Baby and Child-Specific Products in the United Arab Emirates

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

The rising popularity of products suitable for sensitive skin drives sales growth

Sales growth in baby and child-specific products is being spurred by rising demand for dermo-positioned products. Baby and child-specific sun care in particular has recently seen a raft of launches from pharma/therapeutic brands such as Cetaphil, La Roche-Posay and Sebamed and these products are gaining shelf space in chemists/pharmacies across the United Arab Emirates.

Baby wipes remains the largest category of baby and child-specific products

2019 saw baby wipes continue to account for the highest proportion of overall value sales in baby and child-specific products. The main appeal of these products is the convenience that they represent.

Well-known brands dominate as sales increasingly shift to e-commerce

Consumers in the United Arab Emirates tend to prefer to place their trust in well-known brands, especially when it comes to products that are to be used on their babies and young children. Indeed, well-known international brands tend to be favoured generally, with consumers particularly reluctant to risk using unknown products when it comes to baby and child-specific products.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

Sales of baby and child-specific products are now expected to grow by 2% in 2020 in 2019 constant value terms in light of the impact of COVID-19. This is in line with the expected 2% rise forecast for 2020 during research conducted at the end of 2019 before the spread of COVID-19.

Affected products within baby and child-specific products

Although the impact of COVID-19 on overall category sales remain minimal in 2020, it is likely that baby wipes will have benefited from the increased consumer awareness of the importance of maintaining the highest standards of personal hygiene. At the same time, some other types of baby and child-specific products may have experienced a slowdown in demand due to the reduction in the frequency with which people leave their homes with their babies or young children as many of the products in the category are purchased specifically on the basis that they offer greater convenience to parents when outside of the home.

Recovery and opportunities

With sales of baby and child-specific products unlikely to have been significantly affected by COVID-19, it is expected that the category will recover quickly from any negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown situation during the first half of 2020. Sales are expected to rise moderately, with the trends in evidence prior to the advent of COVID-19 likely to remain in effect for much of the forecast period.

Files are delivered directly into your account within a few minutes of purchase.