Pet Products Find a $3 Billion Home Outside the Pet Store

(PRLEAP.COM) New York, February 12, 2006 — As pet owner tastes become increasingly upscale, they’re more likely to be looking outside traditional pet retail stores to purchase high-ticket luxury, gift, and human-brand products. As a result, the market for pet products in “nontraditional” outlets should reach nearly $4.2 billion by 2010, according to Market Trends: Pet Products and Shoppers in Non-Traditional Retail Outlets, a new report from market research publisher Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, the leading provider of industry-specific market research reports.

Packaged Facts expects 2005 sales through non-traditional outlets—classified as wholesale, dollar, convenience, department, home furnishing/housewares, home improvement/hardware/garden, sporting goods, and internet/catalog stores—to show an increase of 8.1% over 2004, reaching $2.9 billion. Outpacing growth in the overall U.S. market for pet supplies—currently at $23.7 billion—sales in non-traditional outlets have grown from 11.1% of the overall market in 2001, to 12.3% in 2005.

Spearheading the pet product influx into non-traditional outlets are gift/luxury products, such as diamond-studded collars and faux mink coats, value-priced items, convenience-oriented products, private-label and licensed fare, and human-style goods from some of the world’s top fashion monikers.

“We’re seeing a phenomenal trend of ‘humanization’ in the pet industry, both in how owners treat pets as members of the family and how pet products are mirroring human products,” said Don Montuori, the publisher of Packaged Facts. “There’s a ‘what’s good enough for me is good enough for my pet’ attitude driving growth in this market, particularly among affluent consumers, including aging boomers, empty nesters, seniors, singles, and gay couples, who spare no expense when it comes to premium pet supplies.”

Market Trends: Pet Products and Shoppers in Non-Traditional Retail Outlets thoroughly examines each non-traditional retail segment, including product selection, marketing, display and merchandising; analyzes demographics and shopping patterns of both pet and non-pet owners; and tracks sales and trends influencing the robust growth in the non-traditional marketplace. Priced at $1,995, this report can be purchased directly from Packaged Facts by clicking: http://www.packagedfacts.com/pub/1087709.html. It is also available at MarketResearch.com.

About Packaged Facts
Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes research reports on a wide range of consumer industries, including consumer goods and retailing, foods and beverages, and demographics. For more information visit www.PackagedFacts.com, or contact Tom Ehart at 240-747-3014, or tehart@marketresearch.com.