Our Thoughts: Pet Spending in the U.S.
This post is going to be on our thoughts regarding this piece by Pet Business Professor that digs into the spending inside our $78.60bn pet industry. It’s a really great, highly precise, detailed write-up on the numbers and spending broken up by economic and age-based demographics.
If you haven’t read it, we recommend taking a look at it because based on what your pet store’s primary audience is the results may have a different meaning for you, which would prompt you to take different actions.
If you don’t know your primary audience, give us a shot at dialing in on that - start with a free call with a Pet Engine Marketing representative to revolutionize your pet store marketing strategy.
3 Takeaways: Pet Spending in the U.S.
The Obvious One
The “unprecedented $1.95B (+28.9%) lift” in pet services means that pet parents of all demographics are spending more on pet services - as opposed to veterinary or retail. Services include: grooming, kennel/boarding, daycare, training, walking, and so on.
If you’re a retailer and you are not finding a way to incorporate these services into your business plan, you are missing out on a huge chunk of recurring profit. There are a couple of ways to build these into your pet store:
Literally build a grooming station or training area into your store
Partner with local businesses and service providers to cross-refer customers
Throw co-sponsored events with local partners
We’ve written at length about these and continue to advise our clients to build their business in the direction of strategic partnerships and selling experiences rather than products. To stay up to date on all of that, give us a follow and sign up for our monthly email to improve your pet store’s marketing.
A Segment to Push & Pull On
“The best performing income group in Total Pet Spending with 12.7% of U.S. Households generating 26.0% of all pet spending was the group with an income of greater than $150k. They are also the only income group to increase annual Pet Spending every year since 2014. In fact they have furnished 55% of the Pet Industry’s $14.3B spending increase since 2014. There is more good news. This group is growing. They added 2.5 million CUs in 2018, a 17% increase. In fact their $3.12B was primarily fueled by additional CUs. It does demonstrate that pet spending grows with consumers’ income, especially once you reach the $150K+ level.”
The group with an income of greater than $150k is the biggest spenders and creating the biggest winners in the pet industry.
A few major takeaways from the quote taken directly from the article:
Pet spending grows with consumer’s income (it also decreases, but less significantly than the higher end of the spectrum)
This group is growing
Connecting the dots: Boomers (55-64 years old) make up most of this group, but the millennial demographic continues to make inroads into this spending group
So, as a pet store owner, how do you capitalize on this? If your audience includes people in these higher-earning brackets, we recommend that your pet store’s marketing strategy include some messaging and touchpoints that are focused on these areas.
These are customers that can be pushed into your high-tier, ultra-loyal customer base. They can also be pulled elsewhere and pushed away from true brand loyalty. They have disposable income and can be tempted into enjoying more frivolous or luxury events, products, or services that are they are made aware of.
Diversity in Pet Ownership
Tucked away at the bottom of the article:
“Hispanics and African Americans had a significantly greater increase in pet spending than the much larger White, not Hispanic group. This goes back to the generational differences, as these minorities are 33% of all Millennial and Gen Xer CUs, but only 22% of Baby Boomers.”
Research for the past 5 years has shown a growing Hispanic and African American pet ownership group. Hispanics especially have become a significant part of the population of pet owners. The number of Latinos owning pets increased 44 percent from 15 million in 2008 to 22 million in 2018, a growth rate vastly greater than that experienced among non-Hispanic white pet owners. During the same period, the number of African American pet owners also increased at a healthy rate (24 percent). Over the past decade, the number of Hispanic dog owners increased by 59 percent. The number of Latino cat owners likewise increased by 50 percent (Source: The Shelby Report).
So, this is a growth area and an opportunity for pet stores. News flash: the U.S. is becoming more culturally diverse (despite what the news may sometimes be saying) and that’s a good thing.
Especially for pet retailers in ares that have high Hispanic or African American populations, your pet store’s marketing strategy and hiring strategy need to reflect those populations. Consider bringing a Spanish speaker onto your team to help out Hispanic customers, or optimizing your imagery, subject matter, and language appropriately for your marketing material and content.
Pet Spending in the U.S.
Conclusion
Again, if you haven’t checked out that article by Pet Business Professor, you can click HERE to do so and we definitely recommend that you take 5-10 minutes out of your day to look at the numbers, reflect on your customer base and audience, and set some new processes and goals in place for you to take action on the data when it comes to your pet store marketing strategy.
As always, we’re here to help! Leave us your thoughts, comments, questions, concerns, or otherwise below or on our social media platforms, we’d love to start a discussion.
