In the past few years, children’s personal care (CPC) product sales have fluctuated greatly, with total US retail sales reaching $686 million in 2013. While the product types in this segment may be considered personal care staples for maintaining daily hygiene, parents do not necessarily view the children’s version of each personal care product as being “must haves” for their children. The biggest challenge for this market is that parents struggle to see the value in certain CPC products when the adult versions offer the same benefits and can be used by more than one person.
However, while younger parents of both genders are more willing than their older counterparts to pay more for added functional benefits, it’s especially true for younger dads aged 18-34. Dads are interested in added functionalities that not only benefit their child, but help make parenting tasks easier. Toothpaste with cold/flu fighting capabilities add yet another line of defense for helping keep kids healthy during the cold/flu season—a product 69% of dads in this demographic would be willing to pay more for.
Dads 18-34 are also more interested in:
• Body lotion that heals skin and/or soothes muscles after playing sports outside (64% of dads would be interested in and/or pay extra for this product feature, compared to 37% parents overall and 38% of moms in this age group).
• Bath and shower products with sun protection benefits (a favorite of 60% of dads in contrast with 40% of 18-34-year-old moms and 35% of parents who’ve purchased a children’s personal care product in the past six months).
• Toothbrush sanitizers (More than half of dads would pay more for this product feature versus 36% of moms in this age bracket and 37% of parents overall).
Since younger dads seem more willing to shell out money for added benefits, the market could benefit from greater outreach to them in marketing and advertising activities. Younger dads are most likely to say that child-specific personal care products make it more likely that their children will use them without having to be told to. In addition, brands will have to continue integrating new product functionalities and benefits to better differentiate CPC products from adult iterations. Products with preventive health benefits and tween-specific products are strong opportunities for this market.
Gaby Elani is a home and personal care analyst. She leverages her knowledge across the home and personal care series of reports, as well as related household, consumer packaged goods, and beauty reports.
