Zhou Ting

China Information Center of Daily Chemical Industry,China

With the rise of personalized and diversified consumer demand,the subdivided trend of the beauty industry is increasingly obvious,and the subgroups of young people from small towns and the old groups have become the new target of brands.When brands try to gain new consumers through differentiation and specialization,the pregnant group in the maternal and child market has not attracted widespread attention.

According to the Research Report on Prospect Investigation and Investment and Financing Strategy of China’s Pregnant Women’s Skincare Products Industry from 2017 to 2022 released by China Business Industry Research Institute,China’s pregnant women’s skincare market size only reached 1 billion yuan in 2012 and 2.2 billion yuan in 2017.It was expected that it would jump to 4.7 billion yuan in 2022.Such market size was not small in terms of the subdivision category.

As women born after the year of 1995 and 2000 with stronger consumption willingness and more avant-garde consumption concept step into the stage of pregnancy and childbirth,the mother and baby market is no longer limited to the baby economy.The new generation young mothers love their babies while caring themselves better than the traditional mothers of the past.Revealed by the Research Report on the New Pregnancy Trend of Maternal and Baby Consumption—“Delicate Consumption”of the Pregnant Mothers in 2020,the standard of care for pregnant women was constantly rising for 60%of mothers would use pregnancy-specific skin care products during pregnancy,and nearly 50% of mothers would make up during such period.

The consumption potential of pregnant women seems to emerge.So,will this vertical subdivision market bring opportunity into the future?

Cosmetics market for pregnant women driven by special needs

The new-generation pregnant mothers grow a stronger sense of “use only during the pregnancy period”.And the product safety becomes even more important for pregnant mothers.With professional support,skincare products especially designed for pregnant mothers prove efficient to mitigate the anxiety among pregnant mothers.Considering the safety factor,such stuff shall be avoided from being added to skincare products for them including part of potent ingredients,paraben ester preservatives,essence as well as talcum powder.Many of the maternal products on the market are basic skincare series.From pregnancy to childbirth,in addition to the sweet anticipation that comes with a new birth,there are also an array of special changes to a pregnant woman’s skin,including changes in her pigmented skin and the appearance of stretch marks.

Pigmentation and chloasma:this is associated with elevated levels of estrogen,melanocyte stimulating hormone and flavonoid bodies.Despite pigment changes usually resolve on their own as hormone levels drop following childbirth,most do not fully recover.Generally,dermatologists recommend the use of pure physical broad-spectrum sunscreen to prevent and delay the development of melasma.

Skin allergy:after pregnancy,estrogen and progesterone will increase in the body,the immune system will also change,coupled with changes in work and rest and habits,and many pregnant mothers will become even more oily.Skin oil during pregnancy is a result of fluctuations in hormone levels.Apart from that,some pregnant women may also suffer from sensitive,dry and itching skin problems.

Stretch marks:stretch marks are purplish red linear streaks formed by the rupture of elastic fibers in the dermis due to weight gain and abdominal enlargement.Stretch marks usually appear in the second trimester and turn white as pregnancy progresses,which are difficult to be removed.Some expectant mothers will be worried about stretch marks and even feel anxious.However,the proportion of pregnant women with stretch marks is as high as 90%,and the notes related to stretch marks in the platform of Xiaohongshu has outnumbered 120,000.

Although there is still no conclusion whether stretch marks can be eradicated after their occurrence,the plan of early prevention of stretch marks by massage oil to enhance the elasticity of the skin is accepted by consumers.Almost all maternal and child brands have launched products to mitigate stretch marks.

Besides,under the influence of the beauty economy,some brands are also launching mild and safe cosmetics products for pregnant women.According to ECdataway,the market share of maternal cosmetics was 8.1% from January to July 2019,but it increased by 360.3% year on year.

According to the person in charge of Baby Elephant,“those pregnant women born after 1995 and even 2000 raised higher requirements towards the care products used during pregnancy and the subdivision category is helpful for improving the entire brand image.”As said by a representative from the pregnancy product brand of kangaroo mommy,“this track is quite narrow,but we will also do our best.Among regular cosmetics products,talcum powder,paraben preservatives and other ingredients are not suitable for pregnant women which still need to be more professional”.Revealed by brand owners,the cosmetics products of kangaroo mommy occupied over 40% in the market of cosmetics especially used by pregnant mothers.

