Fashion versus function?

One of the family

Over the last 25 years, the £1 billion (€1.2 / $1.3 billion) UK pet market has evolved from merely utilitarian towards more added-value accessories. Changing consumer attitudes have been fundamental to this trend, with many pets now treated as members of the family. Growth in the ‘must-have’ products is largely driven by the desires of the owner rather than the pet.

Enhanced features

The well-being of the family pet is increasingly in focus, with a growing multitude of care products now available. Whilst housing and bedding used to be purely functional products, developments over the last five years have included the adoption of larger hutches for rabbits with additional features such as removable litter trays and larger integral runs.

Meanwhile, the UK fish and reptiles sector, estimated at around £140 million (€165 / $183 million), has seen increased interest in aquaria and vivaria enhanced with more advanced heating and lighting systems. Furthermore, aqua-scaping – which merges the two hobbies of water gardening and fish keeping – has experienced good growth in the UK.

Humanisation

Some owners are increasingly projecting their human needs onto their pets, especially cats and dogs. The dog sector in particular has seen growth in ‘out and about’ products which include protective clothing, additional collars and leads as well as travel feeding bowls (often collapsible). Compartmentalised travel bags have even been launched for puppies along the same lines as the changing bags for human babies. All these products tap into the owner’s desire to provide the best environment and care possible for their pet and they are often positioned in the premium range.

‘Insta ready’

The market is also increasingly influenced by fashion and social media, with many owners now seeing their pets as another opportunity to show that they are keeping up with the latest trends on platforms such as Instagram. Trends for pet clothing have included bandanas, bow ties, Christmas jumpers and fancy-dress costumes for cats and dogs, and even festive bow tie & hat sets for smaller animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs. This need for both pet and owner to be ‘Insta ready’ is likely to continue driving value growth in the UK market in the medium term.