channels: based on SymphonyIRI Group InfoScan® Reviews; U.S. Census Bureau, Economic Census; except supermarket and drugstore sales, which are based on SymphonyIRI Group InfoScan® Reviews
Leading Companies and Brand Share: based on MULO sales data from SymphonyIRI Group InfoScan® Reviews. MULO is defined as Multi Outlet, representative of the following channels: total U.S. Grocery, Mass, Total U.S. Drug, Total Walmart, Dollar, Military, and Club
Consumer survey data
For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through Lightspeed GMI to explore consumer attitudes and behaviors toward disposable baby products. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in January 2015 among a sample of 893 parents aged 18+ with access to the internet and at least one child in the household aged 3 and under.
Mintel selects survey respondents by gender, age, household income, and region so that they are proportionally representative of the US adult population using the internet. Mintel also slightly oversamples, relative to the population, respondents that are Hispanic or Black to ensure an adequate representation of these groups in our survey results and to allow for more precise parameter estimates from our reported findings. Please note that Mintel surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in the survey results.
While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (white, black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.
Mintel has also analyzed data from Experian Marketing Services, using the Simmons NCS (National Consumer Study) and the Simmons NHCS (National Hispanic Consumer Study). The NHCS was carried out during August 2013-September 2014 and the results are based on the sample of 2,414 adults aged 18+ with children aged 3 and younger in the household, with results weighted to represent the US adult population.
Consumer qualitative research
In addition to quantitative consumer research, Mintel also conducted an online discussion group among adults aged 18+ who have children aged four and underlying in the household. This discussion group was asynchronous (ie, not run in real time), functioning like a blog or bulletin board, with questions remaining posted for a predetermined period of time. This method allows participants to respond reflectively, at their leisure, or to log off to think about any issues raised, and return later to respond. Participants were recruited from Lightspeed GMI’s online consumer panel with responses collected in January 2015. Relevant quotes are included verbatim, and as such, include typos and other grammatical errors as they originally appeared.
Abbreviations
The following is a list of abbreviations used in this report.
| CPI | Consumer Price Index |
| GNPD | Global New Products Database |
| MULO | Multi Outlet, representative of the following channels: total US Grocery, Mass, total US Drug, total Walmart, Dollar, Military, and Club |
| NHCS | National Consumer Study/National Hispanic Consumer Study (Experian Marketing Services) |
| POP | Point of purchase |
| P&G | Proctor and Gamble |
| QR | Quick Read |
| Rsp | Retail selling price |
Terms
For the purposes of this report, Mintel uses the following definitions of specific baby lifestages:
| Newborn | Refers to babies younger than 1 month of age |
| Infant | Babies up to 12 months (1 year) old |
| Toddler | Children from 13 months to 36 months (1-3 years) old |
| Preschooler | Children 3-5 years old |
Generations, if discussed within this report, are defined as:
| World War II/ Swing generations | Members of the WWII generation were born in 1932 or before and are aged 83 or older in 2015. Members of the Swing Generation were born between 1933 and 1945 and are aged 70 to 82 in 2015. |
| Baby Boomers | The generation born between 1946 and 1964. In 2015, Baby Boomers are between the ages of 51 and 69. |
| Generation X | The generation born between 1965 and 1976. In 2015, Gen Xers are between the ages of 39 and 50. |
| Millennials* | Born between 1977 and 1994, Millennials are aged 21 to 38 in 2015. |
| iGeneration | Born between 1995 and 2007, members of iGen are aged 8 to 20 in 2015. |
| Emerging generation | The newest generation began in 2008 as the annual number of births declined sharply with the recession. In 2015 members of this as yet unnamed generation are under age 8. |
* also known as Generation Y or Echo Boomers
In order to provide an inflation-adjusted price value for markets, Mintel uses the CPI to deflate current prices. The CPI is defined as follows:
| CPI | The Consumer Price Index is a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services.
The CPI and its components are typically used to adjust other economic series for price changes and to translate these series into inflation-free dollars. Examples of series adjusted by the CPI include retail sales, hourly and weekly earnings, and components of the national income and product accounts. In addition, and in Mintel reports, the CPI is used as a deflator of the value of the consumer’s dollar to find its purchasing power. The purchasing power of the consumer's dollar measures the change in the value to the consumer of goods and services that a dollar will buy at different dates. The CPI is generally the best measure for adjusting payments to consumers when the intent is to allow consumers to purchase, at today’s prices, a market basket of goods and services equivalent to one that they could purchase in an earlier period. It is also the best measure to use to translate retail sales into real or inflation-free dollars. Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics definition. |
