Amazon product selection: This category is worth 800 million, aren’t you tempted?

Amazon pet supplies is a fairly large category with great potential, so there are many competitors both online and offline.

Although Amazon has opened the door to a new world in the online sales of pet supplies in the United States, data shows that people prefer offline physical stores when spending money on their "masters". In the "2019 Amazon Consumer Behavior Report" released by digital marketing agency CPC Strategy, the most popular categories are electronics, computers, and office supplies (35%), followed by personal care and health (14.7%), and clothing, shoes, jewelry, and watches (14.4%). The least popular categories are groceries (3.7%) and pet supplies (5%).

However, pet products grew by 30 percentage points in 2017, reaching a scale of over 800 million. This shows that it will no longer be the least popular category, and may even become a popular category.

In the first half of 2018, pet food generated $360 million in sales, up 34% year-on-year.

In addition to pet food, the following subcategories are also popular under the pet supplies category:

• Dogs: Clothing, beds, cameras, transportation, collars, slatted houses, doors, flea/tick medicine, grooming supplies, health products, waste disposal kits, keepsakes, and training toys

• Cats: beds, cages, cameras, travel bags, collars, flea/tick medicine, grooming supplies, health products, souvenirs, insect repellent, toys

• Fish and Aquatic Pets: Aquariums, Aquarium Supplies, Automatic Feeders and Health Supplies

• Birds: cages, travel cages, care products and toys

• Equine: Blankets, boots, horseshoe supplies, grooming, health supplies, pest control, stable supplies and toys

• Reptiles and Amphibians: Habitat Supplies and Terrariums

• Small animals: travel bags, collars, running wheels, grooming supplies, health products, huts, deodorants and toys

On Amazon, you'll find brands like Hill's Science Diet, K9 Advantix, Frontline, Purina, Fancy Feast, Pedigree, Greenies, and Fresh Step. Amazon also offers pet supplies through its own brands, Amazon Basics and Wag.

Amazon Basics' pet supplies include dog bed mats, dog cages, food bowls, cat climbing frames, leashes and pet beds, while Wag only provides dry and wet dog food and reward snacks.

The Amazon pet supplies space is highly competitive, and not just because there are so many big brands and Amazon's own brands.

Online statistics portal Statista says that online sales of pet supplies are a small part of the picture, accounting for only 17% of all pet supply sales in the U.S. Before considering online shopping, people are more likely to buy pet supplies at supermarkets, Petsmart, Petco or discount stores. However, Amazon accounts for a large proportion of this 17%.

Data from the American Pet Products Company shows that 54% of consumers who shopped for pet supplies online in 2017 bought products on Amazon. This figure is almost twice that of Walmart, Petsmart.com and SamClub.com, which also occupy a relatively large market share. Other competitors include Target, eBay and Chewy.com.

When people choose to buy pet supplies online, it is because they can more easily get product prices, find discounts, compare prices, and finally choose the most cost-effective merchant. In addition, they can choose a variety of different products online. Both of these are difficult to do in physical stores.

In general, dog owners are most likely to buy food, treats and medication online. For dog owners, they usually want to buy:

• Dry/wet dog food

• Pet Treats and Teething Foods

• Flea/tick medicine

• Pet Grooming Products

• Pet Vitamins and Supplements

• Heartworm medicine

• Pet Oral Care Products

People who own cats are more likely to search for:

• Dry/wet cat food

• Cat litter

• Cat litter box

• Pet Treats and Teething Foods

• Flea/tick medicine

• Pet Grooming Products

• Pet deodorizer

• Insect repellent collar

In general, dog owners are more likely to buy pet supplies online. Married pet owners without children are also likely to buy pet supplies online, especially millennials who have delayed starting a family or decided not to get married, and this trend is gradually growing in the United States.