In recent years, with the rise of the "she economy" and the popularization of the concept of healthy childbirth, confinement centers are attracting much attention. In fact, the confinement center industry has existed in China for more than 20 years, but due to the birth rate is decreasing year by year, there is no clear regulatory department, the industry threshold is low, the fee is high, there are many induced consumption routines and high costs and low profits······
However, the industry is full of confidence in the development of the confinement center industry, and it has also been valued again during the two sessions this year, and the relevant proposals have also directly hit the pain points of the industry.
Newborns are decreasing year by year, is confinement center still a good business?
With the development of modern social economy, women's thinking is more open and independent. Women in the new era are paying more and more attention to themselves, emphasizing the subjective feeling of "pleasing themselves". The same is true in the field of consumption, where "she power" has gradually evolved into an economic force, and the "she economy" is leading the development of modern social economy.
The "confinement economy", which has become popular rapidly in recent years, is the rapidly developing business model under the "she economy". Post-85, post-90s and post-00s women are the most important consumer groups of the "confinement economy".
According to Frost & Sullivan data, the domestic confinement center market size was only 6.76 billion yuan in 2016, and this figure will become 17.8 billion yuan in 2021, with a compound annual growth rate of 21.4%, and it is expected that the market size will further expand to 28.1 billion yuan in 2025, with an average annual compound growth rate of 17.2%.
Although the market scale has begun to accelerate in the past two years, the maturity of the industry is still very low, many rigid consumer needs have not been met, and the head effect is not obvious. According to statistics, the market share of the top five confinement centers in China is only about 10%, and the market share of the leading enterprise Aidigong is only 4.3%.
In addition to the lack of players, the market sinking of confinement centers also has limitations, and brand chain stores are mainly clustered in first-tier and new first-tier cities. According to Forbes China's 2023 data, 83.3% of those who are willing to go to confinement centers live in first-tier cities in China. However, some people in the industry said that the confinement center will gradually sink into the local market in the future and become a service industry covering the whole society.
Industry insiders are full of confidence in the future development of the confinement center industry, especially in the case of a small peak in the Year of the Dragon, "In the next two years, the confinement service industry will continue to improve, and some high-end confinement centers are preparing to increase the number of rooms." ”
But capital doesn't seem to be very optimistic about this track. As the number of new births decreases year by year, the frequency of financing events is relatively low. According to industry insiders, "in the past two years, there have been relatively few financing events in the confinement center, and the performance of listed companies is also lackluster." According to statistics, the main financing events in the past two years include: the listed company Aidigong will receive 225 million Hong Kong dollars in financing in 2023, Jinen Health will receive 15 million yuan in Pre-A round financing in 2022, and tens of millions of yuan in Series A financing in 2023. Another company, Santa Bella, completed hundreds of millions of yuan in Series C-3 financing in July 2023.
The small peak of the new birth population in the Year of the Dragon may temporarily reverse the development trend of the industry in the previous two years. However, after the climax, the gradual decline in the rate of new births is still a practical problem for the industry.
So, how to break the game?
Behind the wave of store closures, there is a lack of market supervision
Before breaking the game, let's take a look at why a business model that has existed in China for more than 20 years has developed so unsatisfactorily.
There is no clear state regulatory authority. There are too many consumption scenarios involved in the Yuezi Center, including business registration, accommodation, catering, medical care, environmental sanitation and other aspects, and these scenarios are supervised by multiple departments, which is prone to management confusion or "three regardless". In other words, the confinement center is actually a "gray area" industry.
The threshold is low. Confinement centers belong to the maternal and infant health care industry, and maternal and child health care institutions are still an emerging business format in China, and there is no special business scope, industry category description and annotation in the "National Economic Industry Classification", and they are classified as "family services" in resident services. Therefore, the confinement center is actually a set of family services integrating accommodation, catering, nursing, and rehabilitation, with a relatively low service threshold and a relatively relaxed process. Therefore, some small workshops rely on low prices to gain market advantages. However, these small workshops often have chaotic phenomena such as non-standard management, incomplete disinfection and sterilization, large safety hazards, and low quality of service personnel, which damage the reputation of the industry and disrupt the healthy development of the market.
