A great divide? How US and Canadian buying habits are drifting apart

Recent consumer research has explored the similarities and differences in purchasing behavior among pet owners in North America. The standout trends in the US are digitalization and mixed wet and dry pet diets. Meanwhile in Canada, high-frequency buying is on the decline.

Comparing the data

In August 2025, a survey by Yummypets, powered by Loop, asked more than 1,000 pet owners in the US and Canada how frequently they buy packaged pet food.

The same research was previously conducted in October 2023 and December 2024. Analysis reveals some interesting changes in consumer behavior and trends over the past two years.

Fall in frequency

One notable example is that there has been a significant decline in the number of frequent (twice a month or more) shoppers for pet food in Canada. This figure fell by 8.6 percentage points (p.p), going from 43.1% in 2023 to 34.5% in 2025.

The frequency has also decreased in the US, but by just 3 p.p., as 56% of owners bought food twice a month or more in 2023. This compares with 53% in 2025.

Just over one third (37%) of owners in the US buy pet food once a month, whereas this is the highest-scoring frequency in Canada (52%).

People who buy pet food only occasionally (once a quarter) form the smallest group in both countries: 10% in the US and 13.5% in Canada.

Growth in mixed diets

The survey also asked consumers whether they give their pets dry food only, wet food only or a mix of both. Very few pet diets are based on wet food only in both countries.

Pet diets based on dry food (kibble) only have traditionally been popular, albeit more so in Canada (44%) than in the US (32%).

In both markets, however, pet diets are moving away from the traditional reliance on kibble only in favor of a mix of dry and wet food. This change is most pronounced in the US, where popularity of the mixed diet increased by 10.5 p.p., going from 53% in 2023 to 63.5% in 2025.

A similar increase is visible in Canada, albeit smaller (6.9 p.p.). There, the number of owners feeding their pets a mixed diet grew from 46.1% in 2023 to 53% in 2025.

In both countries, the main driver of this change was dog food, which has gone from being predominantly dry to incorporating wet food as well. In contrast, wet cat food was already relatively popular two years ago.

Digital shift gathers pace

There are significant differences between consumers’ preferred pet food purchasing channels in the two countries. Online is now the dominant channel in the US, where digitalization has accelerated in the past two years. There, online pet food purchasing grew from 21% in 2023 to 40.9% in 2025.

In Canada, pet owners are also shifting away from traditional channels in favor of the internet. Although the percentages are still relatively low, the number of owners buying pet food through e-commerce platforms almost doubled between 2023 (9.5%) and 2025 (17%).

Pet shop popularity in Canada

Perhaps surprisingly, specialized pet shops are still the most used channel when buying pet food in Canada (41%). In contrast, they are not hugely popular in the US (18.6%). Discount stores score low popularity in both countries, being the preferred pet food shopping channel of just 5% of Americans and only 2% of Canadians.

Interestingly, 7% of Canadians buy pet food at veterinary clinics, compared with just 1.5% of owners in the US.

The future for physical retail

The penetration rate of supermarkets and groceries is currently fairly similar in both countries, accounting for 28.1% of pet food purchases in the US and 24.5% in Canada. Two years ago, however, supermarkets and groceries accounted for 48% of pet food purchases, representing a dramatic drop.

It remains to be seen whether this trend will continue in the US, and whether the accelerating digital shift in Canada will come at the expense of supermarkets, groceries and other brick-and-mortar stores.