image credit: BBC Breakfast
Boom 1! Petcare continues double digit growth
"The value of the pet care market in the UK is expected to reach £2.1 billion by 2023 — a 25 per cent increase on 2018, according to the market researcher Mintel." (source: The Times)
Penetration wise, 3.2 million households have acquired a pet since March 2020 (lockdown puppy boom), equating to a growth in ownership of 10% (source: Pet Food Manufacturers Association & BBC Breakfast).
Furthermore, 60% of owners buy accessories for their pets (source: Mintel).
source: The Times, Damian Whitworth, 19th April 2021. Image credit: The Times and Getty Images.
The Times article cites dog yoga and £100 grooming and asks why are we spending so much on our pets? It gives examples of the pampered pooch world stretching to our canine companions dining on duck breast, drinking pooch hooch and having pricier haircuts than their owners. We've certainly spotted at some big etailers Woofins from Barking Bakery and Barker Bay 'Wine' from Woof & Brew. At Sniffe & Likkit our Pawkit Treats are 100% natural and nutritious but stay with appealing flavours to dogs such as sweet potato and chicken liver.
Another recent article in the FT Weekend "Fur Real? The Rise of Luxury Pet Shampoos" by Kate Finnigan quotes Euromonitor estimating 11.3% rise in value of the petcare grooming category in 2020. You can read the full FT Weekend article here (if FT subscriber).
Sniffe & Likkit is of course delighted to be one of the recommended brands.
Boom 2! Staycations soar
Tourism analysts have predicted that demand for UK holidays is likely to outstrip supply this summer, particularly for hotels, self-catering, camping and glamping with many holidaymakers unable or unwilling to brave foreign travel amid continuing restrictions.
Recently, the tourism agency launched a £5m campaign entitled Escape the Everyday - Enjoy the UK this Summer. And tourism chiefs are requesting the government extends summer duration for pop-up campsites.
National holiday cottage firm, holidaycottages.co.uk, says ‘bookings taken for May half-term onwards are up 39% compared to last year, with the summer holidays up 98%.
Pride of Britain Hotels, a collection of 50 luxury hotels say "For luxury hotels in the UK, we believe there is huge pent-up demand that is just waiting for the restrictions to be eased. It could be a brilliant summer for domestic tourism, marking a desperately-needed return to profitability in our sector." (source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55826646)
Andrew Cotter's written a helpful piece in The Times Magazine on staycations with dogs "Should you take your dog on holiday? Tips for travelling with your pooch" (article requires Times subscription)
So what? Move over the grey pound, here comes the woof pound!
Many more establishments are getting dog friendly to meet the needs of a new ‘pack your pooch’ consumer and their woof pound.
With more dog owners and more disposable income being spent on pets, comes increasing expectation of the new ‘pack your pooch’ consumer who like to take their dogs wherever they go...
Is your establishment dog friendly? We are seeing a huge increase in places that are, across:
Pubs
Restaurants
Cafes
Hotels
Cottages
Campsites
And an explosion of handy listings websites that have done alot of the time consuming research for you and listing everything on one handy site - from travel and places to activities and dog walks. We particularly like dogfuriendly.com
How dog-friendly is wider infrastructure of retail, public transport, taxis, offices and how do we rank versus other countries?
At Sniffe & Likkit we may be a bit biased but dream of a world where one day we can return to the office with a dog! We loved the recent article in The Sunday Times by Louise Eccles Shoppies! High street welcomes dogs in bid to tempt owners into spending - retailers are relaxing their pet policies rather than force customers to leave pooches worth thousands tied up outside. (Times subscription needed).
- If you are a pet specialist retailer, do you lead the way in showing other retailers how to be pet welcoming?
- Do wider high street retailers need to become more dog friendly, making exception of course for food retailers who perhaps can’t because of hygiene reasons. The Anthropologie chain with their Cambridge store gets our thumbs up for organising a very fur-friendly Pop Up Shop with us recently. Watch a wee clip on our Instagram here from @maiabaker @anthropologieeu
- What about public transport and taxis? In general dogs are permitted to travel on public transport in most cases as long as they don’t jeopardize the safety of other passengers. However, there are some restrictions in place depending on where you are travelling and what type of transport you are using.
So the jury is still out but our verdict is we think the UK is pretty fur friendly compared to other countries...
Don’t let your business miss out on the boom in petcare - you never know where it may ‘lead’!
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