55% of millennials say they prefer online shopping because of convenience in terms of shipping, delivery, and price comparison.¹ Add this fact to the humanization of pets by many millennials, you get an upward trend on all things premium when it comes to pet purchases, ranging from pet food to pet accessories to pet training and more.
Millennials Own More Pets
Millennials have already overtaken baby boomers as the biggest pet-owning generation.² Along with baby boomers, millennials also take their roles seriously as pet parents. This means they spend unequivocally on the well-being of their precious pets, especially on pet food. In 2018 alone, 42% of US $72.1 B spent on pets went to pet food.³
What sets millennials apart from baby boomers is their passion for their pets. This overwhelming passion has definitely driven retail sales online. According to Nathan Richter, senior partner at Wakefield Research, the company hired by online retailer Zulily to do a survey, “Younger shoppers are quite discerning when it comes to the products they consider good enough for their pets. This is not a generation looking for one-stop-shop convenience, so retailers need to be sure they have an optimal mix of high-quality and specialty products.”⁴
A Dramatic Increase in Premium Pet Food
While the demand for higher-quality premium pet food in the past 10 years led to a dramatic sales by 36% between 2007 and 2017, the shift to online retail yielded a 21% growth in 2018⁵. This online trend continues to rise which might pose a threat to physical retail stores all over.
A survey done by Pet Product News Magazine in 2017 shows that 51% of store retailers view online vendors as “significant threat to the pet product retailing business.”⁶ This number might have increased already as of this writing.
Harmonious Coexistence
Online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores might appear to be fighting it out in terms of market share. The Zulily survey also showed some 77% pet owners buy online for pet products like toys, accessories, and food while still doing in-store shopping for pet treats, bedding, and clothing.⁷ If that’s the case, a harmonious coexistence between these two channels is surely welcome to all pet lovers.
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[1] https://www.business2community.com/infographics/how-millennial-online-shopping-is-changing-the-retail-industry-infographic-02169724
[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2018/10/18/the-pet-retail-market-is-hot-and-getting-hotter-by-the-day/#414ff6d17ecd
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2018/trends-in-pet-care-mirror-those-of-pet-owners.html
[6] https://www.petfoodindustry.com/blogs/7-adventures-in-pet-food/post/6824-us-pet-retailers-expect-rise-in-premium-pet-food-sales
[7] https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2018/10/18/the-pet-retail-market-is-hot-and-getting-hotter-by-the-day/#6554a487ecdd
