If you’re a pet product seller, finding the best online marketplaces to showcase and sell your products is essential. Whether you’re offering food, toys, accessories, grooming products, or health care items, the right platform can significantly boost your sales. Here, we explore some of the top online marketplaces for pet supplies in the world.
In 2023, Pets at Home led the UK pet supplies e-commerce market with the highest net sales, generating $261.1 million in revenue. Close behind, Zooplus.co.uk achieved net sales of $132.9 million.
Top 5 marketplaces for pet brands
- Pets at Home
- Zooplus
- Animed Direct
- Tesco Marketplace
- Amazon UK
Pets at Home
Pets at Home is the leading pet retailer in the UK, boasting more than 450 physical stores alongside a robust online marketplace. They offer a wide range of products catering to dogs, cats, fish, birds, reptiles, and small animals. Their inventory includes food, treats, toys, bedding, habitats, aquariums, accessories, medications, and nutritional supplements from renowned brands like Wainwright’s, James Wellbeloved, Eukanuba, IAMS, and Felix. Suppliers can register and distribute their products through Pets at Home’s platform.
Zooplus
With headquarters in Germany, this e-commerce giant ships to 30 countries across Europe including the UK. Zooplus has over 7 million active customers and offers products for dogs, cats, small animals, birds, fish, and horses from some of the biggest brands in the industry. Getting your products listed on Zooplus’s marketplace would open you up to millions of loyal customers and free delivery for orders over €29 to your shoppers.
Animed Direct
Established in 2010, Animed Direct is a UK based online veterinary dispensary and is part of a group of over 500 veterinary practices. In 2023, Animed Direct generated $59.4 million in net sales revenue, as is one of the biggest online pet retailers and veterinary dispensaries in the UK. It focuses on selling affordable, trusted pet supplies for dogs, cats, small animals, horses and farm animals.
Tesco Marketplace
Tesco Marketplace is a UK leading online grocery retailer with a 5-year plan to become the #2 marketplace in the UK. With the aim to make it “a one-stop shop for everything customers need”, this means hosting a range of products for our furry friends at home. With 1.2million orders a week and 36% market share, the Tesco marketplace provides an exciting opportunity for pet care brands.
Amazon
When it comes to selling pet products online, Amazon is another giant you can’t ignore. The platform’s extensive reach and customer base provide an unparalleled opportunity to tap into a lucrative market. Pet food, supplements, toys, and accessories are among the best-selling categories.
- Pet Food: The demand for high-quality pet food is on the rise. Pet owners are increasingly opting for natural and organic products to ensure their pets’ health and well-being. With Amazon’s subscription services, customers can regularly receive their pet food without the hassle of manual re-ordering, ensuring consistent sales.
- Health Supplements: This sector is experiencing rapid growth, with annual rates exceeding 50%. Products that offer a natural vitamin and mineral boost are particularly popular, as they help pets lead more active lifestyles. Gaining consumer trust is key in this category, as repeat purchases are common once pet owners find a reliable product.
- Toys and Accessories: About 66% of pet owners purchase accessories for their pets. Ethical and stylish choices, such as toys made from natural fibres and bedding that complements home décor, are especially favoured. This sector benefits from the modern trend of treating pets like family members, with owners willing to spend generously on their furry friends.
How to Choose a Marketplace
There are lots of things to consider when choosing which marketplaces to join as a brand. Multichannel marketing allows your product to be seen by hundreds of new, loyal customers but managing them all can be tricky if you are doing everything in-house. Things to think about before signing up include;
- Identify Your Niche: To succeed on platforms like Amazon, it’s crucial to identify which areas are most advantageous. Focus on high-demand sectors like pet food, health supplements, and accessories.
- Quality and Sustainability: Modern pet owners prioritise quality and sustainability. Offering natural, organic, and eco-friendly products can set you apart from the competition.
- Build Trust: Especially in the health supplements sector, building consumer trust is essential. High repeat purchase rates indicate that once pet owners find a product they trust, they stick with it.
- Leverage Subscription Models: For consumable products like pet food, consider offering subscription services to ensure regular, hassle-free purchases for your customers.
- Customer base: Is this where your main customer base is shopping? If no, this may not be the market for you. If it could open you up to new customers and opportunities, it may be worth the risk.
- Time and quality: There is no point joining a marketplace to only do it half baked. You need to ensure you have the time and know-how to get your products launch, ranking and converting to make the marketplaces work for you.
Selling pet products online presents a tremendous opportunity for growth and success. Platforms like Amazon, Pets at Home, and Zooplus offer expansive markets with diverse customer bases. By focusing on quality and building trust with your customers, you can carve out a profitable niche in the pet supplies market.
