Pet New Year's Eve dinner and Spring Festival couplets are hot sellers: "pet consumption" is deeply moving towards anthropomorphism

The emotional value of companionship needs is priceless, but the commercial value is magnified by merchants and platforms. Today's pet market has shown a trend of fierce competition in the pet track. Let's take a look at this article!

As the New Year is approaching, young people have not only prepared their own "three-piece set" for the New Year, but also spoiled their "furry children" to the skies and spent money on their pets without hesitation.

They gave their pets a new hairstyle, dressed them in Tang suits and cotton-padded jackets, and prepared a New Year's Eve dinner for their pets, celebrating together and sharing the joy of the Spring Festival.

Publicly reported sales data show that searches for dog Spring Festival clothes surged by 103% in the days before the Lunar New Year. Pet New Year's Eve dinners and pet Spring Festival couplets have seen a sudden rise in sales this year, with pet New Year's Eve dinner sales soaring by 120% and pet Spring Festival couplets sales increasing by 489%. Some netizens joked: "Dogs are the ones looking forward to the Spring Festival the most, right?"

Although pets benefit, it is the owners who get the emotional value. Today's pet market has expanded from the basic physiological needs of feeding and drinking to a variety of spiritual needs, which is highly consistent with "Maslow's Need Theorem". Merchants see the potential of the single economy and are no longer satisfied with creating festivals for humans. Creating festivals for furry children is also a top priority.

Behind all of this, it reflects the trend of increasingly fierce competition in the pet industry.

1. Pets celebrate the New Year, accelerating the upgrade of "anthropomorphic" consumption

The 2022 China Pet Industry Trend Insight White Paper points out that more than half of pet owners regard their pets as children, 40% of pet owners regard their pets as companions, and many pets even play the role of friends and roommates. With the rise of the culture of equal rights between people and pets, the phenomenon of giving pets Chinese New Year and other festivals is becoming more and more common, and the variety of New Year gift boxes is also increasing.

Many consumers choose to buy "pet New Year's Eve dinner" online. Whale Business found that the pet New Year's Eve dinner gift boxes on e-commerce platforms are mainly dumplings, glutinous rice balls, rice balls, meatballs, freeze-dried fish, etc. Depending on the package, the price ranges from 19.9 to 300 yuan. Crazy Puppy's pet New Year's Eve dinner costs 31.9 yuan per serving, and the pet New Year's Eve dinner at the Baby Home Pet Products flagship store costs 29.9 yuan per serving.

For example, the new brand "Tianqi Pet Food" sells pet New Year's Eve dinner for 288 yuan per serving, and of course, it contains more. A seller told Jingshang, "Pet New Year's Eve dinner has been selling very well in recent years. We will put thousands of customized packages for pet cats and dogs on the shelves about a month before the New Year, and they are basically sold out before the Spring Festival."

In addition to buying online, some consumers prefer to make their own New Year's Eve dinner for pets. A netizen who shared content related to "Pet New Year's Eve dinner" on Xiaohongshu said, "I've seen that pet New Year's Eve dinner has been very popular in recent years. I'm a little worried that the ingredients bought online are not good, so I picked some ingredients and made assorted dumplings, purple sweet potato dumplings, and chicken patties for the dog. The ingredients and meat sources of these are very clear, and the cost-effectiveness is also high."

When these fancy "dishes" fill the pet's dining table, the pet owners are actually the most satisfied. In addition, in order to make the Spring Festival more ceremonial, many pet owners will not only buy pet New Year's Eve dinner, but also buy various flowery clothes to add joy to their pets.

Xiaowen, a migrant worker in Hangzhou, is currently training her dog to sit and pray. She said, "I hope the dog can perform for me in front of my relatives." At the same time, Xiaowen also bought 6 new clothes for the dog. She hopes that during the one-week holiday, the dog will wear different clothes every day when visiting relatives and friends, so that he can maintain a new spirit in the new year.

Search for new pet clothes on major e-commerce platforms. Scarves, sweaters, down jackets, and various New Year-themed pet clothes are small and exquisite. Pet owners have posted videos of their "furry children" wearing new clothes on major short video platforms, especially videos of them wearing tiger suits and lion dance suits. If the "furry children" also make a fist and wish a happy new year, their smart and cute appearance will receive a lot of likes from netizens, and there are also jokes in the hot comments such as "Our child will definitely be able to go to Tsinghua University in the Year of the Tiger."

Xiaowen said frankly: "Since I started working two years ago, I have been going to work and going to school every day. This year, I got a little Bichon Frise, which made me feel more hopeful every day. Every day when I get off work and open the door, my dog ​​will run to me. No matter how tired I am at work, I feel healed by it at this moment. Sometimes I feel that it is not the dog that needs me, but I need it more."

In short, the emotional value provided by pets is one of the important reasons why consumers are willing to pay for them. The fact that pets have evolved from ordinary breeding and housekeeping to companionship and spiritual support means that consumers' functional demand for pets is weakening, while their demand for emotions and daily care is expanding and beginning to segment.

2. Deeply involved in pets’ “food, clothing, housing and transportation”

As pets begin to celebrate Christmas and the Spring Festival, the process of continuous anthropomorphism has also promoted the iteration of major pet subcategories. Pets' food, clothing, housing and transportation have developed from the initial simplicity and uniformity to high-end, customized and intelligent.

The reason for this consumption situation is that more and more families are raising pets in China, so pet owners have begun to raise their quality requirements for various products, and pets' food, clothing, housing and transportation have also developed in a more segmented and refined way. The author breaks it down from four aspects.

Pet clothing: Pet clothing was originally for protection from cold and aesthetics. Now, many businesses customize it according to the pet's body shape and appearance to enhance its appearance. There are even pet Hanfu.

