Industry Insight

Opportunities Abound

By Bob Vetere
President, APPMA

Bob Vetere

This just isn’t your Grandma’s old pet industry any more, is it? The days of your pet dog Duke living in the backyard in his old wooden house with a piece of burlap hanging over the door are a relic of the past. Today, Tinkerbell has the run of the house, goes out by appointment only and generally enjoys the good life.

While things of the past are sometimes good (like bubble gum with your baseball cards), most of the time change is for the better. And change you can anticipate and plan for as a businessperson is always good. If you are savvy enough to foresee the next hot spot in the consumer marketplace then you get to benefit from the change. Anyone who guessed that lo-carb dog food would be an instant success is happily contemplating a record year. The same with designer dog collars and the like.

One of the ways APPMA tries to help its members is by tracking the latest trends in the industry, and by identifying what is hot in the marketplace. This past year we were able to identify six trends that we saw unfolding in 2006. As you look through that list you can quickly see how these have evolved over the year.

Click here to view a list of top trends.

Humanizing pets continues to drive new pet services. It is also behind much of the growth in medical advances for all types of pets as well as the increase in licensed pet products.

Another source of this type of information is our National Pet Owner’s Survey; over 400 pages of information from the ultimate consumer – pet owners. Starting with over 45,000 pet owners around the country, we derive significant trends and other information that can only help in making crucial marketing decisions.

One of the key trends, at least to me, has to deal with the baby boomers. Traditionally, pet ownership has shown a dramatic decrease as people pass 60 years of age. Whether it was because of a desire for more freedom upon retiring, a lack of the necessary income or whatever, this age group generally backed off from pet ownership. This has not held up with the current crop of boomers. Pets have become an important part of our lives and it is one we do not readily give up. Manufacturers, retailers and service providers are all responding to this trend by providing products and services that will make pet ownership easier for this demographic. And the boomers are responding by spending a significant sum of money to utilize all of this to make life with Fluffy and Fido less restrictive. It will be important to watch to see if this trend continues as the largest part of the boomers reach this point in life.

Convenience products, human-mimicking products, and luxury items are all finding significant niches in the marketplace. As all of this unfolds so do the opportunities for growing your own business. It is truly a case of be a leader in a new growth segment or follow the leader!