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UK Nursery and Baby Equipment Retailing Market Report 2024

UK Nursery and Baby Equipment Retailing Market Report 2024

Market Intelligence Reports Retail UK

For the most up-to-date market research on the UK nursery and baby equipment retail market, take a look at Mintel’s newly published UK Nursery and Baby Equipment Retailing Market Report 2025

Key Issues Covered in this Report

The short-, medium- and long-term impact of the cost-of-living crisis on the nursery and baby equipment market, including changes in buying behaviours and impacts of the falling birth rate
Opportunities from this disruption and how retailers are innovating
What nursery and baby equipment items parents buy (new and second-hand)
When do parents typically start buying
Where and how nursery and baby equipment is bought
Trusted sources of information and perceptions of these sources
Nursery and baby equipment buying behaviours and interests

UK Nursery and Baby Equipment Retail Market Overview

The partly non-discretionary nature of the nursery and baby equipment category means the market has remained resilient throughout the cost-of-living crisis. However, value is at the forefront of consumers’ minds, with many trading down to lower-priced options or shifting to the second-hand market. Combined with declining birth rates, the next few years will remain challenging for the market.

UK nursery equipment market size: Spending on the sector is estimated to fall slightly to £810 million in 2023.

UK Baby Equipment Retail Market – Opportunities for growth

Explore the potential of the repair market

Faced with significant financial pressures, repair, allowing for extending product lifespan, has risen in popularity, with over half of UK parents saying they would rather pay for the repair of a product than pay for a new one. Repair is a niche area in the market, but providing parents with a means of saving money could serve as an added incentive to shop with a retailer.

Social media remains crucial

The advances in social commerce has made social media a potential sales channel that can provide an improved customer experience, where they can move seamlessly from the point of product discovery to payment without leaving the app. Rewards/loyalty points for shopping via social media is the top driver that would encourage social media users to shop more this way.

Purchase the full report for more opportunities for growth in the UK Nursery and Baby Equipment Retail Market, as well as a comprehensive overview of the market and detailed consumer insights.

Expert Analysis from a Retail Specialist

This report, written by Sam Nguyen, a leading retail industry analyst, delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight current trends in the UK nursery and baby equipment retail market and add expert context to the numbers.

Despite the impact of high living costs and falling birth rates, demand remains resilient, with over half of parents looking to spend more in the coming year.

Sam Nguyen
Retail Analyst

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- Key issues covered in this Report
Executive Summary
- Opportunities for the nursery and baby equipment market
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Graph 1: distribution of spending on nursery & baby equipment, by type of retailer, 2020-23
- Graph 2: number of live births in England and Wales, 1990-2022
- Graph 3: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-23
- What consumers want and why
- Graph 4: nursery/baby equipment purchased from new and second-hand, 2023
- Graph 5: stage when parents start buying nursery/baby equipment, 2023
- Graph 6: channels of purchase, 2023
- Graph 7: retailers used for buying new nursery and baby equipment, 2022 and 2023
- Graph 8: retailers or forums used to buy second-hand nursery and baby equipment, 2022 and 2023
- Graph 9: sources used by parents to research nursery and baby equipment, 2022 and 2023
- Graph 10: perceptions of information sources, 2023
- Graph 11: important attributes of nursery and baby equipment, 2023
- Graph 12: nursery and baby equipment behaviours, 2023
- Graph 13: interests in buying nursery and baby equipment, 2023
- Retailer activity
- Graph 14: above-the-line, online display and direct mail total advertising expenditure on nursery and baby equipment, 2019-23
Market Dynamics
- Market size
- Graph 15: market size for nursery and baby equipment retailing, 2018-23
- Market forecast
- Market segmentation
- Channels to market
- Graph 16: distribution of spending on nursery & baby equipment, by type of retailer, 2020-23
- Macro-economic factors
- Graph 17: CPI inflation rate, 2021-23
- Graph 18: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-23
- Graph 19: the financial confidence index, 2016-23
- Social, environmental and legal factors
- Graph 20: number of live births in England and Wales, 1990-2022
- Graph 21: total fertility rate (number of children per woman), 1990-2021
- Graph 22: number of live births in England and Wales, by age of mother, 1990-2022
- Graph 23: live births per 1,000 women in age group, 1990-2021
- Graph 24: standardised mean age of mothers and fathers in England and Wales, 1990-2021
What Consumers Want and Why
- What items parents buy
- Graph 25: nursery/baby equipment purchased, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023
- Graph 26: categories of nursery/baby equipment purchased, 2023
- Graph 27: nursery/baby equipment purchased from new and second-hand, 2023
- Graph 28: repertoire analysis of nursery/baby equipment purchased from new and second-hand, 2023
- When parents start buying
- Graph 29: stage when parents start buying nursery/baby equipment, by household income, 2023
- Graph 30: stage when parents start buying nursery/baby equipment, by employment, 2023
- Graph 31: second-hand nursery/baby equipment purchased, by stage when start purchasing, 2023
- Graph 32: new nursery/baby equipment purchased, by stage when start purchasing, 2023
- How items are bought
- Graph 33: channels of purchase, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023
- Graph 34: channels of purchase, by age and household income, 2023
- Graph 35: channels of purchase, 2023
- Where items are bought
- Graph 36: retailers used for buying new nursery and baby equipment, 2022 and 2023
- Graph 37: type of retailer used for buying new nursery and baby equipment, 2022 and 2023
- Graph 38: repertoire analysis of new nursery and baby equipment purchases, by type of retailers, 2023
- Graph 39: type of retailer used for buying new nursery and baby equipment, by age and household income, 2023
- Graph 40: retailers or forums used to buy second-hand nursery and baby equipment, 2022 and 2023
- Graph 41: repertoire analysis of retailers used for new purchases, 2023
- Graph 42: repertoire analysis of retailers used for second-hand purchases, 2023
- Trusted sources for parents
- Graph 43: sources used by parents to research nursery and baby equipment, 2022 and 2023
- Graph 44: sources used by parents to research nursery and baby equipment, by gender, 2023
- Graph 45: repertoire analysis of sources mostly used by parents to research nursery and baby equipment, 2023
- Graph 46: perceptions of information sources, 2023
- Purchase drivers
- Graph 47: important attributes of nursery and baby equipment, 2023
- Graph 48: important attributes of nursery and baby equipment, by age, 2023
- Graph 49: important attributes of nursery and baby equipment, by financial situation, 2023
- Nursery and baby equipment buying behaviours
- Graph 50: nursery and baby equipment behaviours, by financial situation, 2023
- Graph 51: “I would rather pay for a service to repair baby and nursery equipment than spend money on new equipment”, by products bought, 2023
- Graph 52: interests in buying nursery and baby equipment, 2023
- Graph 53: “I think retailers should provide more equipment tutorials (eg how to set up, how to use)”, by products bought, 2023
Retailer Activity
- Competitive strategies
- Launch activity and innovation
- Advertising and marketing activity
- Graph 54: above-the-line, online display and direct mail total advertising expenditure on nursery and baby equipment, 2019-23
Appendix
- Supplementary data
- Graph 55: total above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on nursery and baby equipment, by media type, 2022 and 2023*
- Market forecast data and methodology
- Report scope and definitions
- Methodology

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