With India being home to about 50 million babies in the 0-2 years

age group and 304.8 million children in the 0-12 years age group,
the country offers immense opportunities to the segment players to
tap this growing market, according to a report of RNCOS, an industry
research and consultancy
If you look at this segment of market with all kind of products
including apparel, diapers and all, its more than Rs 12,000 crore.
Also, if you look at the product category, where we are present, is
more than Rs 5,000 crore putting together organised and
unorganized market. It is growing at 15-20 per cent year-on-year,
which means that more and more people are getting recruited in
this category and the spectrum is just growing.
Consumption pattern
Parental care is an essential part of human nature. Parents,
regardless of the level of wealth, always want to give the best to
their children. Parents in India are very cautious while buying baby
and child-specific products. Most consumers are willing to purchase
popular brands, with high prices for its trustworthy quality. As most
parents in India put quality before price and usually do not want to
try out products with unknown standards on their children, so the
less well-known brands or non-branded products in baby and mother
care do not perform as good as the renowned brands in the
category, shared Aditya Aggarwal, Business Head - Mother & Child
Care, UCL, a company known for Palmers skin care products brand.
He further mentioned, Out of all the products that we offer in
mother and baby care range, skin care product category
has witnessed significant traction among the consumers. Consumers
are very responsive to our cocoa butter stretch marks cream, skin
therapy oil and baby butter which are a big hit among both
expecting and new mothers.
Similarly, Tisha Kapur Khurana, Executive Director, Bottega di
LungaVita (OFI India) shared that in mother and child care products
market, consumers consumption pattern also gets influenced by
the changing trends with change in season. The consumption
pattern changes from season to season and it greatly depends upon
the trends in the market, the ever-evolving lifestyle and the dynamic
advancement of multiple product options, noted Khurana.
Countering challenges
High cost of real estate is one of the biggest challenges for any
retail brand in India at this stage. Moreover, currency fluctuation is
another challenge that an import-led company like us has to
manage efficiently.

The demand for organic and natural products in the mother and
baby care segment is growing but is still at a nascent stage.
Consumers who have the knowledge and understanding of organic
products do not opt for other options. The challenge is to lure the
consumers who are already using general products for mother and
baby care towards organic and natural products

New Entrants
As the category offers great opportunities to the existing players
and retailers, it also opens avenue for new entrants to crawl in the
Indian market to unleash potential of mother and childcare market.
India has the biggest number of worlds population under the age
group of 35 years, which mean many babies are on their way. We
are the youngest population in the world and currently the middle
class is growing very rapidly. The spending power of the people is
increasing. That is what makes the consumer advance and quality
conscious. This is where we come in picture
As per the players dominating this niche, the market size for baby
products in India is about Rs 15-25 billion, out of which, the
estimated online market for baby product hovers around Rs 100-120
crore and experts opine that it tends to double every 6 to 8 months.
The online baby-care market comprises of segments such as baby
food, skin care, toiletries/ diapers, toys, gears and baby nursery and
the category has gained good consumer attention initially with the
launch of dedicated online shops like Mom&Me, Firstcry.com,
Hopscotch.in and many more.
Sharing views over the same, Supam Maheshwari, CEO & Founder,
FirstCry.com said, The online market is 5 per cent of the retail
market and is likely to outpace organised retail especially in the
baby and kids segment. We see a huge scope in the online segment
in India. Parents have shown a great response to the online space
and many prefer the omni-channel presence that we provide.
Business roadmap ahead
Overall, the roadmap of mother and child care business shows a
very promising and bright future ahead.
If you also look at the overall eco-system, in this category of
market, look at the number of speciality maternity clinics have come
up, look at the number of other products related to baby care that
have come up like stem cells, look at the mother child care portals
that have come up. So if you look at the entire eco-system, there is

a lot of growth opportunity. It is the factor of socio economic trends,

urbanization and lesser number of kids which are contributing in the
growth of the mother and child care market, concluded Singh,
Philips Business Head.

