Petco partners with Uber Eats as pet parents demand speedy and convenient deliveries

Changing consumer behavior requires pet industry retailers to meet pet parents’ demands for convenient and speedy delivery. Partnerships are a key strategy.

While Amazon has been a route to quick order fulfillment for some years, retailers that sell through their own have faced a challenge to ensure fast delivery, especially as same-day delivery has evolved to often mean delivery within a few hours.

Given their logistical setup and strong brand presence, takeaway food delivery firms are emerging as the ideal strategic partners for quick delivery.

Petco is the latest large retailer in the US to announce a partnership with Uber Eats. The firm has added a range of pet food, toys, treats and other essentials to its delivery offering. All Petco locations in the US are now participating in the partnership.

“People are more connected and committed to their pets today than ever before,” says Steve Janowiak, VP of Digital at Petco. “We’re thrilled to partner with Uber Eats and give pet parents another easy way to get the trusted food, treats and supplies they need – right to their door and right when they need it.”

PetSmart and Pets at Home

Uber Eats partnered with PetSmart to provide fast delivery of pet products in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico in 2023, while Mars pet brands, including Pedigree, Royal Canin and Whiskas, have been available for same-day delivery in the US via Instacart since 2022.

In the UK, the country’s biggest delivery network is Just Eat. In November last year, it partnered with Just for Pets to offer same-day delivery of thousands of products from 18 of its stores. It marked the first partnership between an on-demand delivery platform and a specialist pet care brand of this scale.

Another well-established delivery service in the UK, Deliveroo, offers same-day delivery of pet supplies from multiple local retailers across the country. Pets at Home previously trialed a same-day delivery service with logistics firm Stuart, but its website no longer has this option.

Supertails and Pet Circle

Indian firm Supertails has partnered with hyperlocal delivery firms such as Zippee to speed up deliveries of pet food and veterinary medicines.

Australian retailer Pet Circle has been exploring same-day delivery, but its website shows only next-day delivery, perhaps reflecting what CEO and Co-Founder Michael Frizell told GlobalPETS in 2023: “There are some players that deliver generic pet food brands in 15 minutes. I bet on getting the right product quickly, not the wrong product quickest.”

Although same-day and even 2-to-4-hour delivery may prove popular with pet parents, it may not be the most important.

A recent report on e-commerce deliveries from McKinsey & Company found that the speed of delivery dropped from the most important factor among US consumers in 2022 to fifth in 2024. Cost of delivery, transparency of shipping, flexibility and ease of returns and choice of delivery location all ranked higher than speed.