As any mother will tell you, during your pregnancy, like the rest of your body, your breasts are changing too, becoming bigger and more sensitive to the touch. Chalk up this metamorphosis to hormonal shifts, weight gain, an expanding rib cage, and, later in pregnancy, mammary glands that are preparing to make milk for your baby.
This also means, that your old bras and clothes will likely need an upgrade for a few months, and in this case, tight isn’t right. You would need to choose bras from a brand that provide you with comfort and will be to provide support to your changing body. And one such firm doing that is Uplifties, providing modern nursing fit for moms-to-be. But how is the market shaped up for them and the rest of the competitors to thrive? We did the following analysis to explain the current markets and the future scope.
The Global Market and the share for USA
In the entire world, the European region accounted for the largest share of the market. With the high fashion-conscious consumers, through media and publicity, and the increase in online sale are some drivers for the growth in the market. Labour costs continue to rise, resulting in maternity intimate wear production costs and prices rise followed, but the use and development of innovative fabrics exterior design and new features will increase the added value of bra, and that is good news for the soon to be mothers.
The worldwide market for Maternity Intimate Wear is expected to grow at a CAGR of roughly 5.3% over the next five years, and it will reach 5,590 million US$ in 2024, from 4,110 million US$ in 2019. These apparels are sold through different channels such as mass merchandizers, mono brand stores, specialized stores, and others. In 2017, across all regions, mass merchandizers segment comprising hypermarket and supermarkets, accounted for around half of the overall sale of the intimate wear and is projected to lead the market during the forecast period. The others segment, which includes street stores, variety stores, and online channel is anticipated to be the fastest growing channel, with an estimated CAGR of 9.4%. Rise in internet penetration, tech-savvy consumers, and growth in ecommerce market are the factors that drive the growth of the market.
The breakdown of the market for US
While the market is seemingly growing, the major driver for the growth is USA, contributing nearly 43% of the overall growth, with 54% of the product portfolio being maternity bras, while panties contribute to 38% of the market and other wears contribute to the remaining 8%. However, the telling number once again is the disparity in Offline vs Online channels, where from the currently placed 14% market share, it is expected to grow at an 8.1% CAGR in the next 5 years.
The drivers and challenges to the industry
While the growth factors that would be leading the charge are manifold, the following three are seemingly the major contributors:
- Presence of global intimate wear manufacturers and wide product assortment
- Increased consumer discretionary spending coupled with growing online retailing of intimate wear
- Premium pricing and premium positioned brands
That doesn’t mean the market is without any challenges, and the companies need to focus on the following issues that may arise:
- Decreasing fertility rates
- Market maturity
- Inventory management with respect to fast-changing fashion trends
- Many competitors trying to gain market share with low entry barrier
Conclusion
While the market in itself is extremely promising, the companies that would want to be market leaders would have to extremely cautious in terms of inventory management and keep an eye out on new competitors coming in. However, if they can keep a track of all the challenges and focus on the digital growth of the products, then it could be an extremely profitable industry to be a part of.
