The U.S. pet market continues to heat up, and e-commerce sales will account for 38.4% this year

Inflation for pet food and services was more than 10% in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but the category has been able to somewhat withstand the impact of the U.S. recession as pet owners continue to spend.

"The pet category is recession-proof because pet owners can't afford not to feed their pets," said Suzy Davidkhanian, an analyst at Insider Intelligence.

According to a survey from Insider Intelligence, the share of e-commerce sales in the pet category has been growing as people rely more on online shopping. It is expected that in 2023, 38.4% of pet product sales will be conducted online. By the end of 2027, this share will increase to 51.0%.

Insider Intelligence notes that by 2027, only three categories will have higher e-commerce sales penetration than pets: books, music and video, toys and hobbies, and computers and consumer electronics.

In addition, the explosive growth of e-commerce will lead to the rise of direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands. Insider Intelligence predicts that Chewy's revenue will grow 11.0% this year, becoming one of the fastest-growing D2C pet brands in the United States. Other brands, such as Bark and The Farmer's Dog, will also achieve outstanding results.

According to Insider Intelligence, pet products will account for 2.3% of Amazon's U.S. e-commerce sales this year and will account for one-third of U.S. pet retail sales. Amazon's pet e-commerce sales growth this year will be lower than the overall category, which is 9.0%: 14.2%.

It is understood that providing pet-related bundled services may be the best way to attract customers or expand profits. Just in May of this year, Walmart, the largest retailer in the United States, introduced pet telemedicine services for its Walmart+ membership program, which is a good example.

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