ROTH Capital Partners, an investment bank focused on identifying growth opportunities for corporate and institutional clients, has just published its second annual Trends and Truths in the New Mother Market, a survey and report examining current trends, demographics and spending patterns within the Infant, Juvenile and Toy industry.
“We believe there are underlying positive demographic and psychographic trends that will support increased demand for Infant, Juvenile and Toy products,” said Elizabeth Pierce, CFA, Senior Research Analyst at ROTH. “These trends combined with a stable/expanding economy will set the stage for an improved industry outlook. We expect industry consolidation to continue and the long-term fundamentals of this sector to remain compelling.”
Highlights from the 2012 ROTH/Mom365 Report
- An improving economy should help increase the birthrate — 42.3% of mothers reported that the economy factored into their plans to start or expand their family.
- Underlying positive demographic trends bode well for increased demand for Infant, Juvenile and Toy products going forward including the rise of the Echo Boom generation, an increase in the average age of first time parents, a rise in the number of single child households and the “grandparent effect.”
- Baby gift registries are still an important “rite of passage,” with 88.4% of new moms registering for their baby, enabling families to have a voice in the gift giving process.
- Smartphones and/or tablets have become a “must have” item for moms. An average of 63% of moms owned a smartphone and 16.3% owned a tablet.
- Brands do matter, especially when it comes to safety while price matters when safety is less of a concern.
- Moms are increasingly utilizing social media and blogs to seek out the advice of other moms and professionals while researching baby products.
“The report and survey provide interesting insights into the Infant, Juvenile and Toy industry and today’s mothers and what’s important to them,” said Joe Schimmelpfennig, Managing Director of the Consumer Investment Banking Group at ROTH.” “We expect continued interest from public and private investors in the sector and further M&A and financing activity as companies look to enter new categories and geographies and as retailers consolidate their purchases with fewer vendors.”
The survey was conducted in collaboration with Mom365 includes questions from Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association members and includes proprietary survey results from Mom365’s email database of 2,500,
000 mothers.
ROTH Capital Partners is an investment bank focused on identifying growth opportunities for corporate and institutional clients. The firm is headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, with offices throughout the US, Hong Kong and Shanghai (www.roth.com).
Mom365 is the relationship marketing division of Our365, the country’s largest newborn photographer with a 60% market share (www.mom365.com).
For more information on the Trends and Truths in the New Mother Market contact Joe Schimmelpfennig, a Managing Director at Roth.
