Pets in Quarantine

After declining at the height of the pandemic, spending on pets is back to pre-COVID levels, but not without leaving behind a market share shakeup.

Pet retailers saw aggregate spending drop from 2019’s already slowing high single-digit growth to April’s 0% growth during the crisis’ trough. However, it has recently climbed back up to its ~ 8 to 10% levels over the past few months.

This did not happen without a brief shakeup in market share. PetSmart’s subsidiary Chewy (acquired in 2017), has seized the lockdown-driven opportunity to grab market share from its mostly brick and mortar parent company and rivals throughout the crisis.

With stores reopened and people beginning to leave their homes (and their pets) again, Chewy’s July share has now inched down to just over early 2020 levels.