Baby and Child-Specific Products in the United Kingdom

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

Demand for transparency continues to be seen amid move towards healthier lifestyles

As adults become more ingredient savvy and take more notice of what goes on their skin, this continues to extend to the products they buy for their children. Brands with natural and organic credentials, or that are approved by dermatologists and paediatricians, were factors increasingly appealing to British parents, and brands that convey and promote these credentials through transparent messaging continued to perform well at the end of the review period.

Luxury beauty for babies is booming

Birth rates continued to decline in 2019, indicating that the current birthing generation are having fewer children than previous generations. This, combined with rising disposable incomes, means millennial parents were willing to spend more on high-quality products, particularly those without harmful or toxic ingredients, at the end of the review period.

Leading brands face pressure from smaller players

Johnson & Johnson continued to lead baby and child-specific products with its Johnson’s Baby brand, followed by Procter & Gamble with its Pampers brand. Both companies again saw their shares decline in 2019, although Johnson & Johnson’s smaller natural brand Aveeno continues to perform well.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

Sales of baby and child-specific products are now expected to grow by 2% in 2020 at constant 2019 prices in light of the impact of COVID-19. This compares to the previously forecast marginal decline for 2020 during research conducted at the end of 2019 before the spread of COVID-19.

Affected products within baby and child-specific products

While stockpiling will likely have resulted in an uptick in demand for baby and child-specific products in the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales in many areas of the category will likely normalise over the rest of 2020. However, some products will perform notably better than expected, with baby wipes, generally now seeing falling sales each year, halting this decline at least for one year in 2020 as demand comes from these products being used as an alternative to all-purpose wipes as increased adult use of baby wipes is seen, particularly in the context of additional health considerations of safeguarding children and the home environment in times of uncertainty.

Recovery and opportunities

After the much improved performance now expected for 2020, baby and child-specific products will record a marginal decline in sales at constant 2019 prices in 2021. However, this will be close to the 2021 performance originally forecast at the end of last year, with annual growth rates in the rest of the forecast period expected to remain in line with previous expectations.

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