2023 Petcare Market Trends For Ecommerce: What Should You Know?
Petcare market trends have drastically changed in the past decade. Here’s Samantha Fraser, Head of Strategy, with five key trends that emerged from our recent visit to the European Petcare Innovation Summit.
Written By
Sammy Fraser
In early May 2023, Swanky was proud to support the Petcare Innovation Summit Europe, hosted in Berlin. Our petcare ecommerce experience has been generated through working for many years with some of the largest and fastest-growing retailers in the sector. We joined other leaders innovating in the petcare landscape to discuss challenges and opportunities in the market, and shared our knowledge of ecommerce optimisation in a panel discussion. Our team met some of the most prominent emerging and established petcare brands from across Europe, and enjoyed hearing about their business journeys so far – particularly their experiences with digital.
Throughout the two days, five clear petcare market trends emerged. Before I delve into each of these below, it’s worth considering the trajectory of the industry as a whole.
Context for petcare market trends
The global petcare market size was valued at USD $159 billion in 2022 and is conservatively projected to reach USD $236 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 5.1%.1
Speakers at the summit referenced this continual growth as a testament to the petcare industry’s resilience, despite current economic headwinds. In fact, it’s often referred to as a ‘recession-resistant’ category. This is supported by research which indicated that “when forced with a 20% drop in budget, the amount a customer would spend on their pet would remain the same”.2
A panel discussing the future of investment within the petcare market highlighted that this resilience is leading to increased investment activity.
Five petcare market trends
1. The ‘fur baby phenomenon’ (a.k.a. the humanisation of pets)
Industry research has found that:
- 80% of pet owners today see their pet as part of their family; and
- 8 in 10 British Gen Z’ers would like to own a pet.2
With a growing number of people treating their pets like a family member, they are not only willing to spend more on their pet, but are also seeking higher quality, premium products. It is no surprise, therefore, that new trends are oriented around sustainability and health and wellness (much in the same way that humans are prioritising these values).
It was clear during the event’s Best in Show spotlight, that brands are looking to tap into the close relationship customers have with their pets. For example, WagIt is an app which allows customers to discover and book dog friendly venues, whilst Caboodle delivers dog food, treats and chews in pre-portioned daily boxes with an emphasis on the product’s ease of use.
2. Subscription and personalisation in petcare ecommerce
During the Covid pandemic, the petcare industry, like many others, saw a spike in the uptake of ecommerce. This marked a dramatic pivot away from the more traditional method of purchasing pet food in supermarket aisles. With this recent growth and the market’s predicted expansion in mind, conversation throughout the event often returned to the rise of subscription and personalisation.
Analysis by Recharge suggests that the petcare industry is currently one of the fastest growing markets for subscription, with an 8% increase in growth between 2021 and 2022.3 For a great swathe of pet products, especially consumables such as food and supplements, ‘subscribe and save’ offers can be a no brainer. As a Shopify subscription agency, we have implemented this replenishment model for numerous ecommerce retailers, with benefits for both brands and consumers.
Subscriptions also offer a more personalised shopping experience. This experience is realised by capturing and leveraging valuable zero-party data, such as pet age, breed and weight. Data like this enables pet food brands like Caboodle to observe that 51% of all dogs are currently overweight – and then provide pet owners solutions for this concern. This value is also echoed by successful UK brand Bella and Duke, which focuses on the health benefits of its raw food products.
Other subscription benefits include ensuring compliance, the chance to personalise the entire customer journey (even packaging), and the convenience for customers. Moreover, the ability to predict and forecast product demands can be especially useful for brands like Hello Bello that use fresh ingredients in their dog food.
Methods of upselling to your current subscription audience and the data capture potential were also discussed. One of the main takeaways here was that the ability to report on customer lifetime value (LTV) is a key differentiator for petcare retailers which are looking to attract external investment. This is because:
- subscriptions provide a more secure revenue source over a longer period of time;
- you build stronger relationships with customers due to the longevity of subscriptions; and
- you have a greater opportunity to understand customers through data acquisition.
3. Increase in new product development (NPD)
Product innovation in the petcare market is booming, from the use of technology (i.e. Kippy, MyPetGo and Tractive), to an increase in telemedicine practices and the digitisation of veterinary care.
There’s also an increasing number of new pet food ingredients aimed at improving pet health and reducing the market’s carbon footprint.
A great example of the market’s innovation is the award that MI:RNA Diagnostics recently received for their vision to “revolutionise early disease detection with … pioneering technology and cutting edge precision medicine”.4
4. Sustainability and charity
Over the past few years, we have all become more aware of our environmental impact. In line with the rise in conscious consumerism, 81% of pet owners shared in a recent study that sustainable products are important to them.2
The two biggest areas of opportunity in the petcare market with regard to the environment are packaging and protein sources (as mentioned above).
Charity work and ‘giving back’ was also discussed, with Strayz picking up an award at the conference for their ‘buy one, give one’ approach to pet food, paying it forward to stray dogs and cats across the world.
Charitable work that brands join or initiate is of ever increasing importance to customers. We discuss how authentic charitable partnerships can build trust in your brand in our guide to selling pet products online.
5. Health and wellbeing
Influenced by the ageing population of our pets and the ‘fur baby phenomenon’, there is a significant rise in pet owners spending on products that will improve their pet’s health and wellbeing.
Research highlights that 94% of pet owners would take any intervention to avoid pain for their pet, whilst innovative efforts in preventive action from brands such as Mammaly and Teef are on the up.2
We spoke with several nutrition and supplement brands from established manufacturers and fast-growth groups like Provet, Pet Buddy Group (who have recently acquired supplement brand MediPaws), Protexin, and Aptus from Orion Pharma who are making headway in the space. With so much innovation happening, this is certainly a trend to watch.
Speakers also referenced the positive impact that pets can have on the mental health and wellbeing of humans, with one in three people purchasing a pet to help them through a difficult time or for mental health improvements.
Keep ahead of petcare market trends
Swanky is recognised as the go-to Shopify Plus agency in the petcare industry. Amongst the leading petcare brands and animal charities we’ve worked with, we’ve provided migration and internationalisation expertise to Catit (part of the Hagen Group), supported Battersea Dogs Home with its digital journey, and helped YuMOVE transform its ecommerce performance with a long-term data driven digital growth strategy.
We help our clients keep ahead of petcare market trends and navigate a rapidly evolving industry with a blend of data, strategy, creativity and commercial acumen.
So whether you’re looking to optimise your petcare site’s customer experience, or discuss anything else we’ve mentioned in this article, please contact our solutions team and we’ll be pleased to continue the conversation.
For reference:
[1] Petfoodindustry.com; https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/pet-care-market
[2] https://www.zoetis.com/
[3] https://rechargepayments.com/resources/industry-report/
[4] https://mirna-diagnostics.com/