Sales peak in France

Sales of pet products have grown at roughly the same rate of between 2.6 and 3.4 per cent in the last few years. Last year, however, saw an astonishing spike which might yet sustain the French pet supplies sector through the difficult year of the coronavirus in 2020. 2019 also showed clearly that the market is expanding and increasingly covering new segments that have not previously played a major role. This applies in the first instance to products for native wild species. France is following a trend already discernible a few years ago in England, the Netherlands and Germany, where more and more people have taken to feeding wild birds in their gardens or on their balconies all year round. This product category grew by 10 per cent in 2019, thus by considerably more than any other segment in the pet sector.
As far as the growth rate is concerned, the categories following this - and lagging by some distance - were cats, farm animals and, somewhat surprisingly, cage birds. All these saw sales increase by 5 per cent last year. After these came the dog segment, which grew by 4 per cent in 2019, and the rodent and small animal categories, which recorded sales growth of 3 per cent last year. According to figures from Promojardin-Prom'Animal, the aquatics and pond segments maintained the level of the previous year, while sales in the reptile category declined by 1 per cent.
Despite new segments and surprisingly strong growth in the smaller segments, the dominance of the dog and cat segments continued in 2019. These two segments together account for a market share of 81 per cent. The feline category, with a market share of 45 per cent, continues to outstrip the canine segment with 36 per cent of sales.

When the market is categorised by distribution channel, the dominant position of the supermarkets (GSA) remains unchanged. They account for 47 per cent of sales and even managed to increase their share by 2 per cent in 2019. The undisputed victor in terms of growth last year, however, was the pet supplies trade, which now enjoys a 12 per cent share of sales. In 2019, this distribution channel recorded an 18 per cent increase in sales. E-commerce, which grew by 9 per cent last year and now accounts for a market share of 13 per cent, is one…