The market for clean, natural baby-care products is booming, thanks to millennial moms.
By Rieva Lesonsky
Vox has launched a section called The Goods, which covers the “stuff” Americans spend money on (products and services). It’s free—and worth checking out if you want to track trends.
Last week it featured an article about how millennial parents take a different approach to the products they buy for their babies—especially the soap and bath products. This is an industry that has long been dominated by big businesses (Johnson & Johnson has the most market share), but that is changing.
Babies, as we’ve mentioned before, are a big market and one that continues to grow. Overall, 3,853,472 babies were born in the U.S. last year. In 2016, 1.2 million millennial women had their first babies, Pew Research reports. The same year, Pew says, there were 17.3 million millennial moms—and scientist Trisha Bonner, chief of staff and strategic initiatives at Johnson & Johnson, told Vox there’s an unprecedented “global-ness about how they think and act, and what they like.”
What they’re thinking is they want kinder, gentler products for their babies. Vox says it’s part of a “push toward so-called ‘clean,’ ‘natural’ products from companies people perceive as trustworthy.” Parents are seeking the types of products for their kids that they use for themselves, which Vox says leads to “a robust baby product market with more brands and more choice than ever.”
According to market research company Euromonitor International, the sector of the skin care market specifically targeting babies and children hit $344.8 million last year.
Vox says “aspirational, ‘clean’ brands are stepping in” to claim market share in this hot market. We’re in for decades of millennials (and Generation Z moms) giving birth, so if you have a good idea for fresh baby products, this is a great time to try to bring them to market.
Baby stock photo by ANURAK PONGPATIMET/Shutterstock
