Pet Boom: Its Impact on the Pet Industry
Tristan Koga in front of Reptile Island, Yorba Linda, CA, holding monitor lizard
Tristan Koga is the co-manager of Reptile Island of Yorba Linda, CA, and throughout the pandemic, he has been noticing changes in traffic to the store and sales of both merchandise and pets.
He believes there are multiple reasons why there are these “waves of customers coming into the store.”
“At the start of the pandemic, it was sporadic and we had a boom in customers,” he said. “When the first stimulus check hit, a large number of customers and sales had also come in, but it changed constantly.”
This trend has been seen across many pet stores in the nation, but what is the cause of this “pet boom”?
WHY?
According to an article by Retail Dive, in early March of last year, retailers Petco and PetSmart saw an increase of 42% and 36% in sales, while Chewy, owned by PetSmart, saw an increase of 42.5%.
While in California pet products sales doubled in the Los Angeles County and went up as much as 153% in the Bay area, according to petproductnew.com.
Southern Californian pet store owner, Peter Kim, comments on the rise of customers and why he believes there is one.
Peter, behind the counter, is aiding customer at check out
“This last year I did see a rise in sales and a lot of people entering the aquarium hobby,” he remarks. “I believe it is because people are stuck at home and are trying to find new hobbies.”
Multiple factors contributed to the rise in sales, one of which was the transition to online sales.
As the pandemic worsens, retail stores and in-person shopping had to reduce hours or temporarily close to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Altered store hours resulted in a reduced foot of 45% in PetSmart and 55% in Petco, resulting in decreased sales.
However, online business Chewy saw an increase of 28.7% in online sales.
In the Retail Dive article, an interview with the CEO of Chewy mentions how net sales were “35% up from the year-ago period,” and active customers “increased 27.2% from the prior year to 13.5 million.”
The rise in online sales is correlated with the transition to online sales to minimize the impact of the virus on store customers and employees; with some pet stores giving incentives for shopping online (for example, free delivery for purchases or money off your orders).
As a result of panic buying, stores shelves are left empty.
Issues within the Industry
When the pandemic started, like toilet paper, pet food and goods were being panic bought from stores, resulting in shortages in stores across the nation.
However, as the pandemic progressed, the limitation of flights into the created massive shortages that rippled throughout the industry.
“The prices of animals and goods skyrocketed during the pandemic,” said Tristan. “It’s due to limited importation of goods into the country and how suppliers ran out of stock quickly.”
Fish store based in LA, Bob’s Tropical Fish, shares a similar sentiment with issues of getting inventory.
“Most of our products come from China, so most of the things coming into the U.S. are held at the ports,” comments Jackson, owner of Bob’s Tropical Fish. “As a result, it’s been a lot more difficult to get our goods back in stock.”
Conclusion
Most pet stores remain open as they count as an essential business and try their best to accommodate consumer needs.
With the rise of people buying pets and pet products, and issues trying to import goods into the country.
Many pet stores remain hopeful that the climate will get better and the industry will revert to the pre-covid days.
“It’s hard to predict what will happen in the future,” says Tristan. “ But, I’m hoping it’ll bounce back around Christmas of this year.”