Peter Drucker once said, “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence itself, but to act with yesterday’s logic.” This perfectly echoes the core mission of CBME 2025: guiding the industry through meaningful maternal and baby retail transformation.
A New Era Begins: CBME 2025’s “Break and Remake” Summit
From December 4–6, 2024, CBME 2025 hosted its winter seminar and CEO summit in Xiamen under the theme “Break and Remake.” As the industry evolves, understanding what to break—and how to rebuild—has become critical for retailers and brands navigating modern baby product retail trends.
Breaking the Norm: Rethinking Product and Marketing Strategies
Rethinking Product Development: Meeting the “Super Buyer”
Today’s consumers—“super buyers”—demand emotional value, high cost-efficiency, and niche innovation. From Kindle’s disruption of traditional reading to Laifen’s dominance through unbeatable value, successful brands are reengineering their offerings based on evolving baby product retail trends.
At CBME 2025, such innovations are showcased as key case studies, inspiring retailers to rethink how maternal and baby products are created and marketed.
Marketing Disruption: From IP Crossover to AI and Content
Marketing in the maternal and baby space has shifted from traditional advertising to AI-enabled precision, IP collaborations, creative storytelling, and experiential marketing. Brands like L’Oréal (via ModiFace) are leading examples of maternal and baby retail transformation through technology.
Breaking Business Models: Retail Innovation in Action
Pricing and Inventory: Breaking Conventional Retail Logic
Disruptive pricing models (e.g., deep discount stores like Le Er Le) and innovative inventory systems (like Chando’s cloud stores) represent modern baby product retail trends—where operational agility defines success in maternal and baby retail.
Organizational Agility: Empowering a Younger Generation
CBME 2025 insights show that over 50% of new entrants into the industry are born after 1990, marking a generational shift. Younger, more digital-savvy teams are driving structural innovation and customer-centric operations—key to sustainable maternal and baby retail transformation.
Five Key Trends Reshaping Maternal and Baby Retail in 2024–2025
1. Store Count Grows Slightly; Lower-Tier Cities Show More Momentum
According to CBME 2025 data, China now has approximately 180,000 maternal and baby retail stores. Growth is particularly notable in boutique formats and lower-tier markets, a reflection of broad baby product retail trends involving channel diversification.
2. Non-Store Sales Surging: The Rise of Private and Public Domains
Despite challenges in foot traffic (with only 51% of stores seeing growth), non-store sales are booming. On average, they represent 22.9% of overall sales, with platforms like Douyin, WeChat mini-programs, and Xiaohongshu fueling this expansion.
CBME 2025 identifies this as a key driver of maternal and baby retail transformation, especially as the lines between online and offline continue to blur.
3. Product Mix Evolution: Nutrition and Family Health on the Rise
While infant formula is seeing a slight decline, nutrition products are rising across both online and offline channels. 65% of surveyed stores plan to expand their offerings to include all-family wellness, marking a critical baby product retail trend heading into 2025.
4. Consumer Downgrading: Exclusive Products and Omnichannel Services Gain Importance
In response to price-sensitive customers, 44% of stores reported lower prices on top products year-on-year. Many now turn to exclusive SKUs and omnichannel fulfillment as competitive advantages, aligned with the goals of maternal and baby retail transformation.
5. Chains and Independents Coexist as Consolidation Accelerates
Although top 100 chains only account for 25,000 of the 180,000 stores, consolidation is gaining traction—15% of stores have already joined collaborative models. CBME 2025 continues to spotlight this structural shift as a defining baby product retail trend.
CBME 2025: A Platform Driving Maternal and Baby Retail Transformation
As the industry’s leading global matchmaking and exhibition platform, CBME 2025 supports transformation through:
- A multi-channel media ecosystem
- Targeted content strategy
- Thematic industry summits
- In-depth market insights
- Five flagship exhibitions
As Gu Xiaoyuan from Informa Markets puts it, “Breaking is not merely about change; establishing is not about starting over. True transformation demands breaking outdated products, marketing, business models, and organizational structures—only then can true competitive value be built.”
With CBME 2025 at the forefront, the road ahead for maternal and baby retail transformation is filled with opportunity, innovation, and renewed purpose.
