Amazon and Petco Mexico are among the largest online retailers of pet food in the country. Both platforms offer plenty of product information, providing a thorough consumer experience in terms of product features and prices.

However, Amazon owns a competitive advantage over Petco. The leading online retailer allows consumers to post product reviews, and in today’s pet food environment, consumer opinions and reviews are of utmost importance. Word of mouth is not exclusive to veterinarians, as consumers are prone to sharing and reading other users’ recommendations.

In addition, both Amazon and Petco’s algorithms offer an ongoing, real-time product ranking for their product assortment, from the best to the least-selling product. Such information is key for consumers who wish to know what other shoppers are buying online.

For traditional retailers in Mexico, such information is considered a Pandora’s box. For them, the online environment is just business as usual, yet for consumers, it’s service and the experience.

Who leads Mexican pet food e-commerce sales?

At Amazon Mexico, the best-selling pet food product currently is Nupec for adult dogs, 20-kilogram package. Second place belongs to Nupec’s small-breed dog product, 8-kilogram package, while third place also goes to Nupec for its puppy formula, 20-kilogram size.

Hill’s Science Diet’s treats product is ranked fourth. Then, Beneful dry food by Purina is fifth. Surprisingly, Royal Canin is only ninth on Amazon’s list with its Chihuahua breed dry food product. The list continues with more Nupec products clearly dominating.

Furthermore, Nupec’s products have 470 consumer reviews, with 89% having five stars, meaning a quite high acceptance rate among online buyers. Beneful only counts 27 customer reviews.

Petco’s ranking is quite different. First off, Petco does not offer Nupec products. For this reason, Royal Canin’s small breeds product leads sales, followed by Pro Plan’s sensitive skin formula. Indeed, Royal Canin and Pro Plan products dominate Petco’s best-selling list with seven of the top 10 products.

Open information is key to pet food market success

Amazon and Petco’s online stores are disrupting the traditional way of selling pet food in Mexico. Long-standing, traditional retailers must understand that information can no longer be held back, and consumer opinions are quite valuable and essential. More importantly, the full omnichannel experience will be possible only when retailers narrow the existing, huge gaps of product information between the online environment and physical stores.