United States Pet Market Outlook Report 2018: Internet Drives Sales, Dissolves Channel Boundaries, Automates Tasks, and Brings Pet Parenting to the Next Level

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Apr 16, 2018, 08:15 ET

DUBLIN, April 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

The "U.S. Pet Market Outlook, 2018-2019" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The U.S. pet industry has long been rife with opportunity and dynamism, but the market is now reconfiguring at such a dizzying pace it's hard to keep up, much less lead the pack. With its focus keenly on what's next and bringing to bear decades of pet market perspective and analysis-this cross-category report is packed with quantitative and qualitative projections crafted to help pet product makers, marketers, retailers, service providers, and investors do just that.

E-commerce is challenging most market norms, and the Internet more broadly is transforming the rest, such that bold steps are required.

As a result, innovation is at an all-time high, reshaping the market to the core:

General Mills is taking drastic steps to reverse sales declines attributable largely to the shrinking center store and consumers' increased focus on healthier foods, joining other massive food companies doing much the same in the pet market including Nestle Purina, Mars, and J.M. Smucker. Overnight, via its February 2018 acquisition of Blue Buffalo, General Mills is the pet food powerhouse to watch.
The industry's largest retailers are realigning as omni-channel operators via acquisitions (PetSmart buys Chewy, Walmart buys Jet) and initiatives designed to integrate brick-and-mortar and e-commerce while building out both.
Pet specialty big boxes, grocers, and mass merchandisers are implementing new forms of order fulfilment including click-and-collect (online ordering coupled with in-store pickup) and same-day last-mile home delivery, even if it means acquiring their own shipping company (Target buys Shipt).
The top pet specialty retailers are emphasizing smaller store formats (PetSmart launches Groomery, Petco proceeds with Unleashed) and expanding petcare services (Petco adds Thrive complete veterinary services).
Marketers are teaming up with or acquiring service providers to better meet pet owners' needs 360 (Mars buys Whistle and VCA, Inc., Petco buys PetCoach, PupBox, and Petisurance.quotes.com, and helps fund Rover).
Marketers are re-evaluating channel loyalties in terms of brand exclusivity, pole-vaulting across the pet specialty/mass divide (Nature's Recipe and Blue go mass), and introducing pet-specialty-type products created specifically for mass (Mars launches Crave).
Products are incorporating service functions such as automatic feeding and litter scooping, the ability to reorder supplies automatically via the Internet, and features that allow pet owners communicate with their pets and vice versa.
Tracking devices and monitors are letting pet owners track via smartphone not just the location of their pet but also its vitals, and to interact directly with veterinarians and other petcare service providers.
Uber-like, smartphone-app-based services are taking by storm pet sitting/dog walking and pet boarding (Rover, Wag!).
Amazon is (still) making everyone nervous, reaffirming its commitment to pet by implementing robotics innovations in its warehouses to facilitate the handling of pet food and litter, letting shoppers create their own Pet Profile pages, aiming to become a pet information resource, and possibly launching its own UPS-like shipping service.

Scope

Combining the publisher's extensive monitoring of the pet market with a proprietary Pet Owner Survey conducted in January and February 2018, U.S. Pet Market Outlook, 2018-2019 is the go-to source for a complete understanding of the U.S. pet industry. The report evaluates current trends and future directions for marketing and retailing, along with consumer patterns across the full spectrum of the market, including veterinary services, pet food, non-food pet supplies, and non-medical pet services (grooming, boarding, training, etc.).

U.S. Pet Market Outlook, 2018-2019 forecasts market size and growth for each category (2018-2022); examines new product activity; surveys retail channel trends including cross-channel shopping vs. shopper loyalty; and analyzes trends and shifts in the needs of today's pet parents. The report tabulates pet product sales channel by channel and projects channel shares through 2022.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Executive Summary

Market Trends

Market Performance
Market Drivers

Industry Trends

Industry Overview
Pet Food
Nonfood Pet Supplies
Veterinary Services
Non-Medical Petcare Services

Retail Trends

Internet/E-commerce Upending Longstanding Retail Dynamics
Pet Product Customer Base by Retail Channel
Mass/Pet Specialty Divide Dissolving, Mass Premiumization Accelerating
Private Label and Exclusive Brands Taking on New Importance
E-commerce Going Gangbusters
Pet Specialty Big Boxes and Walmart Playing Catch-Up
Amazon Juggernaut Continues to Advance
Pet Specialty Emphasis on Services

Pet Ownership Trends

Cats (and "Other" Pets) May Be Having Their Day
Two-Fifths of Households Have Dogs, One-Fourth Have Cats
Pet Ownership Rates by Age Bracket
A Third of Pet Households Keep Different Types
Good News on the Boomer Front
Millennials: A Market Alerting Force of Their Own
Two-Adult Households with Kids Account for One-Third of Pet Owners
Pet Ownership Grows Among Minorities

Sales Growth Opportunities

E-commerce (Of Course)
Omnichannel Initiatives
Mass Premiumization
Cause Marketing and Animal Welfare
Smaller Stores
Retailers and Marketers Banking on Petcare Services
Smartphone-Based Petcare Services
Subscription-Based Products and Services
The Internet of Things and the New "Pet Parent"
Products as Petcare Providers
Pet Health as Key to Next-Level Premiumization
Digital Veterinary and Pet Wearables
Tapping into Millennials
Pets-as-Family Trend as Gifting Driver
Organic Pet Food
Customized Pet Food and Meal Kits for Home Delivery
Private Label and Exclusive Brands
Franchising Still a Thing

