Despite the current inflationary environment, pet care hasn’t seemed to blink an eye.
According to PetSmart CEO J.K. Symancyk, the industry is seeing some of its strongest growth in years.
“I would call it a resilient industry,” Symancyk said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). “I think we continue to see people make choices to put their pets ahead of themselves and find ways to involve their pets in more of their lives. And that has continued to drive growth for the last 15+ years. I believe it’ll continue to drive growth.”
And while inflation has led many consumers to pull back on spending in key areas, pet care is not one of them.
“Consumers are starting to make some of those choices as it relates to discretionary versus non-discretionary items,” Symancyk said. “But premiumization, humanization continue to drive growth in the industry.”
According to a 2021 survey from the American Pet Products Association, 70% of U.S. households — roughly 90.5 million — own a pet. The most commonly owned pets are dogs, cats, freshwater fish, and birds, respectively.
These pet owners spent a total of $123.6 billion on their furry friends in 2021, a 19% jump from $103.6 billion in 2020. Ten years ago, owners spent only $53.3 billion on their pets.
Another key reason why pet care has been able to stay resilient for so long is that “pets are continuing to multiply,” he said. “And veterinary access is one of the biggest priorities for pet parents.”
Part of this has to do with the coronavirus pandemic, which saw the percentage of U.S. households with pets increase to an all-time high of 70% in 2020 during the lockdown period.
Additionally, millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers are the demographics with the highest percentage of pet ownership — all age groups that are in prime earning years and making enough money to spend on their pets.
“We love our pets just like the rest of our family,” Symancyk said. “And we continue to spend money there and try to make them happier each and every day.”
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Ethan is a writer for Yahoo Finance.
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