The parenting products market is diverse, encompassing a range of products that cater for our children’s health, such as how we feed them, care for their hygiene, sleep, cognition, emotional growth, or how parents care for themselves. Globally, the parenting market is rapidly expanding, driven by increasing consumer demand for innovative, safe and sustainable products.
An evolving space in innovative business ideas, the parenting products market is continuously adapting to deliver on parental needs: Owlet’s smart socks communicate a child’s vital signs to their parent’s phone; Rockit’s intelligent cribs aid a restful sleep by simulating a parent’s rocking motion or the gentle hum of a car; and thanks to Elvie’s hands-free breast pumps, women have the freedom to pump wherever and whenever they like. More and more, businesses are tapping into market niches that appear to be hiding in plain sight. But that’s what makes them great.
New businesses like these continue to thrive in this space, despite a fertility and birth rate that has been declining continuously since the 1960s. In fact, in 2024, the global market for child and baby care products is estimated at over USD 239 billion, a figure forecasted to increase by over USD 150 billion by 2032.
In this article, we will discuss the diversity in parental expectations and needs across the globe, exploring the cultural nuances of the Nordic market and highlighting the fundamental role of adaptability and localisation when expanding a parenting products business into this region. Later, we’ll dive into the story of our partnership with FemTech start-up Elvie – a poster child for success in the Nordic region and beyond.
The Nordic model and luxury parenting products
Nuances in the parenting products landscape can reveal how family cultures differ around the world. For example, preferences in behavioural traits are notably different across regions, influencing the toys that parents choose to buy for their children. Where a Korean mother may prioritise a child’s cognitive development, an Italian or Spanish mother may prefer to cultivate socio-emotional intelligence. Cultural models are influenced by governance too, as states dictate how much time a parent spends with their child after birth. For example, in Finland, fathers are spending increasingly more time with their children thanks to equality in parental leave, whereas in Japan, studies have recorded the marginal presence of a father in rearing a child.
Understanding where cultural norms and government policies coalesce in parenting purchase trends can be challenging, but some clear examples do exist. For example, a Dutch mother may be more inclined to invest in a family cargo bike for travelling with her child, whereas a Chinese mother may prefer to invest in a baby sling wrap.
In the Nordic countries, the key values associated with children and parenting are shared from the state level to the individual level. Leading in areas such as sustainability, gender and social equality, the Nordic countries’ shared values have promoted a greater sense of trust and community within the region. Of the 38 member countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the 5 Nordic countries – Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Finland – rank within the top 6 countries that invest the most by GDP in early childhood care and education.
This focus on welfare infrastructure, sustainability and equality is reflective of Nordic parents’ ideals, as parents encourage children to experience nature daily; to become responsible members of their community from a young age; and, increasingly, show them that parenting duties can be shared equally between parents. The harmony that exists between state and individual values is also visible through the region’s consistent ability to rank highly in the World Happiness Report (WHR).
These values have now permeated the parenting products market through the growth in popularity of luxury parenting products. Whether due to decreasing average family sizes or increased materialism and affluence amongst parents, or perhaps both, luxury products are in. And in this industry and region, luxury and sustainability go hand in hand.
There is already an established focus from Nordic businesses on sustainability, but with increasing global awareness about this issue comes an incentive to invest even more, for both retailers and consumers. Eco-conscious brands are regularly opting for more expensive, sustainable manufacturing, incorporating more recycled and organic materials. Brands adhering to the Nordic Swan Ecolabel scheme are a signal to consumers in this region that a business supports sustainability and waste reduction. Despite eco-conscious brands carrying a premium price tag, a significant portion of the Nordic population is willing to pay the extra for a product that aligns with both their parenting and personal values.
Child’s play: succeeding in the Nordics
Nordic parents care about sustainability, they care about organic products, they care about equality. This is a valuable business insight for players in the global market aiming for success in this region. Will your parenting product connect with Nordic consumers? Are you speaking their language? Will your brand’s voice reach this audience the way you intend it to? Your product, its literature and its delivery to your local audience may be perfect, but achieving this level of cultural and linguistic accuracy in a foreign environment makes employing a native professional a necessity.
This is not simply localised to the Nordic region. Countries like the USA are taking note of the success of the Nordic values – values that are now resonating with Americans too. In fact, some studies show as many as 78% of US consumers value sustainability as a key factor when purchasing. This makes it increasingly likely that a product born in North America will connect with consumers in regions such as the Nordics or the EU, and vice versa.
