The African-American Market in the U.S., 8th Edition With a population of 40 million and buying power approaching $1 trillion in 2010, African Americans are a key segment in an American economy that increasingly depends upon the needs and preferences of multicultural consumers. Packaged Facts' new market study, The African-American Market in the U.S., 8th Edition, analyzes the forces shaping the purchase decisions of African-American shoppers and sheds light on key areas such as how black consumers decide where to shop and what influences them while they are shopping. Assessment of the trends shaping the African-American market with an emphasis on opportunities available to marketers. Financial forecast of buying power held by African Americans through 2014 and detailed demographic profiles of the African-American population. In-depth examination of attitudes and behavior of African-American shoppers as it applies to food, clothes, drug-store items and home electronics and furnishings. Unique perspective on the shopping behavior of affluent African Americans consumers. More | View Table of Contents

Pet Insurance in North America, 4th Edition—Blog Entry



David Lummis



As the pet market analyst for Packaged Facts, I started covering this market in 2003.  Wow.  Talk about a market that’s come a long way—and yet still has a long way to go.  Back in 2000, the market was valued at under $50 million, with almost all of those sales coming from a single company, Veterinary Pet Insurance (which founded the market in 1980).  In the fourth edition of our report, released on Monday October 18, 2010, sales were at $354 million, with a dozen companies established in the North American market.

If that sounds like phenomenal 10-year growth it’s because it is, at approximately 600%.  But get this:  This figure still represents less than 1% of the 180 million-plus dogs and cats in North America.  That means (doing a little very rough math) that if the level rises to 10%, we’ll be looking at a market worth $3.5 billion, and with 25% of dogs and cats insured, a market worth nearly $9 billion.  This isn’t out of the question, since about one-quarter and one-half of dogs and cats are insured in the United Kingdom and Sweden, respectively.  There’s a lot going in the North American market right now too, including major insurance companies weighing in as underwriters, such as Aon with Healthy Paws, Aetna with Pets Best, and Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary Central States Indemnity Co. of Omaha with PurinaCare.

Still, marketers have their work cut out for them in dealing with the lingering impact of the recession.  In Packaged Facts’ September 2010 consumer survey, among those who did not have pet insurance, 42% cited as the reason “don’t want additional bill” and 37% said they “don’t want to spend the money for it.”  With economic recovery slow at best, this reticence does not seem likely to change overnight.  Packaged Facts does not expect consumers to throw open their pocketbooks any time soon, but rather to continue to practice moderation.  Thus value will remain a major marketing theme in 2011 and 2012 as pet insurance companies strive to communicate the benefits of their products and keep the pricing options as attractive as possible.  Expect to see more zero- (and other very low) deductible plans, following in the footsteps of Trupanion and, more recently, VPI (via its new Feline Select Plan).

That said, the level of competitive activity is at an all-time high, and with so many irons in the fire I’m not ruling out a “big boom” in the North American pet insurance market.  Such growth will, however, depend on the ability of marketers to move from what appears to be a stage of market cannibalization (and perhaps some retrenchment, even) to one of more uniform growth via an expanded consumer base.  One possible catalyst to higher-level growth would be the entry into the market of another mega-retailer, such as PetSmart (via its Banfield units) or Walmart, the latter of which is reportedly planning a Canadian launch as a Western Financial white label (although neither company could confirm this).

One thing’s for sure, given the currently very low level of pet insurance penetration and very high level of competitive activity—about a half dozen companies have entered the field just since 2004, including PetFirst, Pets Best, Embrace, Fetch/Petplan USA, Trupanion, PurinaCare, and Healthy Paws—the North American pet insurance party is likely just getting started.

~David Lummis, Senior Pet Market Analyst, Packaged Facts

The U.S. Moms Market 2010, 3rd Edition

A new market research study takes a look at the changing demographics in the mom's market and details who is and will become a Mom in the near and distant future.

The report is divided into two parts: The Market Fundamentals and The Market Opportunities.

The Fundamentals

Within the fundamentals you will understand the facts about Moms and children. You will also get to know Mom better by looking at the different ‘stages’ she goes through as a mother of children at varying ages. Additionally, you will step inside her mind to understand not how she is using her cell phone or how much time she spends on the internet, but what she worries about and/or what motivates her.

