Online pet food sales accounted for 37% of the total U.S. pet food market at the end of 2021, projected Packaged Facts. That share is up significantly from pre-pandemic numbers and up 5% from 2020, when lockdowns drove 32% of pet food purchasers online.
Of course, many pet owners are continuing to shop for pet food online, and Packaged Facts expects e-commerce to increase to 55% of U.S. pet food sales by 2025. Before COVID-19, the research firm had expected the online share to be 24% by then, so the projection has more than doubled due to the changes in purchasing behavior.
Not surprisingly, the e-commerce gain has come at the expense of brick-and-mortar store sales, which were flat from 2020 to 2021, according to Packaged Facts. That decline is projected to continue, with the share expected to drop from 63% in 2021 to 45% in 2025.
This is happening as U.S. pet food sales continue to grow: a projected rise of 6.4% from 2020 to 2021, with a cumulative annual growth rate from 2020 to 2025 of 6.6%. Not only is most of that growth occurring in e-commerce, Packaged Facts said; sales increases in that channel are also helping drive overall market growth.
At the same time pet owners are shifting pet food purchasing channels, they’re also adding or changing to different product formats—namely, wet pet food, particularly for cats. In the U.S., dry pet food still enjoys a 60% market share, according to Packaged Facts. Yet wet pet food now accounts for 36% of the market, and additional data shows higher usage among U.S. cat-owning households. While feeding of dry cat food is high and steady, at 93%, the usage rate of wet cat food has risen from 49% in 2006-07 to 59% in 2020-21. “As of 2020-21, in keeping with the increased popularity of wet cat food, 58% of dry cat food purchasers also buy wet cat food, up from 50% in 2006-07,” Packaged Facts said.
Treats are another area of strong growth for cats, increasing from 39% usage in 2006-07 to 60% in 2020-21, which Packaged Facts attributed in part to pet pampering trends, both before and since the pandemic hit. In addition, cats seem to be getting more product development attention from pet food brands seeing the growth potential in a previously underserved category.
