US baby products sales cool down! 5 hot trends predicted for 2023

According to data from the NPD Group, retail sales in the U.S. infant and toddler products industry fell 2% to $8.4 billion in 2022, but were still 19.5% higher than in 2019. Unit sales fell year-on-year, down 8% from the high water mark in 2021. The average selling price increased 6.7% to $20.09.

Of the seven baby product categories tracked by NPD, sales in almost all but two categories declined during the year, with travel products performing the best, followed by feeding products.

Overview of the U.S. Baby Products Industry in 2022

NPD industry analysts pointed out that in the past year, American consumers have returned to their pre-epidemic purchasing behavior. Despite the increase in economic uncertainty in the second half of the year, they still saw growth in feeding and travel baby products. However, due to supply shortages and rising inflation, overall industry sales have declined.

Research shows that in 2022, the three best-performing segments in the U.S. infant products industry were car seats, strollers and bedding, with sales of strollers increasing by 7% year-on-year and sales of breastfeeding products increasing by 9% year-on-year.

Fridababy and BabyTrend were the two brands that performed best in terms of absolute sales growth, with annual growth of 38% and 16% respectively.

Predictions for hot trends in 2023

Competition in the wearable breast pump market intensifies

The report pointed out that in 2023, competition in the wearable breast pump market in the United States will intensify, and many brands have upgraded their products. For example, some brands have launched smart breast pumps that can be connected to applications, and mothers can use their mobile phones to adjust the suction of the breast pump and record the output.

Stricter supervision of infant sleep products

In May 2022, President Biden signed the Infant Safe Sleep Act, which bans the manufacture and sale of padded crib bumpers and inclined sleep products in the U.S. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) updated its Safe Sleep in July 2022.

At the end of 2022, the U.S. Consumer Safety Commission (CSPC) issued a recall notice for many baby sleep products that did not meet safety standards. In January of this year, CSPC recalled more than 5.3 million Fisher-Price and Kids2 rocking toy sleepers.

These recent examples demonstrate that the CSPC is committed to removing dangerous sleep products from the market and may issue additional recalls and violations as needed in 2023.

Swivel car seats will become more popular

Research firm Glimpse found that interest in swivel car seats grew 192% in the U.S. between 2021 and 2022. With improved availability and increased interest, expect to see more demand for swivel car seats in 2023.

Demand for mass-market brands may rise

Although brand loyalty for baby products is generally high, in 2023, certain factors may shake this brand loyalty, such as inflation, supply shortages and other issues, and consumers may turn to mass brands sold in shopping malls.

Sales of store-brand merchandise increased last summer at several stores, including CVS, Walgreens and Target, and that growth is likely to continue as inflation rises, FoxBusiness reported.

Foldable baby chair

Foldable cribs and car seats have been on the market for a long time. As we head into 2023, we expect to see an increase in demand for high chairs, based on the current trend of more and more brands launching foldable high chairs.

Editor✎ Ashley/

Disclaimer: This article is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without permission.