With the awakening of women’s independent consciousness,the beauty economy is no longer limited to young women who are not pregnant,and the philosophy of healthy pregnancy and childbirth without makeup is no longer applicable to this era.Among the subdivision segments,the maternal makeups enjoy the fastest growth.It can be predicted that the field of maternal makeup is likely to boom in 2022 and emerge as the leader in the maternal sector.

Various challenges faced by skincare products especially used by pregnant women

There are new products competing with each other in the subdivision category.But in terms of the overall situation of the domestic skincare market,the major skincare brands especially targeting at pregnant women include:brands with pregnant women’s skincare products including international brands like Clarins and FANCL and domestic brands such as Baby Elephant;pregnant women’s care products such as Runve,kangaroo mommy as well as Plantism.Additionally,some skincare products will promote themselves with the name of “pregnant women’s level” or “used by pregnant women”.

It is obvious that domestic pregnant women launched special skin care brands are limited,or even few,basically the mother and baby brands and pregnancy brands.The small number of brands and concentrated category reflect the difficulty in the progress of the maternal market to some degree.

1) Short period of customer gaining and product life circle

For pregnancy brands,the customer acquisition cycle of each potential customer is quite short.Pregnant women only need a considerable period of time from pregnancy to postpartum,and they may have demand for pregnant women’s skincare products.Moreover,at the end of pregnancy,the demand for the product declines,allowing consumers to reduce safety concerns and opt for more effective products.Pregnant mother skin care itself is a very segmented market,and the pregnancy cycle is very short compared with the customer cycle of ordinary skincare products,which means that the brand needs to constantly upgrade,thus bringing great challenges to the brand.As for the life cycle of pregnancy products,those pregnant mothers only use pregnant women special skin care products during pregnancy or after pregnancy for a period of time.

2) Niche market with marketing difficulties

In comparison with other subgroups,the distribution of pregnant women is relatively scattered,which will also pose challenges for brand marketing to attract customers.Pregnant women skin care products is a niche market where the customer group is very vertical,so it is hard to find the right marketing plan.Considering the communication difficulties brought by scattered pregnant women and niche market,we can promote brands via the vertical platforms such as mama.cn and Babytree.Besides,we may advertise precisely by way of Apps like Tik Tok and Xiaohongshu so as to locate the pregnant groups based on big data.

According to Baby Elephant,study showed that the purchasing decisions of mother-and-child groups were easily influenced by the evaluation and recommendation of doctors and parenting experts,buyer’s evaluation in product review,word-of-mouth recommendation of relatives and friends,and grass planting advertisement on social platforms.Therefore,they would build their model in formulating communication strategies and invite more experts and evaluation platforms to trace the supply chain in order to guarantee the product quality.Furthermore,Baby Elephant adhered to gain insights into consumer needs and understand their concern by means of DTC reverse customization logic.

There are two key points of pregnant women’s skincare brands marketing:pay attention to the pre-pregnant women and target brand advertising at the pre-pregnant market in order to strengthen the brand awareness and build brand image.In so doing,the brands could sustain efficient growth;conduct performance advertising and combine KOL advertising and secondary operation,so as to realize the communication effect.

Apart from the niche market,short customer acquisition cycle and marketing difficulties,the declining fertility rate also brings challenges to the development of pregnant women’s skincare products.

3) Declining fertility rate

Based on the data from the seventh population census in China,there were 12 million new born babies in 2020.In recent years,China’s fertility rate has continued to decline,which also means the growth of the number of pregnant women is slowing down.In addition,the demand of pregnant women for special skincare products for pregnancy and childbirth will decrease rapidly with the delivery,so it can be said that this is a shrinking market.

