UK pet retailer websites: who is receiving more visitors?

The new Online Pet Supplies Report from Salience Search Marketing, a UK-based marketing agency, assessed the leaders in the UK online pet supplies market using various metrics, such as increase in online traffic, social media prominence and visibility, to rank the most successful retailers. Here are the key findings.

Top 10 retailers

Pets at Home took first place with a traffic score of 1.3 million in April 2024, despite a decline from almost 2 million in 2023.

A traffic score is an estimate of organic search traffic that a website receives every month.

Purina’s UK domain, with a traffic score of 575,148, landed in second place, and German retailer Zooplus (272,843) ended up in third. Vet supplier Pet Drugs Online (254,822) and online pet care retailer VetUK (151,464) followed in the rankings.

Other pet supply retailers in the top ten include Jollyes, All About Dog Food, Animed Direct, VioVet and YuMOVE.

Traffic performance

Purina’s UK domain was the standout performer, achieving a 50% year-on-year (YoY) increase in visibility, rising from a score of 382,357 last year to 575,148 in 2024.

Zooplus also was among the top performers in YoY growth, rising 10% from 247,377 in April 2023.

Supplement brand YuMOVE stood third with a 63% YoY increase in its organic search traffic score of 74,783 in 2024, compared to 45,766 last year.

Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a maker of science-based pet food, saw a 245% YoY increase in its traffic, growing from 18,365 to 63,441 in a year. Dog food company Pooch & Mutt, with a 97% YoY increase, ranks fifth with a score of 58,141 in 2024.

According to Salience, the winning retailers are witnessing the “biggest growth in the market.”

Drop in traffic

Despite Pets at Home’s leading score, the British retailer witnessed the highest traffic score loss of -33% year on year, falling from 1.96 million in April 2023 to 1.3 million in April 2024.

After Pets at Home, online pet care supplier VioVet, which is also among the top 10 retailers, had the second-biggest traffic score decline, with a negative 30% YoY change. Its traffic score fell from 138,838 in 2023 to 97,038 in April 2024.

Online retailer Pet Planet also incurred a 40% decline to a traffic score of 51,952 in 2024.

Hepper, known for retailing modern pet furniture, witnessed a sharp fall of 72% YoY to a score of 23,088. The fifth lowest decline was incurred by The Pet Express, an online pet shop, which dropped -63% to a score of 12,372.

According to Salience, these retailers “have been punished by a search algorithm update or have let things slide over the course of the year.”

Brand reach

Despite a drop in traffic, Pets at Home has the highest monthly reach to an audience of 1.8 million, as it is the brand with the highest recall rate within search behavior.

Zooplus (110,000) and veterinarian medication supplier Pet Drugs Online (90,500) follow.

PetShop.co.uk (74,000) and Jollyes (60,500), both prominent pet supplies retailers, round out the list.