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▶ Video account attention cross-border navigation "The cat saved a store, restored a train station, and brought a real estate company on the verge of bankruptcy back to life..." These legends that seem like fairy tales are actually facts that have happened. As early as 2015, the Japanese business community had come up with such a conclusion: no matter how difficult the economy is, the public's enthusiasm for cats and related products will always be high. As long as businesses use cats well, they can attract attention and benefit from it, that is, cats equal the economy, which is called "cat economics" . Whether looking back to the U.S. economic recession from 2008 to 2010, or remaining under the siege of external unfavorable factors such as the current epidemic and inflation, the trend of the pet industry's counter-cyclical development is undoubtedly constantly confirming the feasibility of the "cat economics" conclusion. As the pet economy continues to heat up, the status of pets continues to rise, from a "simple way of entertainment" to an emotional sustenance for "pet owners". The deep emotional bond with "furry children" has prompted pet owners to stop meeting the basic physiological needs of pets and start paying attention to their spiritual needs. With the arrival of a new era of refined and humanized pet raising, pet toys, as an important segment to meet the spiritual needs of pets, have gradually become a must-have consumption option for pet owners. Pet toy market has a promising future
According to a report by Research and Markets, the global market size of pet toys was approximately US$2.5 billion in 2020 , and will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 7.7% from 2020 to 2027 , and is expected to reach US$4.2 billion by 2027 . Among them, the forecast growth rates of the plush toys, ropes and tugboat toys and other market segments are particularly impressive, from 2020 to 2027 (hereinafter referred to as the "reporting period"): - Plush toys are expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.3% to $1.2 billion;
- The rope and tug toys category is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.4%.
Affected by the dividends of the "stay-at-home economy", the pet business landscape has changed. During the reporting period, in addition to the United States, which is known as the "pet kingdom", the pet toy market size and growth rate in other regions were also very significant: - As one of the major sales markets for pet-related products, the U.S. pet toy market size was approximately US$678.7 million in 2020.
- It is estimated that by 2027, the size of China 's pet toy market is expected to reach US$888.5 million, with a compound annual growth rate of 11.4%.
- Latin America is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.6% between 2020 and 2027.
- Led by countries such as Australia, India and South Korea, the Asia-Pacific market is expected to reach US$565.2 million by 2027.
From a global market perspective, the United States, Canada, Japan, China and Europe will drive the pet toy market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.2% . In addition, the market sizes in other regions such as Australia, India and Germany will also grow to varying degrees. At present, with the rise of the pet-raising craze, the sales of pet toys on major e-commerce platforms have also shown an explosive growth trend. Here we take Amazon, the world’s largest pet retail platform, as an example: Best-selling on Amazon, peak season in the holiday season
Data shows that 18% of American consumers increased their spending on pet supplies in the first quarter of 2022. Between March and April 2022, keyword searches for "pet supplies" on Amazon increased by 4%. Among them, pet toys are one of the best-selling subcategories of Amazon's pet category. As of the first quarter of 2022, Amazon consumers spent approximately $ 26 million on cat toys, while dog toy sales almost doubled to nearly $48 million . It is worth noting that according to Pattern's April research report, compared with other pet products with stable demand throughout the year, pet toys usually have peak demand during the holidays. Compared with the annual average demand in the week of December 12 last year, the demand for pet toys increased by 117%. And looking at overall holiday shopping demand, Amazon consumers have a higher demand for dog toys than cat toys. The demand for dog toys increased by 148% week-on-week, while cat toys increased by 74% in the same week . To sum up, it can be seen that the money-making power of the global pet toy market will still be in an "open state" in the future. This can be seen from the fact that in the current era of depression with the global economic situation continuing to decline, the coldness of the cross-border industry has not spread to the pet toy market. A large number of IPOs are flocking to the capital market
Driven by the dividends of the "stay-at-home economy" during the pandemic, the pet track has flocked to the Chinese capital market. Tianyancha data shows that there were 34 publicly disclosed pet track investment and financing cases from January to September 2022 , mainly concentrated in the fields of pet medical care, pet food and pet supplies. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently 7 pet companies listed on the A-share market, 2 of which have passed the review of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and are striving for listing, and at least 5 pet companies are preparing to accelerate the listing process. Among them, Yuanfei Pet, which was listed recently, and Tianyuan Pet , which just passed the review of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, have both made considerable achievements in the pet toy export market. Yuanfei Pets On August 18, Yuanfei Pet, known as the "No. 1 dog leash stock" because it specializes in pet leashes, officially listed on the A-share market. Its prospectus shows that in the first half of 2022, Yuanfei Pet achieved revenue of 548 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.45% ; net profit was approximately 111 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 71.85% . Revenue mainly came from pet traction equipment, pet snacks and pet injection molded toys . Thanks to the healthy development of the downstream market, Yuanfei Pet's performance has shown a steady upward trend and has successfully entered the capital market. Tianyuan Pets According to the China Securities Regulatory Commission on September 7, Hangzhou Tianyuan Pet Products Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Tianyuan Pet") has passed the registration and is preparing to be listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's Growth Enterprise Market, with plans to raise 590 million yuan. According to the prospectus, during the reporting period, Tianyuan Pet's main business revenue mainly came from the sales of pet beds, cat climbing frames, pet toys and other products. Among them, the cat climbing frame and pet toy business revenue reached 403 million yuan and 368 million yuan respectively , accounting for 22.94% and 23.25%, accounting for half of the main business revenue. As the overseas pet-related industries are relatively mature, Tianyuan Pet mainly focuses on international export business during the reporting period. In 2019, 2020 and 2021, the proportion of Tianyuan Pet's overseas sales revenue to its main business revenue was 90.94%, 74.08% and 72.31% respectively . However, although the Chinese pet toy market has gradually entered a stage of rapid development, compared with the mature overseas pet product market, there are still multiple barriers for domestic pet toy brands to truly break through in exports.
