Packaged Facts: Amazon Continues Advance in U.S. Pet Market with New Private Label Pet Food Brand

Packaged Facts' report "U.S. Pet Market Outlook, 2018-2019" predicted the launch of a new premium pet food brand by Amazon

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Packaged Facts

May 09, 2018, 06:58 ET

ROCKVILLE, Md., May 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Several years back, Amazon declared pet products a top category of interest, and that interest is far from waning. It has became obvious that due to its size, scope, resources, online expertise, brick-and-mortar expansion, and desire to dominate all consumer packaged goods categories, Amazon poses a singular threat to pet market players of all stripes—brick-and-mortar, multi-channel, and online-only. The Amazon threat also crosses retail sectors, with big-box pet specialty retailers in particular currently taking much of the hit.

"Pet products are among the fastest-growing online retail categories and Amazon is leading the way," says David Sprinkle, research director for Packaged Facts, a market research firm. "The scariest part for competitors is that recent news indicates the e-commerce juggernaut is still coming on strong and unabated in the U.S. pet industry, reaffirming its commitment to pet products and now pet food."

Packaged Facts in the report Amazon Strategies and the Amazon Shopper estimates Amazon's pet product sales reached $2 billion, up 40 percent from the previous year. That number will almost inevitably continue to grow with the launch of Wag, Amazon's private label brand of dry dog food that is delivered via Prime. Wag is reportedly the first step in a major expansion of Amazon's pet products business. Wag joins Amazon's list of private label brands in more than 70 markets available for purchase only by Amazon Prime members. Though priced to compete in the premium-tier of the dog food segment, its cost slightly undercuts the cost of similar competing meat-first, grain-free premium brands such as Blue Wilderness.

Competitors received a foretaste of Amazon's growth strategy in the pet market not long after the company's acquisition of Whole Foods. Following the acquisition, Amazon quickly began offering Whole Food's Whole Paws pet food online. In short order Packaged Facts predicted in its report U.S. Pet Market Outlook, 2018-2019 that Amazon would inevitably extend its cross-category AmazonBasics brand—which already included a wide selection of nonfood pet products—into pet food and launch a new premium or superpremium pet food brand.

At present, Amazon by far leads the pack among online pet product retailers, despite an admirable jump by PetSmart following its 2017 acquisition of Chewy.com. In Packaged Facts' Q1 2018 National Pet Owner Survey featured in U.S. Pet Market Outlook, 2018-2019, Amazon topped the list of leading websites for pet product purchases, attracting 55% of those who purchased pet products online, followed by Chewy at 26%, PetSmart at 19%, Petco at 17%, and Walmart/Sam's at 14%.

About the Reports

The Packaged Facts report, Amazon Strategies and the Amazon Shopper, focuses on Amazon consumer usage and engagement trends and related consumer usage and engagement strategies, as well as Amazon's competitive positioning over time. Focusing on Amazon products and services engagement over time, analysis includes portraits of the Amazon shopper, the Amazon media user, and the Amazon Prime member; as well as Amazon's numerous strategies to broaden its reach into U.S. homes and wallets, including segmented subscriptions, penetrating and deepening retail categories, expanding Alexa's reach, moving into social media and multi-channel initiatives. Much attention is given to Amazon Prime, its relationship to the consumer, and the ways it is leveraged to drive engagement and increase sales.

The report includes three key sections:

Amazon Category Analysis: Grocery - This section focuses on online grocery purchasing trends over time to assess purchase channel (i.e. online and in-store) shifts and preferences according to major retailer and retailer channel, considering Amazon's foray into the online grocery market.
Amazon Category Analysis: Pet Products and Supplies - This section analyses Amazon Subscribe & Save, Amazon Fresh, and other features and services as they relate to the company's approach to the pet product category.
Amazon Category Analysis: Financial Services -This section focuses on Amazon financial services and payments consumer usage and engagement trends and related consumer usage and engagement strategies, as well as Amazon's competitive positioning over time. It also assesses future opportunities and ramifications related to its current financial services and payments products as well as those in development. Much attention is paid to the Amazon loyalty and value proposition, its relationship to these financial services and payments products, and their mutual relationship to Amazon Prime.

Meanwhile, the recently published report, U.S. Pet Market Outlook, 2018-2019, forecasts market size and growth for each category (2018-2022); examines new product activity; surveys retail channel trends including cross-channel shopping vs. shopper loyalty; and analyzes trends and shifts in the needs of today's pet parents. The report tabulates pet product sales channel by channel and projects channel shares through 2022. Supplementing Packaged Facts' exclusive Pet Owner Survey is an extensive analysis of Simmons' National Consumer Study, which is based on approximately 25,000 adult respondents surveyed annually. The report contains dozens of numerical tables and charts, as well as numerous photographs of new products, advertising, screen shots, and other images across key channels.

View additional information about these and other reports in our Pet Products & Services vertical at Packaged Facts' website: https://www.packagedfacts.com/pet-products-services-c124/.

About Packaged Facts

Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer market topics, including consumer demographics and shopper insights, consumer financial products and services, consumer goods and retailing, consumer packaged goods, and pet products and services. Packaged Facts also offers a full range of custom research services.

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