Trends in online sales of pet products

As online sales in the pet category continue to grow unabated, many of these sales channels have earmarked the pet category as a great business opportunity. The annual two-day Amazon Prime Day discount action is considered an excellent marker for measuring online sales momentum.

Soaring sales

Over the past 4 years, the number of products sold during Amazon Prime Day has grown astronomically by over 200%. In 2018, the online giant sold 100 million products during this day. In 2019 sales were up to 175 million products and in 2022, Amazon hit the 300 million mark.

“These sales events are great for getting to know pet owner purchasing habits, for product launches, and to drive a lot of traffic to the sites,” explains e-commerce expert Matt Anderson.

At the same time, Anderson, who runs Amazon agency Marketplace AMP, also sees that some leading companies in the pet sector are seriously reconsidering whether offering big discounts is such a sound strategy. After all, they already have a solid customer base.

“If a pet parent is going to buy our brand anyway for his or her dog, then why should we give a huge discount?” is what companies are asking themselves, Anderson remarks.

According to recent research conducted by Similarweb, Mars subsidiary Nutro gave the biggest discount (-73%) in 2022, in comparison with the discount given during Amazon Prime Day 2021. The second biggest discount was given by Canadian pet treats brand Temptations (-63%), followed by Cesar (-54%), Zesty Paws (-40%), pet chewing brand Nylabone (-37%) and Sheba Treats (-35%).

Treats sales the highest

Treats were one of the most successful categories during Amazon Prime Day, which this year took place in July. More than 332,000 cat treats were sold during this sales action. That’s 230% more than during the two-day sales action of 2021! Similarly, sales of cat and dog toys grew by almost 50% over last year.

‘Cat treats saw the largest lift of any pet category on Amazon, with shoppers purchasing nearly 8 times as many treats during Prime Day as they had during the 20-day lead-up period,’ according to Similarweb.

The market research company noted that, running up to Prime Day, shoppers waited to stock up on treats in anticipation of huge discounts.

Anderson points out that supplements are also skyrocketing in Amazon UK, with an overall increase in sales of 49% year-on-year. “A lot of that comes from sales of multivitamin products for pets,” he adds.

Revenue versus unit sales

Beds and supplies brand FurHaven made the most revenue in the pet category on Amazon Prime Day 2022, according to Similarweb. Zesty Paws was the second most popular brand in both 2021 and 2022, and the third when looking at unit sales volume.

New World (accessories), Neabot (grooming) and Temptations registered some of the biggest increases in revenue – the latter brand selling the most products in the category at 208,000 units on Prime Day.

Hill’s Science, the most popular brand in revenue on Amazon Prime Day 2021, dropped to number 6 this year. The data also reveals that, sales-wise, the pet food brand went even further down to position 8.

The battle of prices

On the downside, as far as online sales go, we see brands such as Purina dropping sharply in sales. Purina ONE, Purina Friskies and Fancy Feast all sold less during Prime Day 2022.

Although the exact reasons for this are not known, Matt Anderson points out that big brands are currently having “robust discussions” with Amazon about price hikes to reflect the increase in supply chain costs. “I think that’s probably one of the reasons why you see some of the bigger brands are not disappearing altogether, but they are undergoing dips in volume because they can’t push the price,” he concludes.

More competition

E-commerce giants continue to believe in the potential of the pet category and its strategic importance, despite a slow return to normal life after the pandemic.

Amazon leads online sales of pet products, accounting for 59% of all transactions in the US. According to Packaged Facts, the online platform is followed by Chewy (41%) and Walmart (33%).

In the US, Macy’s has recently announced that it is starting to sell pet products in its brand-new digital marketplace. The retailer’s new e-commerce platform offers 400 references in 20 product categories, including pets.

Another sign of the ongoing potential of the pet category is the first-ever Pet Day hosted by Amazon earlier this year. The company also recently introduced Astro: a pet-like household robot. Its interactive camera allows pet owners to follow their pets from a distance and interact with them.

It is estimated that combined sales of household and pet care products through Amazon will reach $23.3 billion in 2022. According to Statista, this figure could even jump to $39 billion by 2027.

And it’s not only in the US that online pet category sales are booming. In China, e-commerce platform Alibaba is expected to achieve a turnover in pet supplies of $16 billion in 2022 and $24 billion in 2027.