The cross-pollination of ideas continues to enrich the parenting products market and innovate how we care for our children, yet borders often become barriers between brands and their target markets. With research illustrating that 65% of non-native English speakers value content published in their native language, integrating localisation shouldn’t be a luxury, but a necessity to show your brand cares. To invest in creating a local voice is to invest in ensuring that your message connects with local consumers. Your product may be the answer to the needs of parents in another country, but if they can’t understand your product details or how it can help them – whether it’s marketing content or instructions for use – they won’t buy it.
Understanding regulations: have you done your homework?
Wherever your target audience is in the international market, adhering to local regulatory frameworks should be a crucial consideration. Parents are seeking brands that understand their needs and share their expectations on product safety. In a market that caters to the most precious thing in a parent’s life, the importance of adapting your product and its message cannot be overstated. This means understanding the unique regulations in the country of your new audience.
Due to the growing value of sustainability in the parenting products market, tactics such as greenwashing are utilised by brands unwilling to commit to green efforts, but still hoping to gain business from using this ambiguous label. Thankfully, existing regulations are reviewed regularly and annexes are created to enforce more stringent standards. Departments of agriculture in the USA, EU, Australia and beyond have defined their region’s standards, and businesses that wish to declare their certification must conform with these.
However, although regulating bodies across the world have created such standards, international trade policies differ. For example, although organic products are exported from the US to the EU, their standards don’t always align. Are your promotional materials correctly signalling the standards that your target audience parents expect? Do your product descriptions, ingredients or instructions deliver information as transparently as they should?
Miscommunication should be a primary concern for brands selling health-related products, such as baby food or toiletries. Despite e-commerce being a gateway to international success, it also increases the risk of miscommunication, even if accidental. Between 2010 and 2020, the OECD’s 38 member states experienced an increase in online sales by almost a third. Yet, during this time, a product safety sweep of online products also took place, revealing that a significant number of recalled and banned products remained available to purchase online.
Trading internationally in a multilingual environment may facilitate uncertainty in a market that demands minimum risk. By incorporating native professional translators and localisation experts, your company can avoid careless and dangerous errors. In doing so, you can be sure that your product credentials are effectively communicated to regulating bodies and parents alike.
Elvie: a case study
Since 2020, Sandberg has been adapting and localising content for the impressive London start-up, Elvie. Elvie is an advocate for equality, sustainability and natural healthcare for women, catering to their unmet needs by destigmatising taboo topics like breastfeeding and creating empowering FemTech products. Producing technology such as hands-free breast pumps and care for pelvic floor health, Elvie has become a refreshing resource for important information and discourse on women’s physical and emotional well-being.
Valuing gender equality and maternal care, Elvie knew their product would resonate with Nordic parents, which is why they reached out to Sandberg. Replicating the unique tone of any brand in another language and culture can prove challenging. However, since August 2020, Sandberg has localised over 500,000 words across 5 languages for almost every area of Elvie’s business literature. During this time, we have helped develop and cultivate Elvie’s tone of voice by capturing a local and sensitive style that cannot be compromised when discussing the important, and often delicate, subject of women’s post-partum health.
Opportunity and growth in the parenting products market
Representative of the cultural diversity across the globe, the parenting products market is a kaleidoscope of laws, ideals and expectations, yet it remains an environment accommodating to businesses with international endeavours who are willing to adapt.
Value-based brands like Elvie are a growing presence in the market, as with a tactful multilingual communication strategy, they can connect emotionally with parents all over the world. Looking ahead, we can expect technology to continue to establish itself in this space, facilitating the innovation of more comprehensive care for families. Monitoring systems will continue to be developed, so too will AI-based parenting applications and nutritional guides. The call for more personalised and on-demand guidance for parents is increasingly common, and going forward, an expected area of dominance in this market.
Expanding internationally can prove challenging in such a competitive market; however, by building an articulate expansion strategy that accounts for the differences in parental needs across countries and cultures, the nuances of existing market niches, in addition to international regulations and standards, your business can successfully grow beyond your local market.
At Sandberg, we have 30 years of experience in offering premium, tailored communication solutions. So, whether your company requires multilingual SEO services, market-specific copywriting or internationally certified translation and revision services, we will ensure your content is handled with the care of our experts and native professionals that your customers expect.
