Over the years, the domestic market for adult incontinence care in China has witnessed substantial and sustained growth. In recent years, the market size of adult incontinence products in China has continued to rise
However, the domestic market for
adult diapers is still in its early stages, with both consumer awareness and market penetration at relatively low levels, requiring urgent market education. The future holds the potential for another significant breakthrough in the adult diaper market, making investments in
adult diaper machines worthwhile.
Adult Diapers Could Outpace Baby Diapers
In China, the adult incontinence care market initially experienced rapid growth, with an industry-wide compound annual growth rate exceeding 20%. Two main driving factors contributed to this growth: a substantial increase in production capacity and the internet's explosive impact. From the consumer perspective, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased awareness of adult diapers. During the pandemic, healthcare workers supporting Wuhan found adult diapers to be a practical solution, especially when frequent changing was inconvenient due to protective gear. This raised societal attention to this product category.
The awareness of adult diapers among Chinese consumers is relatively low. Although adult diapers have been available in mainland China for 20-25 years, many older adults still consider them as emergency products, only turning to them when they are unable to move. In contrast, mature markets in Europe and other regions pay attention to light incontinence, using adult incontinence care products to return to normal social life. Additionally, in terms of product development, the market is currently in a stage that urgently requires education, with room for improvement in the market penetration of adult pull-up pants.
The degree of incontinence is categorized as mild, moderate, moderate to severe, and severe. Most adhesive-style diapers are worn by those with moderate to severe incontinence, while adult pull-up pants (also known as underwear-style diapers) are generally used by those with mild or moderate incontinence. Currently, adhesive-style diapers dominate the market in China, with over 40% of the industry being adhesive-style diapers. Adhesive-style diapers are expected to remain the mainstream in the coming years, primarily due to consumer acceptance and habits. Many consumers are not even aware of adult diapers, and adhesive-style diapers are more widely accepted. However, adult pull-up pants have shown rapid growth in the last two years, although their overall volume is still small, accounting for less than 15% of the market share. Only when adult pull-up pants grow rapidly and the market capacity is large enough will the entire adult incontinence care market move towards maturity. Looking back, in developed countries or regions today, the proportion of pull-up pants in the adult care market is much higher than that of adhesive-style diapers. This is because pull-up pants have a more versatile range of use, suitable for elderly people going out or participating in social activities, while adhesive-style diapers are larger and more bulky, making them more suitable for bedridden elderly individuals.
At this stage, the market is undoubtedly product-driven, but in the future, marketing will play a crucial role. Selling adult diapers doesn't have to be a dismal or boring task. With the developed e-commerce and marketing environment, we hope to use various marketing or internet methods to bring this seemingly difficult topic into the spotlight and make the popularization of adult diapers more meaningful.
The adult incontinence care market currently faces challenges. Firstly, there is a relatively traditional mindset and perception, which is the most significant challenge in the current market. In Japan, where aging is happening rapidly, the entire society is very open-minded about using adult diapers. They feel that when they reach a certain age, they must use these products, without the concept of losing face or dignity. In Japanese supermarkets, the shelf space for adult diapers is even larger than that for baby diapers, and their awareness and acceptance are very high. However, in China, due to long-term cultural and conceptual influences, older people are reluctant to admit that they are experiencing incontinence. In their view, only children would experience incontinence.
The second challenge is the difficulty in category communication. This category is different from others; the buyer and the user are often not the same person. We have many people to communicate with, and once the communication is not good, the buyer chooses the wrong product, which may bring a double burden to the user and the caregiver. If the buyer ends up with a subpar product, the discomfort experienced by the grandparents and the increased workload for parents caring for them will both be significant. Adult diapers are very different from baby diapers, and we often tend to choose basic products for buying things for the elderly. This is also a reason for the high difficulty in communication.
The third challenge is becoming a fixed expenditure for families. Adult diapers are a highly continuous category, possibly requiring a lifetime of use once entered. For example, a person may start using diapers at the age of 60 and, if they live up to 90, they will need them for 30 years. This represents a sustained investment or long-term consumption. However, for baby diapers, consumers are clear that the duration of use is just these few years after birth. In Europe, where social welfare is relatively good, most of it is paid for by the state or government. In addition, market education in Europe is already very mature, and many Europeans will immediately choose corresponding products once they experience incontinence. Through products, they build confidence, delay the time from mild to severe incontinence as much as possible, or assist incontinence recovery. So their consumption on the back end is getting less and less because they have mastered ways to solve the problem. However, in China, it is often difficult for older people to admit to this problem and may not use corresponding products, and may not even go to see a doctor, which may lead to more and more severe incontinence symptoms.
How to do market education? Taking severe incontinence as an example, we care not only about the elderly with incontinence but also about the caregivers. We have conducted extensive in-home interviews before, and many elderly people with incontinence may also have other diseases, such as Alzheimer's or dementia. Their caregivers are often their children, and facing their parents' problems, the children are already very painful. If the elderly are given the wrong product, it will be an even greater blow to the caregivers, and they may gradually lose enthusiasm and optimism about life, and negative emotions about caregiving may also arise. Therefore, we attach great importance to communicating with caregivers. There is a category called caregiving relatives, and we specifically study the behavior and psychological changes of caregivers in daily life and provide them with help through products.
Incontinence is a major issue that many elderly people find hard to avoid after entering old age. With the strengthening trend of aging and the increase in social scenes for the elderly, incontinence care products will play an increasingly important role in their daily lives, providing assistance for their beautiful life after retirement.