Consumers seeking to stock up on pet products during the pandemic leaned heavily on online channels, including delivery and click-and-collect from local supermarkets.
“We hear a lot about grocers losing share to e-commerce, but they themselves are participating in the trend,” said Davis Lummis, pet market analyst at Packaged Facts.
He projected that online sales of pet food and nonfood products combined will increase to 27% of total category sales in 2020, up from 22% of total sales in 2019.
“It’s all been about e-commerce, and it has been for a while,” he said.
While brick-and-mortar retailers are capturing some of that e-commerce growth, online specialists are also continuing to expand their sales significantly. In June, e-commerce pet products retailer Chewy said its sales for the first quarter, which ended May 3, rose 46.2%, to $1.62 billion. That included an increase of 48%, to $1.1 billion, through its subscription business.
Tim Dornfeld, category manager of pet products at Naperville, Ill.-based KeHE Distributors, said online pet category sales could slow over time, although the longer the pandemic lasts, “the more ingrained these shopping behaviors may become,” he said.
Brick-and-mortar operators have a significant opportunity to grow their omnichannel sales, he said, by offering the right balance of products and services for their market.
“Consumers are looking for ways to support local businesses in the midst of pandemic hardships, and options like curbside pick-up can provide a safe way to do it,” Dornfeld said.
However, he added, the risk associated with curbside pickup is that it drives less traffic into the stores, reducing impulse purchases of items like treats or toys.
“That needs to be taken into consideration as part of a comprehensive digital storefront,” Dornfeld said.
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