From the perspective of seasons. In winter, the main function of pet clothing is to keep warm. Long-haired cats and dogs can adapt to the low temperatures in winter, but short-haired cats and dogs will feel cold in low-temperature climates, and thick clothes can keep out the cold. For example, there are many pet down jackets now, and the price of ordinary models is around 8 yuan to 58 yuan. Of course, there are also brands like Prada, where pet down jackets cost up to more than 4,000 yuan.

In the summer, since pet dogs do not have sweat glands but need to be walked, some businesses have developed pet cooling clothes to help pets dissipate heat and sweat.

During the rainy season, pet owners who have to walk their dogs will also buy pet raincoats. In July 2020, Kaola.com data showed that the growth rate of pet raincoats has tripled, with sales increasing by 44% year-on-year. There are also some clothing for specific periods and scenes, such as pet sterilization clothes and pet swimsuits.

Pet food: In terms of tools, pets ate on the ground in the early days, and did not need bowls. Wang Sheng of Zhejiang Fengpei Pet Products Co., Ltd. told Jingshang: "With more and more people born after 1985 raising pets, more and more pet families began to use non-slip bowls. Later, people born after 1995 and 2000 began to raise pets, but they had to go to work during the day, so automatic feeding machines with timed quantity and remote control appeared."

Looking at pet food, there are several major categories, including pet staple food, snacks, and health products. Among them, cat food and dog food, as daily high-frequency and rigid-need consumables, account for the highest share of the overall pet market and are also the longest-running market opportunities.

The main pet snacks sold in the market include dried meat, chew sticks, cheese, sausages, biscuits, canned food and other categories. There are also pet milk tea, cheese biscuits, pet cow and sheep yogurt, cat snacks, freeze-dried food, dried fish for cats and other series.

Regarding the health care products category, Jingshang has already analyzed it in the article “Can you still make money quietly in the pet health care market?”

Pet accommodation: This year, pet heating pads, pet electric blankets and other products are selling very well. At the beginning of winter, the owner of a pet shop in Hangzhou Gongshu District said: "In the past two winters, pet electric blankets have sold well and we have to restock them. The consumption of pet products has really upgraded."

Meituan data shows that cat bed orders increased by 115% year-on-year, and instant retail orders for pet heating blankets, pet thickened mats, pet blankets, warm vests and other pet warming products increased by more than 100% year-on-year. Young people who "buy everything with takeout" have even gotten used to "ordering takeout" for their pets.

The functional subdivision of cat and dog beds is also a major trend in New Year consumption. Cat beds have evolved from simple ones to integrated with cat climbing frames and litter boxes. There are even special "delivery rooms" for cats and dogs. These products are deeply loved by pets.

Pets going out: For dogs, pet leashes and muzzles have continued to develop. At first, leashes had problems such as insufficient length and easy to get rid of. Muzzles made it difficult for pets to breathe and were difficult to choose the right size. Now, leashes are not only retractable, explosion-proof, and not easy to get out of, but also have smart models with LED lights. Pet muzzles also have anti-bite and anti-ingestion styles.

Sensing business opportunities, e-commerce platform SSENSE has teamed up with brands such as Burberry and Versace to launch a series of pet accessories, including leashes and other products.

What is more noteworthy is that many hotels, amusement parks, and shopping malls are now pet-friendly. Many pet-loving families choose to travel in groups with like-minded friends, which also extends pet tourism. As a result, a number of "pet travel groups" that specialize in serving pet travelers have emerged. For example, in Chongqing, there are pet travel groups such as Chong Xiaowan, Wow, Duoqi Miao, and Meng Zhua.

3. The segmentation of pet consumption needs to be standardized

With the popularity of pet mooncakes, hot pot, and New Year's Eve dinners, as well as the renewal of pets' clothing, food, housing, and transportation, the rising brands in the sub-categories may change the competitive landscape of the pet market in the future. At present, those brands that take the large and comprehensive route are also facing increasing challenges.

According to the "Pet Industry Blue Book: 2023 China Pet Industry Development Report", the pet market size has increased to nearly 250 billion yuan. Pet food and supplies account for more than 50% of pet consumption, and pet medical care accounts for nearly 30%.

These data reveal the trend that pet owners are more willing to spend on daily care and medical treatment in the current market. The food and supplies needed for daily care can also be subdivided into diversified needs, such as the food, clothing, housing and transportation that the author has broken down in the second part.

Medical services have a relatively high threshold. This also provides an opportunity for the rise of new brands. In the medium and long term, pets will age and suffer from a variety of diseases. Medical and health fields such as pet prescription drugs, prescription food, and high-end diagnosis and treatment services are expected to continue to maintain rapid growth. New brands can build their own moats by making efforts in these fields.

In addition to the basic clothing, food, shelter, transportation and medical services for pets, the pet industry also has a lot of room for development in human resources training and marketing training. After all, pet grooming, training, foster care and other life service industries have gradually established certification standards, which can ensure service standards and differentiate stores.

On the other hand, there are still gaps in the quality inspection and market supervision of pet products. When making pet food, do the raw material procurement and processing meet the pet food hygiene standards? Will the pet snack innovations made by merchants to meet human standards be just for the sake of novelty and bring harm to pets? Do merchants in offline stores have relevant professional certificates such as pet nutritionists? These questions are still unknown and need to be regulated one by one.

At present, the penetration rate of pet ownership in China is relatively low, and pet ownership is still in a stage of rapid growth. Compared with developed countries, there is still a lot of room for development. In addition, Chinese consumers' spending on cats and dogs is relatively low, and there is a significant gap compared with families with the same income level in developed countries. However, the intensity of competition in China's pet consumption startup track is no less than that in developed countries.

Author: Hu Duzhi; WeChat public account: Whale Business (ID: bizwhale)