Sales of pet grooming products up 27.4% since start of pandemic
NielsenIQ study shows that with more pet parents now familiar with grooming due to the lockdowns, sales of grooming products remain substantially above pre-COVID levels.
Sales growth rates for grooming necessities like brushes and combs, grooming supplies, shampoo, and conditioner have far outpaced the 3.2% growth generated by the total pet care category.
Even with this growth, there is still a massive opportunity for retailers and brands to capture new buyers. According to the APPA’s 2019-2020 National Pet Owners Survey, over 106 million households own a cat or dog, but NielsenIQ Homescan data shows that only 12.3 million households purchased pet grooming products in 2020.
E-commerce accounted for more than half (53%) of all pet grooming dollar sales between April and September 2020, up 11 percentage points compared with pre-COVID levels. Within this 53% figure, roughly 5% of e-commerce purchases were fulfilled via click-and-collect, but click-and-collect sales heavily declined after the peak pandemic purchasing period in May.
The total pet grooming category has consistently seen substantial growth throughout the pandemic, and private label brands continue to dominate as much as 75% of total dollar share in some subcategories.