Mintel shares baby product innovation trends at 2020 Tmall Golden Baby Festival

(Shanghai, May 21, 2020) Mintel, the world’s leading market intelligence agency, was invited to attend the 2020 Tmall Baby Products & Parenting Summit and the Golden Baby Awards Ceremony. Ms. Leng Shan, Mintel’s Director of Insights, North Asia, was present at the event and shared insights titled, “The Global Baby Product Innovation Trends”.

“Mintel, the world’s leading market intelligence agency, is always committed to helping brands understand the consumer market, discover future business opportunities, and identify innovation areas,” said Ms. Leng Shan. “I’m pleased to be able to attend the Tmall Golden Baby Awards Ceremony. By sharing our insights, we hope to spark inspiration for innovation on Tmall and among baby brand merchants on the platform, and help them stay ahead of the curve in the market.”

“The Tmall Baby Products & Parenting Summit is designed to build a communication platform for Tmall baby product merchants,” said Xi Mei, General Manager, Tmall Mother and Babycare Products. “Mintel is known for its deep consumer insights. By sharing forward-looking insights into the baby product market and offering the new authoritative analysis, Mintel helps our merchants more accurately judge the consumer behavior in the post-pandemic era.”

“Mintel is known for its deep consumer insights. By sharing forward-looking insights into the baby product market and offering the new authoritative analysis, Mintel helps our merchants more accurately judge the consumer behavior in the post-pandemic era.”
Xi Mei, General Manager, Tmall Mother and Babycare Products.

Leng Shan shared at the event four major trends on global baby product innovations in detail:

No Sacrifice, No Trade-offs

Most modern women need to take into consideration both parenting and working, and are under enormous pressure. Meanwhile, under the influence of the rising power of women and the modern concept of parenting, young moms prefer to “stand up for themselves” rather than have an obsession with sacrificing for families.

85% of Chinese moms say that “have me time” is the most effective way to increase happiness, according to Mintel data. Meanwhile, research from Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD) shows that from the product perspective, nearly a half of new baby products launched in the recent three years in developed countries such as the United States and Japan have “convenient” claims, a relatively high proportion vs. merely 30% in China.

“Baby products and brands are required to innovate on new solutions that can alleviate burdens on moms, relieve stress, and even create emotional pleasure and make moms feel more confident,” said Leng Shan.

Escalate Trusts
When shopping and buying, people are eager to actively get information and choose the most authentic and reliable products. When it comes to choosing baby products, parents are more circumspect. However, as a barrage of plausible information emerges in the digital age and transparency of real information need to be strengthened, parents are at sea and insecure.

Consumers hunger for natural and also pay attention to ingredients, while trusting technology. 78% of Chinese parents with children aged 0-3 say that a “safe” baby care product should be “made of natural ingredients”, according to Mintel data. When buying foods and drinks for kids, 62% of Chinese parents say, “ingredients/supplements” are an important consideration. 48% of Chinese parents with children aged 0-3 say, they “have more trust or the same trust in baby care products with high technological content, compared with products with a clear detailed Nutrition Facts label.”

Meanwhile, research from Mintel GNPD shows that, among the new infant and baby products worldwide launched in the past year, products with “no additive/preservative”, “no nipagin ester” and “no added sugar” claims have the highest proportion in all “no” claims. These three claims have been ramping up for the past three years.

“Products and brands need leverage these two dimensions, i.e. ‘natural’ and ‘technology’, make them mutually supportive, guide consumers to find product facts from an ‘appropriate’ set of information, and make right choices,” said Leng Shan.

Little Me
People continue to pursue a high-quality life and increasingly exquisite lifestyles, are passionate about experiences and exploration, and follow fashion trends. These attitudes toward life have come to penetrate into children-related consumption. When buying basic necessities of life for children, parents will unconsciously make choices to their liking.

Consumers enjoy new experiences and trends and are willing to explore life. 81% of Chinese consumers say that “rather than remain unchanged, I prefer to try new experiences”, and this proportion rises to 84% among the post-90/95 generation, according to Mintel data. 80% of Chinese consumers say that leisure activities should add “adventures” to their own life. 92% of Chinese moms say that it is important to let go of children and allow them to experience something.

“Brands need take full account of adult’s consumer preference and trends in infant and baby product design, and properly include ‘pursue a delicate life’, ‘be keen on experiencing and exploring’ and ‘follow fashion trends’ into product innovation,” said Leng Shan.

You & Me
In today’s fast-paced modern society, parents spend less time with children and are eager for more opportunities to exchange emotions with children. Fathers also assume more responsibility to take care of children, and the bonds between fathers and sons are deepened. At another level, kids similarly have sensitive emotions and desire to be accompanied by parents.

Consumers take seriously communicating with kids, and children also desire to be accompanied. Among Chinese parents with children aged 0-3, 64% agree that “fathers are always overlooked by baby product retailers” (14% strongly agree, 50% agree). Moreover, 72% of male parents say that “Child care is more important than career development”.

“More effective shared experiences and healthier emotions of babies can drive building better emotional bonds,” said Leng Shan, “Baby products shall help parents make better emotional bonds in two aspects, i.e. ‘improve upon effectively accompanying kids’ and ‘focus on the emotional health of babies’”.

Media interviews with Leng Shan, Mintel’s Director of Insights, North Asia, , are available on request from the Mintel Press Office.