E-commerce expansion boosts Italian pet businesses

According to the E-commerce in Italy 2025 report by digital strategists Casaleggio Associati, online sales in the Italian pet sector – which includes food, products and accessories – grew by 7% last year.

This is a positive figure, albeit lower than the 37% growth recorded in 2023 (which was accelerated by a significant average price increase of 12.5%).

As a result, the sector reached a value of €259 million ($283M) in 2024 with virtually no increase in prices (+0.3%).

Big names in e-commerce

Italian e-commerce activities for the pet sector are characterized by a strong national presence. 95% of operators are of Italian origin and many of them are based in the regions of Lombardy, Campania and Emilia-Romagna.

Despite this, the competitive landscape also includes foreign players – mainly from Spain, the US and France. Although representing a numerical minority, they occupy half of the top 10 positions in terms of market importance.

Top websites for pet owners

According to Casaleggio Associati’s ranking as of February 2025, Zooplus is the market-leading website for Italian pet parents. It has by far the highest number of unique monthly visitors (at 1.1 million).

This website also scores the highest average visit time (how long people stay on the website), at 8 minutes and 14 seconds.

However, the bounce rate (how many people immediately leave the website after being directed to it by a search engine) is relatively high, at 56%.

Ranked by the number of unique monthly visitors, the rest of the top 5 is made up of Arcaplanet (807,000 unique monthly visitors), Bauzaar (178,000), Zoomalia (155,000) and Isola dei Tesori (138,000).

At just 45%, third-placed Bauzaar has the lowest bounce rate and is the only one to register below 50%.

Resilient and adaptable sector

The pet sector continues to represent an important part of the Italian business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce market, with the estimated turnover putting it among the strongest in the broader consumer products sector.

The growth, although more moderate than in previous years, testifies to the resilience of the pet sector and its ability to adapt to new economic and market challenges.

One of the aspects that emerges clearly from the Casaleggio Associati report is the preference of users for quick and easy purchases. This is a particularly crucial factor in the pet sector, where regularity and buying habits play a central role.

Opportunities for apps

Despite this, many of the main pet sector websites analyzed do not offer dedicated apps for mobile purchasing.

This is particularly surprisingly in view of the increasing importance of apps in the Italian e-commerce landscape in general, and their decisive impact on customer loyalty and purchase frequency. For the pet sector, the introduction of an app could represent a crucial opportunity.

In fact, as the Casaleggio Associati report points out, operators who have already developed app-commerce solutions record an average increase in turnover of at least 10%, particularly through integration with advanced customer relationship management (CRM) systems for one-to-one loyalty programs.

Room for logistics improvements

From an organizational and logistical point of view, the Italian e-commerce sector is still relatively traditional. 65% of companies maintain in-house logistics, with little reliance on third-party partners or marketplaces for warehouse and shipping management.

In fact, only 16% of the surveyed companies fully delegate logistics to external partners, and only 7% to marketplaces.

Although this model provides greater control over quality and service, it potentially limits expansion and operational flexibility.

The majority of Italian e-commerce companies recognize there is significant room for improvement in shipping management, with as many as 88% expressing dissatisfaction with their logistics providers.

Strategic priorities in 2025

In terms of digital strategy for the coming year, the top priorities in the Italian e-commerce sector are to increase turnover (64%), build customer loyalty (44%) and increase brand awareness (45%).

This reflects a growing awareness of the importance of margins and gaining market share over competitors.

Another key trend for the near future will be the implementation of technologies based on artificial intelligence (AI).

In the pet e-commerce sector, AI could have a decisive impact in several areas: from the personalization of the customer experience (already adopted by 24% of Italian e-commerce companies), to advanced tools supporting the management of data and sales forecasts.

Innovation and AI drive advantage

In conclusion, Italy’s pet e-commerce sector shows a strong propensity for innovation and a constant focus on the quality of the service offered.

Despite the slight contraction in 2024 compared to the previous year, the sector is maintaining positive and significant growth.

The positive outlook is supported by as-yet-unexplored potential, especially in the areas of technology and logistics.

Companies that manage to exploit these opportunities, especially through the introduction of apps and the strategic use of AI-based solutions, will undoubtedly gain an important competitive advantage in the coming years.