2. Market Trends

Chapter Highlights

Market Performance
U.S. Pet Industry Sees Growth Amid Change
Market Share by Category and Animal Type
Share of Pet Product Sales by Channel
Projected Channel Share Shifts

Market Drivers

E-Commerce/Internet Spurs Top-to-Bottom Market Innovation
Internet Drives Sales, Dissolves Channel Boundaries, Automates Tasks, and Brings Pet Parenting to the Next Level
Beyond Humanization and Premiumization
Pets as Family Getting a Millennial Boost
Superpremium/Natural Clout Shifting into Mass Channels
Economic Improvement Reflected in Pet Owner Outlook
Spending Belts Loosening, Deal-Seeking Continues
Pet Ownership Trends
Purchased Pets Out, Adopted Pets In
Small Dogs Are Big
Table Size of Pet Dogs: Owned and Recently Acquired, 2018 (percent of dog owners)
Aging Pet Population
Table Age of Dogs and Cats, 2018 (percent of pet owners)
Pet Overweight/Obesity
Higher-Income Households Achieve New Pet Expenditure Milestone
Non Dog/Cat Resurgence?

3. Industry Trends

Chapter Highlights

Industry Overview
Market Structure
Fast-Growing Franchises
M&A and Investment Activity
Cause Marketing and Animal Welfare
Looking Ahead: Top of the Heap Product and Service Types

Pet Food

Mass Premiumization Is Changing the Channel Dynamic
Natural Pet Food Spin-Offs and Cousins
Table Dog and Cat Owners Currently Using Pet Food: By Free-Of Claim, 2018 (percent)
Product Safety and Made in the USA
Clean Food: The Next Natural Pet Food Frontier?
Exotic Proteins and Other Novel Ingredients
Functional Foods: Veterinarians to the Fore
Customized Pet Food and Meal Kits for Home Delivery
Treats Trends: The Good, The Bad, and The Future

Nonfood Pet Supplies

Market Overview
Focus on Pet-Tech and Innovation
Pet Wearables: Tracking, Monitoring, and More
Camera Monitors and Treat Dispensers
Feeding & Watering
Toys
Other Smart Products
Calming Products Meeting a Quantified Need
Non-Dog/Cat Pet Products

Veterinary Services

Market Landscape
Veterinary Industry Consolidation
Petco Teams Up with Thrive to Offer Complete Veterinary Services
Veterinary Services Inside Pet Superstores
Veterinarians No Longer the Sole Arbiters of Pet Medications and Other Pet Health Products
Fairness to Pet Owners Act
Digital Veterinary & Pet Health

Non-Medical Petcare Services

Market Landscape
PetSmart and Petco
Forging Further into Petcare: Petco Adds Complete Veterinary Services, PetSmart Launches Groomery
PetSmart/Petco Boarding Initiatives Are a Mixed Bag
Petco + PetInsuranceQuotes.com
The Upshot: Pet Specialty Increasingly Reliant on Petcare Services, Smaller Stores
Franchise Operations
Best Friends Pet Care
Industry Disrupters: Rover and Wag! Taking Pet Walking and Sitting Market by Storm
Rover's Growth Aspirations + Petco Investment
Petcare Apps Keep on Coming: Fetch My Pet and Barkley Pets

4. Retail Trends

Chapter Highlights

Internet/E-commerce Upending Longstanding Retail Dynamics
Pet Product Customer Base by Retail Channel
Walmart Tops Among Pet Product Shoppers
Channel Loyalty Lower for Owners of Different Pet Types
Mass/Pet Specialty Divide Dissolving, Mass Premiumization Accelerating
Private Label and Exclusive Brands Taking on New Importance
E-commerce Going Gangbusters
Pet Specialty Big Boxes and Walmart Playing Catch-Up
Amazon Still Way Out Front Among Online Pet Product Buyers
Amazon Juggernaut Continues to Advance
Subscriptions and Auto-Replenishment
Brick-and-Mortar-Based Retailer Initiatives Centered on Omnichannel
Click-and-Collect (Online Ordering Coupled + In-Store Pickup)
Pet Specialty Emphasis on Services
Smaller Stores Afford Big Boxes Entry into New Markets
Mass Premiumization Good for Mass Retailers
Pet Specialty Independents and Small Chains Finding Strength in Numbers
Natural and Specialty/Gourmet Supermarkets Feeling the Natural Mainstreaming Heat
Amazon Plus Brick-and-Mortar Pet Specialty?

5. Pet Ownership Trends

Chapter Highlights

Cats (and "Other" Pets) May Be Having Their Day

Pet Ownership Rates by Age Bracket

A Third of Pet Households Keep Different Types

Good News on the Boomer Front

Millennials: A Market Altering Force of Their Own

Two-Adult Households with Kids Account for One-Third of Pet Owners

Pet Ownership Grows Among Minorities

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/3mbcpd/united_states_pet?w=5

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