Young people who aspire to the life of "cats and dogs" are promoting the development of a hundred billion level industry.
According to the White Paper on China's Pet Industry from 2023 to 2024 (Consumption Report), the scale of the urban pet consumption market will be 279.3 billion yuan in 2023, and is expected to reach 361.3 billion yuan in 2026.
As a product of the emotional economy, the pet industry has become the representative of "anti economic cycle". Not only did it overturn against the wind during the epidemic, but also under the stimulation of the "new concept of pet care", it has refined out the new fields such as pet AI, food and broadcast, communication, funeral and other new fields, and the pet industry chain is covering the whole life cycle of "hairy children".
The growth of consumer demand and the improvement of industry have kept the pet economy warm. The market saw the potential of pets, which led a number of new cross-border players to step in and grab a share.
However, it is worth noting that new pet owners no longer only care for practical needs such as "gatekeeping" and "catching mice". Under the spiritual demands such as emotional companionship and emotional value, they pay more attention to the health and happiness of pets. Their requirements for pet brands are more diverse and complex, which forces the constant upgrading of pet products and services.
What is the current development trend of the pet economy? In what ways should brands look for new business opportunities?
Orders soared fivefold, and the pet subdivision track became the "gold digging pool"
On the eve of the May Day holiday, businesses such as pet foster care, home feeding, pet play, and pet tourism were "hot".
"The number of people making appointments continues to grow, and there is no confirmed data at present." Dating, the founder of the door-to-door feeding brand Ximao, introduced that, for the moment, the number of orders made for door-to-door cat feeding services during the May Day holiday this year has more than quintupled.
If we say that the outbreak of pet care and other services has a special node reason. Then, the appearance of pet baking, pet insurance, pet funeral, pet "resurrection" and pet communicators is undoubtedly a true portrayal of the hot market.
Tmall data shows that before this year, the search volume of clothes for pet Spring Festival increased by 103%; Sales of the New Year's Eve for Pets increased by 120%; Sales of pet Spring Festival couplets increased by 489%. This is unimaginable for many people who do not keep pets, but it really exists.
At the internal level, the pet industry began to look for increment in the stock market. From food, clothing, housing and transportation to birth, old age, illness and death, pet services have become more comprehensive and systematic. Pet consumption is no longer limited to simple eating and drinking. It is healthy, scientific and fashionable. It has developed into a new demand.
Externally, pets have become the "intermediary" for innovation and growth in many industries. For example, the Pet Friendly Store opened by Starbucks, the new Pet Cake launched by Holyron, the Pet Friendly Theme Store launched by Naixue Tea and Happy Tea, the "People and Pets Live Together" household product launched by Soffio, and the pet prescription food base invested by Nestle. Pets have become the consensus of brands to drive the growth of the main business.
Young people who are more willing to pay for their emotions because of the popularity of "new pet culture"
When asked why she was willing to spend thousands of yuan on insurance and toys for her pet, Xiaoxiao said, "You can't hurt yourself." She explained that as a person living in a fast-paced, stressful and low social city environment, pets have become the comfort and emotional support of his life.
There are many pet owners who share Xiaoxiao's views. With the change of economic environment, pet consumer groups, forms, concepts, etc. are also upgrading iteratively, and pet keeping is becoming a new culture. This culture influences their consumption.
According to the data of the Asia Pet Research Institute, women pet owners account for about 80%, and young people aged 19-30 are the main pet owners. Among the reasons for their consumption of pets, the top three are to maintain their daily life, protect their health and improve their life quality. Young pet owners are more willing to pay for the exquisite life of pets.
Zhou Chunhua, secretary-general of the Pet Industry Branch of the China Animal Husbandry Association, said that there was a new direction for pet consumption. For example, in terms of food, pet owners tend to choose natural and non additive pet products; In terms of products, smart pet feeders, smart drinking fountains, smart cat litter basins, smart pet surveillance cameras and other products have become popular; In concept, some pet owners begin to pay attention to the environmental protection performance of pet products and tend to buy environmentally friendly and sustainable pet products.
In her opinion, pet consumption has gradually become a diversified, personalized, qualitative and scene oriented field.
Standing at the top of the air, you need to find opportunities in diversified scenes
The pet industry, which stands at the forefront of emotional consumption, also means facing more uncertain challenges.
"Although the pet market is large, the driving force for industry growth at the current stage is very limited." The head of a cutting-edge pet brand said that the pet consumer market is concentrated in tier one and tier two cities, and consumers are concentrated in young people, who have limited spending power and energy, no money, no space, and will be less willing to pet.
In addition, according to the data of Ai Media, the penetration rate of Chinese pet families will reach 22% in 2023, while that of the United States and Europe will reach 70% and 46% respectively. In addition, at the industrial end, including pet food, pet care, pet medicine and other head industries, there are serious homogenization, functional convergence, lack of standards and other problems.
In this regard, the person in charge said that in addition to improving the penetration rate of the pet market and strengthening the awareness of pet consumption, it is also necessary to create more diversified pet consumption scenarios, insight into demand and lead demand.
For example, in the current hot "pet" market, the sales of chinchillas, ducks, pigs, tropical fish and other pets are rising, and the annual compound annual growth rate is even higher than the overall growth level of the pet market. This is the diversification of pet consumption demand in categories.
In addition, customization is also a major trend.
"74% of pet owners, when selecting pet staple food, pay more attention to the nutritional composition, source of ingredients, and scientific proportion of pet food, and value the functionality of the nutritional composition of pet food. In the new baking food market, everyone is basically on the same running line, and whoever is good at innovation may take the lead." Nimo, the founder of pet food brand Keshan, said, Brand customized pet food will become a new hot spot in the pet food industry.
It is understood that unlike the large package of 1-2 kg on the market, Keshan uses smaller 20g and 60g small packages. Nimo said, "With a daily bag of packaging, I hope cats can eat fresh food every day." In his opinion, from "functional pet care" to "caring for the physical and mental health of pets", from "hands-on" to "hands free", pet owners' pet care philosophy and behavior have gradually changed, indicating a new direction for the development of the pet industry.
Zhou Chunhua also added that, with the increasingly strict laws and regulations and regulatory requirements on pets, enterprises need to increase investment in scientific and technological innovation and product research and development, and provide higher quality products and services in order to be invincible in market competition. (By Ji Xiaoling)