According to the beauty data,affected by the decrease of fertility rate,compared with the overall consumer group of skin care,all categories of pregnant women have decreased year on year,among which the decline of pregnant women skin care remains the least.The growth rate of target customer group is declining,and it is increasingly difficult for enterprises to obtain customers.In the face of declining fertility,is there still room for growth of pregnant women’s skincare products? While the number of pregnant women has slowed,the demand for segmentation has continued to rise.We can respond to this situation by meeting the demand of subdivision and expanding categories:the demand for segmentation continues to rise,especially among pregnant women born between 1990 and 1995.For the new generation of pregnant women,their needs in all aspects of pregnancy are towards refined development.Skincare or makeup,or head and body care,have become the category of rigid needs in their minds.It is because more and more brands are trying to achieve growth by “expanding categories”.Meanwhile,there are also huge opportunities to upgrade consumption in third and fourth-tier cities.From the point of view of marketing,the competition is not that fierce,but it is still a relative blue ocean.Despite that the development of skin care products for pregnant women face many difficulties,various brands have unanimously expressed optimism about this market.

How to expand the category of pregnant women used products?

Expanding the category map is particularly essential in the subdivision of the track.We focus on the larger global market,and find that some international brands have launched corresponding products for pregnant women in pregnancy,predelivery and postpartum care,which offers a reference direction for the category expansion.

1) Alleviate the pregnant reaction

For example,Mindful scented scream by Little Luminary,vegan calming spray and Happiness bath salt package are reported to relieve the pregnant reaction and muscular soreness during the first three months of pregnancy.Burt’s Bees released leg protection scream for pregnant women with swelling legs.It is said that it could help relieve the discomfort of legs and feet such as edema and cramp.

However,as for the special products used by pregnant women to explore the reaction during pregnancy,pregnancy sickness generally starts from the sixth week of pregnancy and gradually disappears after 3 months of pregnancy with a very short cycle.The root cause of morning sickness also remains a scientific puzzle.Pregnant women may suffer from edema.Normally,it is because the fetal development is too large which may oppress the inferior vena cava,causing the poor blood flow to the lower extremities.So they are recommended to alleviate swelling through sleeping position adjustment or local massage,as well as daily dietary conditioning.In fact,not so many pregnant mothers obtain the awareness of special care during pregnancy.According to research,there are not many consumers in the whole maternal market who may take the initiative to use maternity products.Skincare is the most popular product they use,followed by pregnancy oils,and seldom others.There’s a very small market for products that respond to pregnancy reaction and that don’t sell very well.This consumer group also needs more education since maternal care drives the growth of the maternity market.

2) Help childbirth

As a pregnant woman approaches her due date,products which soften the cervix and vagina will come into play.The childbirth supplement of Mountain Meadow Herbs is an oral liquid supplement helping adjust the uterine state and reducing labor pain by softening cervix.Besides,Good Clean Love launched massage oil which could help the stretch and massage in perineum and birth canal,increase the chance to guide delivery and reduce the possibility of tearing and lateral cut three to four weeks before delivery.

3) Post-delivery care

The preparation and influence of pregnant women for pregnancy is not only in the several months of pregnancy,postpartum care is also the direction of product development eyed by some brands.For example,perineum spray has been produced by Bee Maternal Organics.According to the profile in the official website,the spray adopts organic ingredients and has been developed for lacerations during vaginal delivery to ease the discomfort of childbirth and help wound healing.

Bodily introduced a set of body care products designed for pregnant women after delivery,including perineum spray,bath salt,vaginal wash bottle,inflatable cushion,softener for constipation and the mesh underwear with high air permeability as well.Among them,perineum spray and bath salt help ease the post-delivery discomfort and swelling.Vaginal bottle washing can reduce the irritation of urine to the vulva while inflatable cushions and special pads help reduce the discomfort of mothers during sitting.

Skincare products especially used by pregnant women is a more subdivided category in this competition.If brands wants to achieve new growth by expanding its categories,an overall maternal care such as relieving pain during childbirth and pregnancy reaction should be considered in the longer pregnancy cycle from pre-pregnancy to post-natal period.

All in all,it is far from easy to enter and even profit in the market of pregnant women’s skincare products.It is confronted by a package of difficulties such as the short period of gaining customers,marketing challenge and the reduction of fertility rate.Nonetheless,it is also a market where brands may find it easy to win the favor of consumers.By integrating category expansion and marketing,the market still enjoys opportunities in the context of the increasing awareness of special care for pregnant women.