Pandemic spurs online pet food purchases
Research firm Acosta notes that online sales of pet food and supplies have increased 9% since the COVID-19 outbreak.
More than 27% of Americans would order pet food online to ensure the needs of their pets are met, while only about 16% did so prior to the outbreak.
Google Trends data also supports this fact. After staying more or less consistent throughout the past year, interest in buying pet food online spiked in mid-March during the early height of coronavirus-based shopping.
Further illustrating the growing trend of purchasing pet food online, research firm Acosta notes that online sales of pet food and supplies have increased 9% since the COVID-19 outbreak (from 36% of shoppers to 45% of shoppers using this method). Approximately 30-40% of shoppers have set up automatic reordering of their pet needs since the COVID-19 outbreak via online retailers.
Post-pandemic, more than half of shoppers (54%) say they will continue to buy pet food and supplies both online and at a store, while 18% plan to only shop online. Of shoppers saying they will continue to shop online after COVID-19 subsides, 64% plan to use one-time shipments and 24% plan to use auto-shipments for deliveries.
Source: Supermarket News