Pet Category Sales Soar At Amazon

Americans love their pets — and really love spending money on their furry companions. If there was any doubt about that, the latest results from Amazon, where pet product category sales have grown by 40 percent, is a confirmation that pets are beloved even in online retail.

Amazon’s sales are an indicator of an overall robust category, according to Packaged Facts’ study, entitled “U.S. Pet Market Focus: The Amazon Pet Food and Supplies Shopper.” In fact, pet products make up one of the fastest-growing internet-based retail categories, Chain Store Age reports.

The pet product category has grown by 45 percent since 2015, based on the percentage of adults who had bought pet products via online retail channels over the preceding quarter. During 2016, Amazon sold $2 billion worth of products in its pet category, a 40 percent rise from the previous year.

“The fact is online sales of pet products are at a tipping point,” said Packaged Facts Research Director David Sprinkle. “For all players — brick-and-mortar, multi-channel and online-only alike — the good news is that the market itself continues to grow,” he added.

Growth has certainly been the name of the game during the past three years, during which Amazon has grown its purchase usage penetration with pet owners to 32 percent, Chain Store Age revealed. This puts the retailer, with its massive Amazon Prime membership numbers, ahead of Petco in terms of user breadth and brings it closer to PetSmart’s user base. In addition, 36 percent or more of Petco and PetSmart shoppers also buy supplies such as pet food from Amazon, and that number is expected to continue growing, Packaged Facts projects.

“The sheer size of the Amazon user base, coupled with its aggressive growth, huge Amazon Prime membership base, burgeoning ability to meet any and every product need within that category and an Amazon Prime value proposition that is very hard to beat, make Amazon both very threatening and very intriguing,” Sprinkle said.