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Parents put their children at risk by buying second hand

30/03/2012

The BPA has been working in partnership with management consultancy firm Allegra Strategies, which specialises in retail and consumer lifestyle trends; and a recent study notes the continuing worrying trend of parents buying second hand pushchairs and car seats – particularly of premium brands.

The Project Kinder report is the most in-depth study undertaken in the UK for the nursery travel equipment market, prepared following nearly 5,000 detailed online interviews with new and expectant mothers and a further 380 fathers and grandparents. This reveals that the 2011 UK wheeled equipment and car seat market is estimated at £377.5m and of the total market value, second-hand purchases represent six per cent.

Of their total brand sales by volume, approximately 20 per cent of Quinny, iCandy and Mamas & Papas wheeled equipment is purchased second-hand. Of car seat brands, Mamas & Papas has the highest proportion of second-hand purchases and hand-me-downs of their total sales volume as more parents opt to get money for their used nursery travel equipment by selling as opposed to handing it down, despite the BPA’s efforts to warn of the perils of buying second hand goods.

The report also highlights that online and grocery channels are challenging the traditional nursery specialist retailers with 35 per cent of travel equipment purchased online, compared to 58 per cent in-store. Research shows that parents believe the lack of interaction is the main barrier to purchasing online, with fathers interacting more with this category than any other baby products.

There is a general consensus across the industry that supermarkets, which already dominate the infant nutrition and care category, are taking a greater share of baby travel equipment sales by dedicating more resources and space. This opinion is supported by Morrisons’ recent acquisition of online retailer Kiddicare.com and Best Buy megastores, as well as Tesco trialling a new concept – Baby World – intending to open a series of stand-alone nursery stores. Mothercare remains the leading nursery specialist retailer on the high street, despite planned closure of a quarter of its stores by 2013.

For more information, or to see the full report contact: acole@allegra.co.uk

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