In fact, the potential of adult diapers has long been seen by some of the top diaper companies. At a diaper conference held at this year's Mother and Baby Industry Watch, Li Zhibiao, chairman of Haoyue Care, estimated that the adult diaper market could be more than twice the size of the baby diaper market in 5 or 10 years.

So how can brands keep up with consumer demand and accumulate and fight for more brand dividends before adult diapers explode?

Diversification of scenarios gives rise to new business opportunities

The epidemic has driven the refinement of the adult diaper use, with manufacturer promotion and changing consumer perceptions of adult diapers further increasing the category's penetration and expanding use scenarios and populations - except for the elderly and products specifically for adult women.

The 2020 epidemic brought diapers into the public eye. One of the frontline medical staff in Wuhan wrote in her diary on epidemic prevention: We are still pretty girls in diapers. During the epidemic, diapers helped them win treatment time and reduce the wear and tear of protective clothing.

Some female users said in interviews that adult diapers have become a necessity in life, used in many scenarios, including during menstruation, music festivals and travel. She believes it is normal to wear adult diapers, which is common abroad.

About 2 billion people in the world suffer from varying degrees of incontinence, with the prevalence of adult female incontinence at 31.1%, increasing with age. On Weibo, the famous actress Ma Yili mentioned urinary leakage when sharing her urine leakage symptom, and women in the comment section have said they had experienced the same problem.

Technology can be upgraded and functions can be expanded

With the expansion of the user group as well as the demand, the adult diaper products which originally only had the basic urine separation function have also been developed in terms of function and technology. With the development of the market, industry technology and products have been also upgraded. Today, features such as ultra-thin, breathable, skin-friendly, and leak-proof separators are becoming standard feature points for popular products.

Adult diapers have also been inspired by the evolving refinement of baby-producing diapers to develop new selling points and features. For example, new concepts for baby diapers such as skin care ingredients can also be followed in the advertising of adult diaper manufacturers.

The markets in Japan, Europe and the U.S. are more mature, with a wide range of diaper product forms, some of which are almost indistinguishable from underwear in appearance and body feel.