The Opportunities

The second part of the report takes macro trends and applies them to the Mom Market and explores the resulting micro trends. Highlighting the most influential shifts in the U.S.: Finances, Ethnicity, Eco-Awareness and Technology, the report is filled with specific insights, implications and examples of opportunities for brands.

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Each chapter includes insights and implications so that once you put the report down you will have ideas, plans and actions in mind. Highlights include a look at brand attribute importance by Moms vs. females overall and by Moms across different ethnic groups.
Additionally, commentary on new products in the market coming directly from Moms is included for understanding and distillation.

More Information>>

students are 60% more likely than average to have dinner foodservice at a grocery store or supermarket

As part of our foodservice reports series, we’ve paid close attention to the increasing competition restaurants face from food retail prepared foods. According to Dinner Trends in U.S. Foodservice (October 2010), prepared foods are succeeding with students, who are limited-service restaurant stalwarts. Our proprietary consumer research indicates that students are 60% more likely than average to have dinner foodservice at a grocery store or supermarket, and about 40% more likely than average to have dinner at a convenience store/gas station.

So, while students may not go grocery shopping as often or spend as much there as consumers who have more established households, they clearly respond to convenience-minded offerings when they visit. We believe this provides significant opportunity for food retailers, not just because students are generally more convenience-driven but also because they are more health-conscious. As a group, students may be prone to say they want healthier fare and then make contrarian food decisions—a function of impulse, cost-considerations and the metabolic hubris of youth. But as more and more university foodservice programs have come to understand, students will embrace more healthful options if they meet cost and quality parameters—and the supermarket is optimally positioned to leverage own-branding to provide healthful fare.

But the most significant benefits may run longer-term. Having grown up during what we have coined “The Restaurant Age,” students aged 18-24 are as far removed from routine grocery shopping (and home cooking) as any generation before them. By providing prepared foods that meet their needs, food retailers not only drive a wedge between students and restaurants; they can also leverage that wedge to bring them into the home-cooking fold, by educating on meal planning and meal budgeting, or by using the prepared foods space as a bridge to introduce easy-to-cook meals that blend old-fashioned standards such as mac-and-cheese and spaghetti with new-found international and/or aspirational ingredients—for a reasonable cost, of course.More>

10 Steps to gaining mind share from parents of young children

10 Steps to gaining mind share from parents of young children

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Kids’ Furnishings/Accessories/Toy Sales Regain Momentum, Hit Record $18 Billion Mark in 2010

Press Release
Immediate Distribution

New York, October 21, 2010 — The combined U.S. retail sales of children’s home furnishings, portable accessories, and toys are ascending by more than 5% during 2010 to reach a record $18 billion by year’s end, according to market research publisher Packaged Facts’ recent industry study, Infant, Toddler and Preschool Furnishings, Toys and Accessories in the U.S., 4th Edition. The report focuses on products for kids age 0-5.

In terms of share of retail dollars, toys account for more than $8 billion, or 46%, of the entire infant, toddler, and preschooler (ITP) furnishings/accessories/toys market in 2010. However, accessories (baby monitors, car seats, strollers), which account for over a third of the market with more than $6 million, have gained a bit of ground since 2006. Furnishings (cribs, highchairs, safety gates, etc.) have consistently accounted for nearly $1 out of every $5 throughout most of 2006–2010 with a total expected to surpass $3 billion.

Packaged Facts forecasts U.S. retail sales of ITP furnishings, accessories, and toys will exceed $22 billion as of 2015 with the market’s total growth for the period beginning 2010 amounting to 24%. Such optimism regarding sales of ITP furnishings/accessories/toys is conditional upon the country's continued recovery from the economic recession of 2008-2009.

In the ITP furnishings/accessories/toys marketplace of 2010, the competitive situation is best characterized by issues of price, value, and upscale—whether high-tech or simply elegant—brand image. In the realm of luxury goods, many brands are experiencing stronger sales in 2010 and the ITP durables market appears to be benefiting from affluent or wealthy Americans’ return to spending, post-recession. Such a resurrection is largely enabled by the improving economy, and in addition, to the pre-recession upscaling of America’s taste in nursery décor, strollers, learning toys, and other ITP products.

