Well before COVID-19, digital pet care was burgeoning. In the newly published study Digital Pet Care Products and Services: E-commerce and E-connectivity, market research firm Packaged Facts reports that e-commerce made enormous strides between 2015 and 2019 and will grow to 35% of pet product sales by 2024. This projected growth would make the internet the top pet market channel in the years ahead.
During the past few years, sales of internet-connected and Bluetooth-enabled pet products have proliferated while outpacing the overall market growth average. Venture-capitalist-backed, app-based pet care sitting and walking services such as Rover and Wag! have broadsided the traditional non-medical pet services paradigm. Meanwhile, veterinary telemedicine services have begun to move into the mainstream.
Altogether, for 2020, Packaged Facts expects sales of digital pet care products and services to top $27 billion, with the e-commerce sale of pet products accounting for the lion’s share, but with all sectors poised to outpace the overall pet market’s forecasted 2019-2024 compound annual growth rate of 5.4%. That said, sales of app-based pet care services will likely continue to remain soft through 2021, due to the ongoing stay-at-home and social distancing measures and travel slump that have negatively impacted home-based pet care services across the board.
