In recent years, the number of households with pets around the world has been increasing. According to GLobalPETS data（globalpetindustry.com）, North America ranks first in the pet industry, with 67% of American households owning pets. Pet adoptions are also growing steadily in Asian and European markets.
In order to win the trust and choice of pet lovers, you need to first understand their needs and then serve them better.
This article will explore the current global pet life consumption trends, pet-loving groups and popular subcategories, and provide some insights and suggestions for sellers considering operating in the pet product market.
[Key points of this article]
- 01 Global pet industry consumption trends
- 02 Understand and attract three types of pet consumers
- 03 Popular Categories of Overseas Pets
- 04 Summary
1.Global pet industry consumption trends
03 Humanized care
Pets are considered family members, and owners pay more attention to their health, nutrition and quality of life. Pet health care products, organic food, high-end accessories, etc. are very popular, and people are willing to provide their pets with a life experience similar to their own. For example, Americans buy Halloween costumes worth US$490 million for their pets every year.
02 Natural health
Consumer demand for natural, healthy pet food and high-end pet nutrition products is increasingly strong. The trend of pet humanization has further stimulated the diversification of pet food and the transformation of snacks into staple foods. More and more pet food brands have begun to develop diversified products for pets that are healthier and more similar to human food.
03 Technological innovation
With the development of smart technology, many innovative products have appeared in the field of pet life.
Products such as smart pet toys, trackers, and smart feeders are becoming popular, providing convenience and visual ways to manage pets.
04 Environmentally friendly and sustainable
Households with more pets show higher interest in sustainability and sustainable products, possibly due to the belief that keeping multiple pets may have an impact on the environment.
Top sustainability issues for households with multiple pets include environmental sustainability, sustainable packaging, social responsibility and animal welfare. Especially in the pet care sector, various sustainability concepts are showing substantial growth and providing brands with the opportunity to differentiate their products in a highly competitive space.
2.Understand and attract three types of pet consumers
We divide pet lovers around the world into three types: the younger generation who love to show off their pets, the urban white-collar workers who consume exquisitely, and the “empty nesters” who long for companionship.
We have analyzed the pet-loving motivations and behaviors of these three types of pet owners, hoping to provide a reference for you to understand this group of people.
01 The younger generation who loves to show off their pets
Leading the way in pet ownership, 32% of people born between 1981 and 1996 consider themselves pet parents.
In addition, the younger generation spends almost twice as much time on social media as other pet owners: 90.4% of them are active social media users, compared with 48.2% of other pet owners (eMarketer, 2019), and they are willing to actively share Your own pet life, so if you want to market, you must seize the channels of social media and accurately hit the crowd.
02 Urban white-collar workers who consume exquisitely
With the process of urbanization, more and more people choose to settle in cities. Due to busy work and loneliness, they hope to provide more entertainment and interaction for their pets. Therefore, urban white-collar workers are a group with a relatively high proportion of pet owners, and they have also become important users of pet products.
03 “Empty nesters” who long for companionship
For “lonely old people”, their biggest motivation for raising a pet is that they need “it” to accompany them. The lack of companionship such as partners and children will increase loneliness to a certain extent. Pets are emotional animals and can play these roles to a certain extent, providing companionship to their owners and satisfying some of their emotional needs.
When the elderly do not have a job to fulfill their lives, they need companionship even more than the young people. Taking pets for walks or attending community pet gatherings allows the elderly to interact with other pet owners and expand their social circle.
As the aging population increases, their demand for pet products is also increasing, such as pet health care products for the elderly, convenient pet supplies, etc.
3.Popular pet categories around the world
01 Pet supplement sales continue to grow
Pet supplement sales increased by 116% from 2019 to 2020 and continue to grow. More and more pet owners are using supplements to help support their pets’ immune and digestive systems. In 2020, claims for immune support supplements reached 236%, and claims for digestive health supplements rose to 173% that year.
Pet owners are more aware of their pets’ health needs as more people work from home and spend more time with their pets.
Searches for natural pet food and supplement brand “BecauseAnimals” increased 833% in 10 years.
（Data comes from explodingtopics）
02 Pet grooming products
The COVID-19 adoption boom is a big factor in the growth of the pet grooming industry, with pet grooming products expected to grow to $14.5 billion. These products include shampoo, conditioner, trimming tools and combs. Some shampoos are used for medical reasons, such as to kill fleas or help get rid of dandruff.
03 The pet technology market continues to grow
The pet technology market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22% from 2022 to 2027. Pet accessories are becoming more and more technical. The pet litter box has a self-cleaning function, the pet collar has GPS tracking, and pets can be fed via a timer system. The rise of pet technology helps meet the needs of pet owners during the day as well as the needs of their pets.
Since technology is an ever-evolving industry, there will be new inventions and developments in the field of pet technology.
04 New product categories for pets
The pet industry has traditionally consisted of a few product categories: food, toys, beds, collars, hygiene products, pet grooming, etc.
But with all the new pet product categories emerging in recent years, we’re starting to see a lot of innovation in pet product development. Many businesses are now not only launching higher-level and more niche categories of existing products, they are also creating entirely new categories of pet care products, such as pet wipes.
Pet wipes are essentially wipes that your pet uses after going to the bathroom. Although pet wipes are a relatively new category, Amazon already has nearly 300 brands of pet wipes available for sale.
Search volume for “petwipes” has increased by 165% in the past 5 years
（Data comes from explodingtopics）
Another relatively new pet product category is pet toothpaste. Pet oral hygiene products are nothing new. But new products, like cat toothpaste, meet the needs of owners who want to protect the health of their pets’ teeth and gums.
Search volume for “Cat toothpaste” has increased by 147% in 5 years
（Data comes from explodingtopics）
4.Summary of pet product market
It’s clear that “pet parents” are becoming more and more concerned about the health of their pets. They are willing to spend money to maximize the health of their furry friends.
In 2023, when the current economic environment is not ideal, the global pet life market is still continuing to grow. Rather than saying that humans take care of pets, it is better to say that humans need pets more and more. As communication between people becomes more and more complex, many people hide on the Internet Behind the scenes, but the reality of loneliness makes more and more people need a pet companion. Pet owners will also place their trust in people on their pets.
No matter what, the refinement and continued growth of pet products is an inevitable trend.