"America’s tastes have long been trained toward the upscale," says Don Montuori, publisher of Packaged Facts. "In the broader marketplace, upscale brands have become particularly powerful influences in our society, and in many of our product markets, ever since the Reagan era of the 1980s.  It seems that once we acquire a taste for the luxuries that upscale brands provide, even the severest recession can only temporarily halt or reverse these brands’ progress."

The pre-recession, recession, and recovery eras have opened up a "mid-luxury" tier for ITP durables. Many marketers of expensive ITP goods have issued intermediate-priced versions of their products to accommodate Americans whose lifestyles have been disrupted by the shaky economy. And consumers have indeed met such marketers halfway by purchasing strollers in the $500–$600 range instead of spending $1,200 for example.

Even for the millions of moms–to–be who often cannot afford anything deemed upscale or high-end, the acquisition of luxury or mid-luxury ITP products has more frequently been made possible by the collaboration of multiple friends or family members (occasionally numbering in the dozens) pooling resources to purchase high–end gifts for baby showers. Through this practice the rare and exotic then becomes fairly common. Packaged Facts’ survey data reveals that nearly 33% of all adults are purchasers of products for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers; 26% of which are purchasing for other people’s children.

Infant, Toddler and Preschool Furnishings, Toys and Accessories in the U.S., 4th Edition analyzes three product categories that upscaled prior to the worldwide financial crashes of 2008–2009: young kids’ furnishings, accessories, and toys. The report examines lingering after–effects of recession factors in depth, delivers historical sales data, provides a dollar forecast for the year 2015, reveals the results of Packaged Facts’ own survey of nearly 2,000 consumers, and synthesizes Experian Simmons demographic data. In addition, the study profiles the corporate battle styles of Crown Crafts, Dorel, Leapfrog, Maclaren, MGA Entertainment, Newell Rubbermaid/Graco, Phil&teds/Mountain Buggy, and UPPAbaby. For further information, please visit: http://www.packagedfacts.com/Infant-Toddler-Preschool-2707953/.

About Packaged Facts – Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer market topics, including consumer goods and retailing, foods and beverages, demographics, pet products and services, and financial products.  Packaged Facts also offers a full range of custom research services. To learn more, visit: http://www.packagedfacts.com/. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Pet Insurance in North America, 4th Edition

Now in its fourth edition, Packaged Facts’ Pet Insurance in North America is the most comprehensive examination of the U.S. and Canadian pet insurance markets available and a must-have for any company interested in this dynamic industry. Although sales growth slowed due to the recession, revenues (measured as gross written premiums) remained in the double digits in 2009 while delivering a 2005-2009 compound annual growth rate of 21%. Packaged Facts expects the North American market for pet insurance to continue to chart strong annual increases over the next five years, with the high level of competitive activity helping to offset the slow economic recovery and ongoing challenge of communicating the value of pet health insurance to budget-watching consumers.

As of 2010, industry pioneer Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI) continues to lead the market. However, both the U.S. and the Canadian pet insurance markets have experienced significant market share shifts during the past five years as more than a half dozen new companies have come onto the field. Each of these companies brings with it unique strengths, in some cases including potent co-marketing affiliations with powerful brands (e.g., PetPartners and the AKC, PurinaCare with its own famous name), and in other cases including important retail channel thrusts (e.g., PetFirst with Kroger and Petfinder.com, and Trupanion with Petco). The industry is also seeing more investment backing and large insurance companies coming into the market as underwriters, including Aon with Healthy Paws, Aetna with Pets Best, and Berkshire Hathaway with PurinaCare.

ITP Furnishings/Accessories/Toys Marketplace Transformed by Recession

Packaged Facts observes that the consumer ITP durables marketplace has morphed under the pressure of the difficult U.S. (and world) economies, since at least 2007.  Although retail dollar growth was still positive in that year across all three of our ITP categories studied here – furnishings, essentially homebound; accessories, more portable; and toys of an astonishing range of types – changes were already in effect:  Pre-recession, many marketers were entering new brands, or extending their established brands, into the lower reaches of the luxury price-tiers, and more obviously, into middle luxury – “mid-luxe” tiers. 

In the stroller segment of the accessories category, for example, marketers such as Newell Rubbermaid, having bought the sophisticated Japanese-made Aprica brand earlier in 2008, thus covered the under $200-$370 range more deeply, because the new acquisition complemented Newell’s popular Graco brand, priced up to $270.  Also pre-recession, Phil&teds and UPPAbaby were both rolling out namesake brands with high-tech or elegant design features, at MSRPs topping out at the upper reaches of the mid-luxe tier, or at $600-$700. 

