THE STATE OF THE CATEGORY

THE baby and toddler market has got tougher for neighbourhood stores since last year, says Matt Stanton, DCS Group’s head of insight, but get it right, and it’s still good business. Stanton quotes IRI and Nielsen data to March showing symbol and independent retailers’ sales of nappies, baby toiletries and baby milk falling behind inflation, baby food holding steady, baby wipes just ahead, and children’s medicines up by more than half on a year ago.

Our troubled economy is impacting how consumers shop the categories, but baby and toddler care remains a major traffic builder and secondary purchase generator. Go-ahead retailers are reaping the rewards by making their stores either the first port of call for distress purchases, or the regular ‘go-to’ for key items.

The retailers we spoke to are doing well with their baby and toddler care, but what they stock varies widely. Vrajesh Patel, at Londis Dagenham, has an extensive range, and it pays dividends. “We have a Morrisons and two Asdas nearby, but people come to us because of our selection,” he says.

At Spar Weston in Bath, Somerset, Darshan Balendra’s range is confined to nappies and wipes, while Ushma Amin, at Londis North Cheam in Sutton, south London, only has baby wipes and medicines.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN BABY FOOD?

“CONVENTIONAL baby food sales have declined,” says Matt Goddard, managing director at Organix, “but organic continues to be the biggest growth driver, accounting for more than two-thirds (68%) of total baby food spend. Higher prices have driven category value growth, with multipack sales increasing. Baby finger foods and toddler snacks are still the fastest-growing category, outperforming the market and generating 90% of growth.”

Patel is less convinced:

“People here are cutting back on organic baby food and going for cheaper options because they see it as expensive. We’re also seeing increased demand for specialist products like halal baby food, but none of our wholesalers list it.”

Eighty-six per cent of full-time working families with young children plan their shopping in advance, and shop in stores they know stock their usual brands.

Babycare shoppers are driven by product quality, and many are brand loyal.

Less than half of young families’ extra spend is on the baby category. Attracting these shoppers will grow sales across stores’ whole ranges.

Parents make specific journeys to buy nappies, more than many other categories, and will visit a store they know has their usual product or brand in stock. When babycare shoppers can’t find their usual product, three in five will go elsewhere and take their entire basket with them.

Gen Z consumers in their mid-20s are now becoming parents. They are hyper-connected and tech-savvy, and live on social media, so retailers need to shout about their range and offers on different platforms.

Top Tips

Top tips for baby and toddler merchandising

Not enough room for every baby and toddler category? Focus on the products that work in your store. Ushma Amin, at Londis North Cheam, just stocks baby wipes and medicines. “We sold nappies originally, but they didn’t shift,” she says. “Our core babycare products now are baby wipes, which we keep with the other wipes, and baby medicines, such as Calpol, which we keep behind the till with the other medicines. They’re distress purchases, and we’re the first port of call.”

Stock the brands shoppers recognise. “The main brands we stock are Ella’s Kitchen, Organix, Pampers, Johnson’s, Huggies and Calpol,” says Vrajesh Patel.

Merchandise products well. Patel has baby and toddler care at the back of the store, in a one-metre bay with seven shelves. Nappies are at the bottom, then wipes, then bathcare and babycare, and baby food is on the top. He keeps Calpol behind the counter with the medicines.

Keep up with the trends. The biggest development in nappies, says DCS’s Matt Stanton, is the shift from taped nappies to untaped, or ‘pants’. For smaller stores, taped nappies are still the core recommendation. Stores with more space should range pants alongside regular taped nappies.

Retailer View

Vrajesh Patel, Londis Dagenham, east London

“WE stock nappies, wipes, bath and babycare, baby food and medicines. The best way to make your store the local go-to for baby products is to offer an extended range, but the ones you stock need to perform, like the other categories.

“Here, people are cutting back on buying brands as they’re more expensive, so own-brand nappy sales, for instance, have grown in the past year. We’ve stopped selling powdered milk because the high price was making people steal it. We kept it behind the counter, but don’t stock it now.

“Another reason local retailers aren’t expanding their baby and toddler offer is that wholesalers aren’t getting the products in because the sales are quite low, so they don’t keep them in the warehouse.

“There is a specialist supplier that covers the full range, but its minimum order is £2,000, which isn’t worthwhile for us.”

babycare LAUNCHES

Organix has added three new products to its Organix Kids toddler snacking range

Organix Strawberry & Apple Puffcorn is for children from 12 months. They are baked, not fried, with no hard kernels, and nothing artificial.

Pic-Nix combines organic fruit and vegetables in Plum & Carrot and Plum & Tomato.

Organix Kids Crunchy Waves are nutritious snacks for lunch boxes.