Online sales of dog, cat and other pet foods were already growing steadily in the Unites States before the COVID-19 pandemic restricted pet owners’ movements. Pet food and treat e-commerce in the U.S. made up 16% of all pet food retail sales, according to Nielsen and Rakuten Intelligence. Pet food and treat sales online reached US$5.8 billion in 2019, out of a total US$36 billion market in the U.S.
As people stayed home, e-commerce pet food sales more than tripled in year-over-year sales growth between January and March. Pet food sales online were 21% higher in January 2020, compared to 2019. As the coronavirus spread, March e-commerce pet food sales jumped 77% higher year-over-year for the month, compared to 26% for brick-and-mortar retailers. Sean Simpson, associate client director at Nielsen Global Connect, shared that data and his analysis during a Petfood Industry webinar.
The largest online sales growth occurred in dry pet food, which increased 84% over the same month in 2019, according Simpson. Pet treat sales online grew 58%, whereas the sector’s sales in January grew 11.4% year-over-year for that pre-pandemic month. Wet pet food also grew by 77% year-over-year in March. Online pet food sales grew by US$281 million in March compared to February, going from US$547 million to US$828 million.
Dry pet food sales during COVID-19 pandemic
Kibble sales growth hovered near zero or negative in the United States during February. Pet treats and wet pet food increased somewhat compared to the same time last year, ranging from 4-7% growth year-over-year. Then the pandemic spurred pet owners to stock up on food for their dogs, cats and other animals. Dry pet food sales shot up, with the largest growth in the largest bags. By the week ending March 21, dry pet food sales in 28-pound or larger bags had climbed 74% compared to that same third week in March 2019. Sales of those largest dry pet food bags had already grown 55% the previous week.
