The meteoric rise of the diaper to online champion

Hardly any other product exemplifies the social shift towards online shopping as well as diapers: the packages are large and unwieldy, and they are correspondingly unpopular for weekly shopping at Aldi, Lidl & Co. Delivery to your door is much more convenient. What's more, nappies are usually cheaper online - especially if you buy monthly boxes that aren't even available in the shop round the corner. In addition, there are often quantity discounts on the net.

So it's not surprising that nappies have enjoyed a meteoric rise at Digitec Galaxus AG and Galaxus Germany in recent years: Of the more than 2000 product types that the online retailer currently has in its range, diapers are now the ninth most popular. If we exclude the electronics and office supplies sectors, we are even talking about the most popular product type of all. Every day, a five-digit number of nappy packs leave the Galaxus warehouses.

Wet wipes in the wake

It wasn't always this way: in 2014, for example, nappies were still in sales rank 731, and in 2016 they were in 50th place. They have been ranking in the top 20 since 2019. Following in the wake of the consumer trend are wet wipes, which are now in 38th place in Digitec Galaxus' popularity ranking. Diaper pails and their refill pouches, on the other hand, are once again bobbing around beyond the top-100 after a brief catch-up.

The following chart shows how strong the growth in diaper sales has been in recent years: So far, there hasn't been a single year in which sales haven't grown by at least a third. By comparison, in 2020 Digitec Galaxus saw a pandemic-driven increase in sales of nearly 60 percent. In previous years, 15 to 20 percent was more the norm.

Wet wipes are also in full growth mode. Reusable cloth diapers are also selling better and better, but compared to disposable diapers, they are still rarely seen on baby's bottoms.

Eco-diapers make up ground

By far the most popular at Galaxus are Pampers diapers, followed by Pingo, Rascal+Friends, Naty or Milette. "Pampers is synonymous with diapers - like Labello is for lip balms," explains portfolio manager Viktor Wiesinger. In addition, Pampers recently won the Stiftung Warentest diaper test. However, eco-diapers such as those from the Swiss brand Pingo are on the rise. "It's no wonder when you consider how many diapers a baby uses per month," Viktor says. "That leaves a big mountain of plastic at the end."

The big-ticket monthly boxes are also in particularly high demand: In the top-20 most popular items in Galaxus' diaper assortment, you'll usually only find one smaller box, a half-month's supply of size 1 Pampers, which babies quickly outgrow.

And who buys nappies from Galaxus? In six out of ten cases, it's women; and three out of four shoppers are between 30 and 39 years old.

Do you only buy diapers online? Or do you still sometimes go to the store around the corner? What do you think of eco or even reusable nappies? And how long have your kids been wearing Pampers & Co? Discuss in the comments column!