According to the pet industry, the 28th China International Pet Aquarium Exhibition (CIPS 2024) will be grandly opened on September 10, 2024 in Area B of the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Guangzhou. On September 11, the "2024 3rd E-commerce Conference" held in the exhibition hall of Hall 13.1 focused on exploring new opportunities in the domestic e-commerce market. At the scene, Yongze, the person in charge of Taobao Tmall Aquarium Little Pet, gave a wonderful theme report on the topic of "Tmall Taobao Aquarium Trend Sharing", and discussed and discussed new opportunities and changes in the e-commerce market. Taobao Tmall, as the largest e-commerce platform for our aquarium pets, maintains the leading trend of market segments. From the perspective of the current market size, Tao users belong to different strategic groups, leading the common growth of the pet track. It is worth thinking about how to maintain an insight into the development of the mature market pattern.
E-commerce platform share and market size
Taobao and Tmall, as the leading e-commerce platforms in the aquarium and pet markets, have a market share of more than 70% in the online market. Taobao Tmall's aquarium and pet market has accumulated more than 40 million pet owners, of which aquariums account for 24 million. Compared with the cat and dog market, the growth rate of the aquarium and small pet market is faster, and the pet population of the cat and dog market is about 100 million, but the growth rate is not as fast as that of the aquarium and small pets.
Consumer Trends & Behaviors
Diversification of pet types: More than 60% of consumers will keep pets across categories, such as a combination of fish, reptiles, and birds. The percentage of purchases of a second or third pet is close to 40%.
Increased consumer spending: Users' willingness to spend on pets has increased, with a 6% increase in the frequency of single purchases and an 18% increase in spending per pet.
Influx of novices: The aquarium market is still driven by new customers, and a large number of new consumers continue to enter the market, making it booming.
Segment market share
Aquarium products account for 61% of the overall market share, which is still the largest category; The bird market is eye-catching and growing rapidly, currently accounting for 15% of the market share, surpassing the 11% market share of rodents; Other small pet categories such as rabbits and reptiles also occupy about 5% of the market share.
Consumer Portraits and Market Opportunities
Younger demographics: The main consumer groups of aquariums and pets are concentrated in the 18 to 29 year olds, especially in the lower segment, which has huge growth potential, with 40% of the market opportunity coming from these underexplored areas.
Diversified consumer groups: Compared with the traditional cat and dog market, the aquarium pet market covers a wider range of consumers, including men, middle-aged and elderly people, and mothers. The audience of the aquarium pet market is no longer limited to older pet users or civil servants, but covers a wider range of consumer groups.
Pet Owner Classification
Buddhist pet breeders (novices): mainly recent college graduates or white-collar workers who have just entered the workplace, this group contributes 60%-70% of the new customers. Prefer small fish tanks (such as Xiaomi smart tanks), and pay attention to labor-saving, time-saving, and automated pet raising methods.
Advanced pet breeders: 35-39 years old workplace elites, such users are more in pursuit of DIY, landscaping and appearance. He likes to open large tanks, stream tanks, and rainforest tanks, and is good at using DIY equipment for personalized layout, with about 13 million consumers.
Veteran pet owners: These consumers embrace pet ownership as a belief and pursue rare, expensive aquarium pets. Although their number is small, only about 5 million, they have very strong consumption power and focus on high-end, scarce varieties.
Pet types and market performance
Birds: With the liberalization of national policies (such as small sun parrots, monk parrots, etc.), the bird market has grown significantly, and the current bird market. accounted for 15%, far exceeding expectations.
Rodents: Bears, hamsters and guinea pigs are the main ones, with a market size of about 1.7 million people, of which 68% are women.
Rabbits: The buyers of this category are mainly mothers, but the actual pet owners are often their children. The market volume is more than 1 million
Reptiles: such as lizards, snakes, spiders, etc., are mainly favored by male consumers aged 18 to 29, with nearly 60% of men seeking excitement and personalization.
Consumption habits and scenarios are upgraded
Staple food is in high demand: Staple food for small pets (e.g., bird feed, rat food) is still the largest demand in consumption. At the same time, new processes in the cat and dog market, such as baking, have gradually expanded to the pet market.
Increasing demand for landscaping: Consumers are not only satisfied with basic breeding, they also want to create a more realistic ecological environment for pets, such as fish tank landscaping, bird cage decoration, etc.
Pet take-out has become a new trend: As consumers' attention to pets increases, bringing pets out and about, such as traveling with birds or using pet strollers, has become a new consumer trend.
Future development expectations and market opportunities
In the next 2-3 years, the aquarium and pet market is expected to achieve strong growth, especially compared with the cat and dog market that has become saturated, the penetration rate of aquarium pets still has huge room for improvement. New entrants to the market can segment according to consumer needs and provide more DIY landscaping, high-end varieties and new pet equipment to seize this high-speed growth opportunity.
Taobao and Tmall have also opened up live aquarium merchants to settle in, and will gradually expand to small pets and reptiles in the future.
Through a comprehensive analysis of market segments and insights into consumer behavior, the aquarium and pet market has shown great growth potential, especially driven by the rapid influx of new customer groups, the trend of cross-category pet raising, and consumption upgrades, and will continue to prosper in the next 2-3 years.