How pet accessories are influenced by fashion and design
Fashion and design play an important role in the pet accessories business. PETS International and Yummypets recently investigated the mindset of pet parents.
How important is fashion?
Many people regard fashion as an important part of their everyday lives. But to what extent does that include their pets? Millennials are not only fashion-conscious themselves, but also like to show it by adorning their pets with trendy collars, harnesses, bandanas and suchlike. ‘Twinning’ is also gaining popularity. This entails an owner and their pet wearing coordinating outfits: from a hair ribbon in the same fabric as the dog’s bandana to matching sweaters.
The study reveals that product design is an important factor (35%) for pet parents when purchasing accessories. Having said that, the right price/performance ratio scores more highly (55%) in combination with functionality. Perhaps surprisingly, more than half (59%) of the pet parents surveyed have coordinated their outfit with that of their pet at least once.
Demand for more affordable designs
Well over half (62%) of the pet parents surveyed would like to see more design choices. In other words, there is a demand for more fashion and design influences in pet accessories, providing they offer the right quality at an affordable price.
What are the most important criteria for you
when choosing products for your pet?
High-tech pet accessories
In today’s world of connectivity, pet-related apps are gaining ground and on track for further growth. According to the survey, 53% of pet parents already use at least one pet-related mobile app, and 75% can envisage themselves using more app-based solutions with regard to their pet in the future.
The biggest growth area is expected to be health-related solutions, such as FitBark: a small, colourful device attached to a dog’s collar. It monitors activity levels, quality of sleep, distance covered, calories burned, and overall health and behaviour round the clock. Another example is Waggit, which is aimed at the early detection of health problems in dogs based on biometric tracking. Needless to say, it is important that products like these also look stylish.
Survey details
The research is based on a survey of 393 pet parents in five countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. 31% own a cat, 44% own a dog and 25% own both