Initially, these marketers may have viewed their price-positionings as shrewd competitive moves versus the $1,000-plus Bugaboos, Maclarens, Stokkes, and other strollers.  Bugaboo, not content to be the mid-luxe specialists’ punching bag, introduced the Bugaboo Bee in 2007, listing it at $535.

There was also some accommodation of the value set, with extensions downward into the under-$200, and even under-$100, brackets; the low-end models were often lightweight umbrella strollers, but in any case, tended to show the design influences of higher-priced counterparts. 

As the cost of fossil fuels skyrocketed, and consequently, the pricetags on groceries and manufactured goods also shot up; as the U.S. mortgage scandal unfolded; as unemployment rates rose; as the war in Iraq cost untold billions – some ITP durables marketers may have concocted their multi-price-tiered battle plans to double as hedges against a recession that did happen, after the fourth quarter 2008 crashes of financial exchanges around the globe. 

In 2010, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that high-end ITP durables -- for instance, the Teutonia brand of German-made strollers acquired by Newell Rubbermaid in 2007, and now priced up to $890 -- are selling well again.  But the newly reinforced mid-luxe and value tiers will be with us for a long time to come, offering wider arrays of brands, and certainly, more choices of affordable status brands.

Infant, Toddler and Preschool Furnishings, Toys and Accessories in the U.S., 4th Edition : Packaged Facts

As the U.S. economy recovers from deep recession, all eyes are on product categories that upscaled prior to the worldwide financial crashes of 2008-2009: Among such categories are young kids’ furnishings (cribs, highchairs, safety gates, etc.), accessories (baby monitors, car seats, strollers), and toys.

Together, the three categories are a market valued at $17.8 billion at retail in 2010, with $22.1 billion possible in 2015, according to this update of a best-selling Packaged Facts report.

Pre-2008, it seemed the parade of high-tech baby stroller brands on Main Street, U.S.A., would go on forever -- then sales of strollers priced at $1,000-plus, and sales of other top-end ITP products, were dampened by the bleak economic outlook. Yet in 2010, consumers are regaining confidence, and Bugaboo, Maclaren, Stokke, and other pricey strollers are out on the sidewalks once more.

This positive turn is reinforced by parents’ quest for smarter, safer ways to raise kids; by high birth rates among U.S.-resident Hispanics; and by new evolutions of the Yoga Mom (the latest being Yoga Mom 3: Household Savior). Marketers’ creation of “mid-luxe” price-tiers has also helped them hedge against lingering after-effects of recession.

In Infant, Toddler and Preschool Furnishings, Toys and Accessories in the U.S., Packaged Facts examines such factors in depth, plus we deliver historical sales; a dollar forecast for the year 2015; the results of our own survey of nearly 2,000 consumers; and Experian Simmons demographic data. In addition, we profile the corporate battle styles of Crown Crafts, Dorel, Leapfrog, Maclaren, MGA Entertainment, Newell Rubbermaid/Graco, Phil&teds/Mountain Buggy, and UPPAbaby.

MORE>>

Economically Optimistic Gen-Y Adults are Essential to Nation's Recovery

With an aggregate income approaching $1 trillion, the adults of the Millennial Generation are expected to play an essential role in the recovery of the American economy and consequently offer significant opportunities to marketers of consumer goods and services, according to survey data published in Millennials in the U.S.: Trends and Opportunities Surrounding Gen-Y Adults by market research publisher Packaged Facts.

Though hit harder than any other age demographic during the recession due to pay cuts and rampant unemployment, Millennials remain optimistic about the future of the American economy and are less likely to have cut spending despite the downturn. MORE>

The U.S. Moms Market 2010, 3rd Edition : Packaged Facts

The U.S. Mom Market has received much discussion over the last 10 years since Packaged Facts first published a comprehensive report on the market. Moms continue to dominate the household dollars and brands continue to try to meet their needs. This report takes a different look at Moms than the current buzz in the market. It focuses on the fundamentals of Moms like market size, changes in demographics and details around who is and will become a Mom in the near and distant future.
More>>