Practice of toilet training as a crucial milestone for toddlers favours baby training diaper sales, says Monalisa Rath

A majority of parents are increasingly transitioning to training pants from regular diapers to inculcate toilet independence in toddlers. Rising demand for baby training diapers in future is not surprising, given that parents are aware of the importance of 'elimination communication' and associated cues to nourish self-help skills in toddlers. Across different regions and cultures, parents handle the process of toilet training via an array of techniques and introduce it to their toddlers at different ages. This, in turn, is estimated to set the tone of the global baby training diaper market for a promising growth by 2022.

Ever-increasing attention to toddler health is pushing the adoption of baby training diapers in 2019 and beyond. As parents consider toilet training to be a crucial aspect of self- directed learning paradigms for infants, sales of baby training diaper are likely to witness significant leap during the assessment period of 2017-2022.

What does future of baby training diaper market look like?

Global sales of baby training diaper grew at over 6 per cent year on year in 2017, demonstrating the rising preference for training pants over regular diapers. Customers will continue to show a palpable inclination towards ultra-absorbent baby training diapers over the super-absorbent ones. This can be gauged from the fact that global sales of ultra-absorbent baby training diapers exceeded $12,200 million in 2018, up from $11,400 million in 2017. Users are looking for ultra-absorbent baby training diapers with additional features like superior leak guards so that the diapers absorb and lock the wetness and effectively last longer.

Users are most likely to get training diapers for babies aged between 6 and 18 months as the average age range of toilet training is11-18 months worldwide. In addition, demand for baby training diapers for infants aged between 18 and 48 months is also witnessing a considerable upswing as some parents are apprehensive regarding starting toilet training before 18 months.

Supermarkets to face stiff competition from online channels

Customers will increasingly head towards supermarkets for purchasing baby training diapers at reasonable prices. Increased preference to shop from supermarkets is mainly driven by location of these stores in close proximity to residential areas, which makes it easier for customers to make bulk purchases.Rising per capita disposable income across developing economies is resulting in increased customer spending on luxury goods, creating sustained growth opportunities for manufacturers of baby training diapers.

To get rid of the hassle of physical shopping, users are resorting to e-commerce sites to shop from a wide-range of varieties and avail of favorable offers and discounts. E-commerce has been on the scene for more than two decades and is transforming the overall process of buying and selling baby products, including baby training diapers. E-commerce sites hold multiple advantages over other sales channels in terms of product availability, pricing, transportation patterns and many other overriding factors. While modern trade and convenience stores will continue to steer sales of baby training nappy diapers, sales via online channelsare estimated to grow at an impressive compound annual growth rate of over 6 per cent during the forecast period.

Focus on commercialising safe & sustainable training pants to satisfy users

Sensing user bias in favour of safe and sustainable training pants, manufacturers are focusing on developing premium eco-friendly and disposable training pants with contoured fit and enhanced cloth-like feel. Manufacturers are also focusing on developing ultra-thin baby training diapers with unmatched absorption capabilities to effectively meet the requirements of an effective toilet training.

Taking into consideration the sensitivity of baby skin, manufacturers are using plant-based polylactic acid for developing the inner and outer layers of baby training diapers. In addition, manufacturers are eliminating the practice of chlorine processing and addition of harsh chemical bleaches to ensure product safety and nurture consumer confidence. In future, manufacturers are likely to pay attention to transparency of materials and ingredients used for developing such diapers as users rank ingredient transparency among the important aspects to consider before trusting a brand.

About the author: Monalisa Rath is a market research writer at Fact.MR, a global market research and consulting firm. These insights are based on a report on baby training nappy diaper market by the company.