Growing in step with one another

The sales rally that began in 2020, year of the coronavirus, continued in the pet sector in the first half of 2021. Leading retailer Fressnapf even reports having the most successful first six months in the company's history. Compared with the same period last year, sales to the end of June increased by 273 mio euros, or 21.2 per cent. The company is in no doubt that this success story will continue to the end of the year: "For the year as a whole, we will probably add over 500 mio euros in sales and are likely to pass the 3-bn-euro barrier for overall turnover for the first time," forecasts Fressnapf founder and proprietor Torsten Toeller.

Gross sales up to the end of June totalled 1.48 bn euros. Germany accounted for 857 mio of this, while the ten other countries in which the corporate group has a presence yielded 624 mio euros in sales. Compared with the previous year, online sales increased by almost 64 per cent, aided not least by two new online shops launched in Belgium and Italy this year.
In the year to date, Fressnapf's exclusive brands brought in 626 mio euros. This is equivalent to growth of more than 16 per cent compared with the previous year. Sales of accessories have increased so far by 22 per cent, while pet food has posted a 20 per cent rise in sales. The dog and cat categories are leading sales growth with increases of nearly 20 per cent in each case. On existing store area, the Fressnapf Group grew by almost 19 per cent overall in the first half of the year. Transactions increased by 13.3 per cent, equating to nearly 50 mio customers making purchases to date. The average spend also increased by around seven per cent in the first six months, much to Fressnapf's delight, with Fressnapf and Maxi Zoo customers paying out 25 euros on average.
Of 136 new stores planned for this year, 88 have opened so far. This figure includes 36 stores in Denmark that were added to the estate through the acquisition of the company's competitor Petworld.

Fressnapf rival Das Futterhaus also celebrated pleasing sales figures, with the Elmshorn store chain growing its sales to 247 mio euros in the first half of the year. This equated to a 16 per cent increase over the previous year. The company's German stores recorded growth of 16 per cent over 2020 to 223 mio euros, while those in Austria racked up a sales increase of 14 per cent to 24 mio euros. Ten new stores opened in the first six months of the year, including four in…