The market size of Indian baby care products are expected to grow by 40 per cent to Rs
4,200 crore by 2014 on account of rising income levels and increasing
awareness, Assocham today said in a study.
At present, the market size of the industry stood at Rs 3,000 crore.
"Factors that have fuelled this industry's growth are rising income levels, fewer children per
household, better product availability and increasing awareness," it said.

The industry body said India has emerged as the most preferred market for the companies
involved in baby care product manufacturing and marketing.
The growing segment of population in the age group of 0-4 years has been providing
tremendous opportunities as compared to any other baby product market worldwide, it added.
According to the survey, metropolitan cities are the largest consumers of such products.
Further, it said the estimated online market for baby products is around Rs 200-250 crore and
tends to double within a year.

Dedicated year for child care

A report conducted by RNCOS has found growth in the Indian baby care
market, which it expects to grow further into 2015.
The report states that the Indian baby and child care market has substantially grown during
the past few years and caught the attention of many international players. Estimated to be
INR 647.6 billion (US $11.91 billion) in 2012, it is forecasted to register a CAGR of around
17% from 2011-2015.
The child and baby care market comprises baby cosmetics, food, diaper, baby and children
apparel, footwear, toys and accessories/merchandise market. The majority of the market is
children and baby apparel at INR 586.1 billion (US $10.78 billion);
The baby food and diapers market are also expected to grow from 2011-2015, at 10% during
18%, respectively. The toys and accessories markets are also forecasted to grow.
Shushmul Maheshwari, chief executive of RNCOS added, "As per our analysis, high birth rate
in India, rapidly growing Indian economy and the resultant increase in disposable income,
along with the changing socio-economic status of women are the key factors driving growth in
the Indian baby care market. Along with this trend, various other strong fundamental drivers
discussed and analyzed in the report will enable this industry to sustain its upward growth
trend in the coming years."

The research report also mentions that the baby and children care products market is growing
fast in line with the retail industry, while it is also expected that large number of companies
from the United States and Europe will target India to expand their operations and capture the
untapped market.

The e-commerce market in India has already attracted $106.66 million in foreign
direct investment so far. The market grew at a staggering 88 per cent in 2013 to
$16 billion, riding on booming online retail trends and defying slower economic
growth, according to a survey by industry body Assocham. As the internet user
base grows in India, the consumer comfort to shop online has shown consistent
increase with over 20 million internet users transacting online and over 60 million
users going online to check for products.
The market share for baby care products is $5 billion of which baby clothing
constituents 65 per cent, baby gear and outdoor is about 18 per cent and
babyFMCG is about 17 per cent. The share for baby care products online is $100
million in 2014 and is expected to grow to $ 500 million by 2017.
Indian market offers immense opportunities to the players in this segment as
India is home to around 50 million children in the age group of 0-2 years and
304.8 million children in the age group of 0-12 years. E-retailers such Amazon,
Flipkart, Firstcry, Babyoye and Snapdeal have taken the lead in this segment and
are offering great deals.
Unlike other categories, baby-care segment has seen higher number of repeat
purchases, with over 50 per cent of shoppers being repeat buyers. In fact, 60 per
cent of all buyers are women. As per industry estimates, 15 baby care products
sold online every minute in India. Most searches are coming from south west
zone. Some of the states which have reflected high searches of 'babycare'
keywords are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh with eastern states

mostly negligible on queries related to this segment.

As India continues to add over 5 million new mobile internet users every month,
e-commerce players will need to evolve their mobile interface to make the
platform more attractive. Our data shows a much higher conversion rate on the
mobile app than the website. Given the predominance of users from Tier-II and-III
cities experiencing Internet for the first time over mobile, 'cash on delivery' will
continue to drive more sales
The country has 20 per cent of the 0-4 years' child population of the world. The number of live
births in the country is estimated to be 27 million, which again constitutes 20% of the total
number of live births in the world.