Petco and Chewy’s customer losses fuel Amazon’s growth in online pet retail

The international investment bank RBC Capital Market’s survey of 1,540 people highlighted a growing trend in online pet supply shopping, with a significant shift toward Amazon driven by an influx of customer turnover from Chewy and Petco.

In 2024, 88.9% of pet owners bought supplies online, up from 82.3% in 2023 and 78.4% in 2022. Of the 11% who didn’t shop online, a quarter are open to doing so.

However, when it comes to using various retailers’ websites, 79.6% of consumers shopped from Amazon, 53.1% shopped at Chewy and 32.9% purchased pet products from Walmart.

Other prominent retail websites included Petco (31.4%), PetSmart (29.4%) and Target (27.9%)

Retail trends at Chewy

As of July 2024, 74.3% of respondents bought pet supplies from Chewy, up from 61.2% in 2023. Most (94%) plan to buy more from Chewy, with 79% using its autoship program – an increase from 64% in 2023. In Q1 2024, 78.4% of Chewy’s net sales were attributed to autoship.

The majority of the retailer’s existing customers (94%) said that they were “likely” and “extremely likely” to purchase more products from Chewy, compared to 86% of respondents who thought the same last year.

Chewy lost 7.2% of customers, mainly due to price (49.6%) and delivery concerns (12.5%). Amazon (63.8%), Walmart (32.5%) and Petco (31.3%) gained the most from Chewy’s customer losses.

Retail trends at Petco

As much 66.7% of pet owners were customers at Petco in 2024, up from 52.2% in 2023.

The retailer’s premium membership program, Vital Care Premier, grew from 40% to 66.7%, with dog grooming, training and vet services being the most popular.

Only 14.4% stopped shopping at Petco, down from 19.4% in 2023, with price complaints dropping 38%. Many of Petco’s former customers now shop at Amazon (55.7%), Chewy (47.6%) and Walmart (41.6%).