Baby Talk

As a soon-to-be first time father, contrary to what most people are telling me, I think I'm pretty well prepared for the long sleepless nights and general decline of personal time (I'll let you know in eight months if I was right).

What I am pretty sure I am not prepared for is the extended amount of time (and money) I will be spending in my local supermarket's baby aisles. Last week I took a trial run through the baby aisles just to get a feel for what types of food, diapers and other products are available.

Like most parents my wife and I are fully prepared to curb spending on ourselves, dedicating that money to our child. The problem now is filtering through all of the products currently available.

Take diapers for example. From national branded diapers to store brands, there are dozens of products on the shelves, all of them claiming to do something different from the one next to it. It can all get rather confusing. The supermarket that takes added steps to clarify the category would be poised to garner a significant market share and win, and more importantly keep, valuable customers that many times gravitate towards club stores. 

One thing I can tell you with near certainty, five years ago private label baby products wouldn't have been an option; today while my wife and I won't commit to private label, they are certainly on equal footing, something for grocers to keep in mind.  

In today's economy I am sure we are not the only ones that consider private label a legitimate option either.