March, Fireworks, and a Look at This Year’s Pet Products Consumption Market

When discussing the pet products consumption market, we won’t dive into data analysis or the current international situation. We won’t focus on the growth of the pet industry either, but rather, share our perspectives and thoughts from the standpoint of someone working in the industry. Over a decade ago, there were very few products specifically designed for pet life. At that time, the demand for pet products in the market was minimal. This meant that as long as a product could meet basic everyday needs, it would suffice. About five years later, products designed specifically for pets began to emerge. Back then, online shopping was not as developed, and there were only a few online stores and not many physical shops. Therefore, factory market expansion only needed to focus on occupying channels. As time passed and channels became more diversified, innovative product styles and designs started circulating in the market, attracting more attention to various niches in the pet products sector.

Today, the pet products market in China is filled with many brands, competitive pressures, eye-catching designs, and intense focus on marketing. In this environment, the entire industry has experienced rapid growth, leaving consumers overwhelmed with choices. At the same time, due to the unique nature of pet products, there are no truly well-known pet product brands that are widely recognized by Chinese consumers. The price competition in China can be considered a good thing for consumers. Additionally, many brands have investment and financing backgrounds, so they spare no effort in investing in advertising while controlling their prices to capture a larger market share. In such an environment, it has become increasingly difficult for small, niche brands to survive.

From the perspective of pet retailers in this industry transformation, the essential role of a retailer is to guide consumers in selecting quality products. However, consumers themselves are also growing in this environment. Initially, they blindly followed trends, but over time, they developed their own understanding and awareness, seeking higher-quality products. Educating consumers has become more challenging. Looking at the current stage, if more pet consumption scenarios or pet social interaction spaces can be created, we will see even more segmented markets emerge. That being said, the era of high profits in the domestic pet products market is now over. Take offline pet stores as an example: In the past, when the internet wasn’t as developed, stores could leverage information asymmetry to achieve higher profit margins. But now, with just a few taps on a phone, consumers can find the corresponding products and e-commerce prices. For community-based pet stores, the urgent question is how to strengthen consumer loyalty and expand their customer base. From this, we can easily analyze the changes in the roles within the pet industry over time. First, for upstream manufacturers, standardized production processes will become mainstream. Small factories, lacking advantages in categories or supply chain costs, will gradually be eliminated. Therefore, pet product manufacturers must focus on technology and raw material safety to sustain their businesses.

For distributors, the channels are becoming more diversified, so it is crucial to transition from being a simple distributor to a channel partner. Building a unique distribution channel and creating sales barriers are important issues distributors need to carefully consider. As for physical stores or e-commerce shops, their operating status is showing clear polarization. Stores that excel in marketing and retain repeat customers will develop steadily and sustainably. On the other hand, stores that do not pay attention to product selection or lack price advantages will often only make one-time sales, meaning they will struggle to achieve long-term growth. Essentially, as the industry’s closest link to consumers, gaining consumers’ trust is the ultimate goal we should pursue. This is because customer acquisition costs for stores are increasingly high in the current market.