The charges are high. There are generally two price points for the more formal confinement center packages on the market: one is to take the high-end route, mainly in the first-tier cities, and the other is low-priced, in the third- and fourth-tier cities. The author understands that the unit price of a high-end confinement center in Beijing is between 200,000 and 600,000 yuan. According to industry insiders, "in addition to meeting the basic professional services of consumers, high-end confinement centers should also provide customers with premium products, such as social circles, coordination of family relationships, etc., and its anchored customer base is actually a high-consumption group with liquid assets of more than 50 million." "The price of the confinement center with a low price is also tens of thousands of yuan, which is equivalent to half a year's salary for most people in a small county, and ordinary people still can't afford to live. According to iResearch data, more than 60% of the mothers who choose confinement centers have a consumption budget of less than 30,000 yuan. The price is too expensive, which is an important reason why the confinement center cannot win consumers.
Image source: Xiaohongshu users
There are many routines. According to many mothers, there are still many hidden fees in the confinement center. As long as you enter the confinement center, there will be people who will continue to induce consumption of the mother, such as the taking of baby photos, postpartum health recovery, breast dredging, etc. According to Bao's mother, "They will tell you that the mammary glands are too scattered, and the child can't eat thoroughly, and you must dredge them regularly after confinement, otherwise it is easy to block the milk." Many mothers have purchased a lot of value-added services under these fools, and some netizens concluded, "Engaging in pyramid schemes is the real purpose of the confinement center." ”
Not profitable. Mothers are blocked from the confinement center by high fees, and the confinement center is also complaining that they can't make money. According to industry insiders, "the confinement center is not the profiteering business that many people imagine. In order to pursue a glamorous environment, many stores may have a pre-decoration fee of 8 million yuan for the confinement center in a small county, and then counting the rent and various costs, it will take at least 100 customers to ensure that the cash flow can operate normally in a year. "But the problem is that now that the birth rate is gradually declining, how to find 100 expectant mothers in a small county town who can afford this amount is a problem. Opening high and going low seems to be the fate of most confinement centers.
The renovation of the confinement center Source: Xiaohongshu users
To sum up, the problems are the crux of the lagging development of the confinement center, and before the "good medicine" is found, the confinement center seems to be a difficult business.
How to break the game?
Problems such as sudden closure, running away with money, poor service, poor environmental hygiene, unprofessionalism, and arbitrary charges occur frequently in the confinement center industry, and the development of most players is often "halfway through". The Mother and Child Frontier noticed that from the end of 2023, a number of confinement centers have been in trouble. For example, the Shanghai Xixi Confinement Center, which suddenly announced its closure, quietly closed without notifying consumers, which caught many expectant mothers off guard. The store subsequently refused to ask for a refund and only provided a low-cost alternative confinement center.
It is really outrageous that an industry that has grown up with "love and care" is full of chaos. The difficulty of refunding, protecting rights and running away with money has not only damaged the rights and interests of consumers, but also seriously affected the healthy development of the industry.
Fortunately, with the rise of the "she economy", the demand for postpartum maternal and child health care services is increasing day by day, and confinement centers are receiving more and more attention. During the two sessions this year, "Tianyan News" launched the "I ask a question to the two sessions" suggestion collection activity, Xu Zu, a member of the provincial CPPCC committee, said in response to netizens' questions about the confinement center, it is recommended to introduce relevant management measures and standards, establish a standardized training mechanism and medical alliance mechanism, implement a white/black list publicity system, establish an evaluation system in charge and strengthen publicity and education.
These suggestions will be beneficial to the healthy development of the confinement center industry, rectify the chaos in the industry, guide the confinement center to better adapt to market demand, improve service levels, and promote the development of the industry in a more professional and standardized direction.
In fact, as early as the two sessions in 2018, Representative Li Bingji made suggestions on the development of confinement centers, including clarifying the competent authorities, standardizing service management standards, improving the technical level and service awareness of professionals, improving the service guarantee mechanism, unifying the guidance of charging standards and building low-end confinement clubs, so as to avoid excessive consumption of the maternal and infant market.
Of course, in addition to the regulatory constraints on the industry, the industry should also strengthen cooperation with medical institutions with a sense of responsibility and professionalism, establish a standardized training mechanism to actively participate in industry self-discipline, formulate industry norms, strengthen self-management, and strive to improve the service level and image of the entire industry, and promote the healthy and orderly development of the industry.