How can China’s pet toys break through the market? A pet industry insider once shared in a public channel that: "Currently, most domestic brands do not have real R&D and innovation capabilities." In China's pet toy industry, OEM sales risks and product homogeneity are common. Domestic pet product manufacturers, including Yuanfei Pet and Tianyuan Pet mentioned above, mainly focus on export and OEM sales, with only a small amount of their own brand products sold. Given the continued vigorous growth of the global pet toy market, cross-border sellers who want to delve into pet toy exports need to pay attention to the following key trends: Traffic Breakthrough - Exploring the Potential of Social Media Promotion Entering the Internet era, "Internet traffic-monetization" has become a business development trend, but with the intensification of competition, the current traffic dividend has long passed the wild growth period, and the same is true for the pet toy track. Chongheng, a cross-border e-commerce brand specializing in pet products, mentioned: "The marketing costs of many pet brands going overseas are constantly rising. How to achieve a higher conversion rate is a common problem faced by the industry." In this situation, the social media traffic track with increasingly considerable traffic and low entry barriers has entered the sight of pet cross-border sellers. Data shows that in addition to Amazon, the vast majority of pet owners also like to search for pet supplies through social media channels such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Earlier this year, TikTok successfully made Nina Ottosson's brand of pet products popular, making its three pet toys, namely food leaking balls, mobile treasure boxes and dog entertainment centers, successful bestsellers on Amazon and receiving more than 40,000 five-star reviews . Nowadays, pets dominate major social media platforms. Pet videos or photos can be seen everywhere on social platforms such as TikTok, Ins and Youtube, and cute and interesting pet-related content receives considerable traffic.
For cross-border sellers of pet toys, social media promotion undoubtedly has the potential to become a key marketing link. Product breakthrough - quality and appearance go hand in hand In the past two years, young people have become the main force in pet ownership. With the increasing trend of humanized pet raising, the improvement of the status of pets in families and the rise of animal protectionism, the consumption concepts of young pet owners have become more high-end. In addition to paying more and more attention to the quality of pet products, they have also begun to pursue higher-level aesthetic needs. In the pet toy market, product quality is the first factor that pet owners pay attention to, and product appearance is the decisive factor in determining whether a pet toy can become a hit. Take the domestic pet products brand ZEZE as an example. Its annual sales in overseas markets exceed 200 million yuan , which is closely related to the fact that its product design pays more attention to appearance and is loved by young pet owners. For example, the unicorn and giraffe-shaped cat climbing frames launched by ZEZE in 2020, with their romantic and fairy-tale-like shapes, have hit the aesthetic tastes of pet owners and have been a success overseas. Creative breakthrough - Chinese style enhances brand recognition iiMedia analysts mentioned that brands need to grasp the emotional demands of consumers, resonate with young people in cultural values, co-create content of interest with users, and strategically "encircle" the consumption chain in order to grasp the core of young people's emotional value needs. In the current pet toy market where product homogeneity is rampant, innovation is undoubtedly the key factor in attracting consumers to buy. For Chinese brands, if they want to create a unique brand image and enhance brand recognition, taking advantage of the national trend is undoubtedly a good choice. As the quality of domestic products improves, China's younger generation (especially Generation Z), as the main consumer group, has demonstrated strong confidence and cultural self-confidence, and young overseas consumers' recognition of Chinese brands is also increasing. Take the domestic pet toy brand "MoWa" at the 2019 Asia Pet Show as an example. It became the focus of the exhibition with a set of pet toys with a full "Chinese style" based on the ancient Chinese mythology book "Shan Hai Jing". Not only did the 70,000 products of the "Shan Hai Jing" series sold out in one day, but there were also foreign customers who wanted to buy out the patents of this series. It can be seen how popular Chinese-style pet toys are in the international market. As domestic consumption continues to heat up, Chinese-style pet toys are expected to usher in an era of rapid expansion , which is undoubtedly one of the best creative choices for pet toy export sellers to enhance brand recognition.
iiMedia analysts mentioned that brands need to grasp the emotional demands of consumers, resonate with young people in cultural values, co-create content of interest with users, and strategically "encircle" the consumption chain in order to grasp the core of young people's emotional value needs. The birth of pet toys not only meets the emotional needs of pets to a certain extent, but also plays a role in deepening the interaction and emotional connection between pets and their owners. As pet owners' spiritual needs for pet companionship become increasingly prominent, pet toys, driven by the continued sublimation of human-pet emotions, undoubtedly have immeasurable market growth potential. However, looking at the foreign market, the pet toy market is relatively mature, and it is difficult for domestic sellers to enter the market. Under this circumstance, grasping the industry trend, exploring new market ideas, and strategically "encircling" the consumer chain may become the key hub for Chinese sellers to break out of the siege. |
