Compared with domestic e-commerce channels, which are mature and gradually entering the stage of competition for existing users, overseas markets and consumers' preference for online channels is still in the incremental stage.
Recently, the global chain retail giant, Australian national supermarket chain group Coles, announced that it officially launched a new online pet store called Swaggle, which can provide users with products from Royal Canin, Advance, Ivory Coat, Black Hawk, Nexguard Spectra, Lifewise and Hill's Science Diet and other more than 190 pet brands in 100 sub-categories of pet products.
In addition to being an online store, Swaggle also offers pet insurance underwritten and issued by Guild Insurance, as well as free online veterinary advice for all clients who create a pet profile.
In this regard, Chad Burke, the head of Swaggle, publicly stated, "Pets have different needs at all stages of life, and Swaggle's goal is to support pets and pet owners through a range of high-value pet products to meet their needs." ”
In fact, Coles has long been involved in the business layout of the pet sector. In its supermarket layout, the pet food zone has always been one of its core sectors, and even offers customized self-service pet snack options, so consumers can buy their favorite pet food on demand.
In 2021, Coles launched a new premium pet food private label called "Elevate", a range of 19 products that focus on functional pet food concepts and meet the differentiated needs of different users, from digestive support for dogs to hairball and urinary care for cats.
In addition to merchandising, Coles also has a strong focus on pet services. Back in 2015, Coles announced plans to launch a pet insurance service. In May 2020, Coles officially partnered with Guild Insurance to launch a pet insurance service designed to provide pet owners with up to 100% prepaid veterinary bill coverage and other benefits.
It is reported that Coles' pet insurance products are divided into two levels: basic insurance and advanced insurance, which cover common diseases and a wider range of conditions respectively, helping to solve pet owners' concerns about high veterinary fees and unforeseen expenses.
So, why did Coles Group, which has long launched the layout of the pet business, choose to launch a pet e-commerce platform at this time?
Pet industry observers believe that one of the factors may be that the chasing friends have put huge pressure on the Coles Group, so that Coles has to consider a more diversified business development model.
According to public information, Coles is the second largest retailer in Australia, currently with about 840 stores and more than 120,000 employees in Australia, working with more than 8,000 suppliers and serving millions of consumers every week. As of 2022, Coles achieved total revenue of approximately $40.5 billion, accounting for 27.7% of the overall Australian chain retail market.
In addition to Woolworths, which has a better market share of 37%, the German chain retail giant ALDI and the American chain retail giant Costco have also entered the Australian market and won a large market share.
In the face of these powerful friends, Coles wants not to fall behind, and may only be able to develop in a more diversified place while maintaining the fundamentals. And with the layout of online shopping platforms such as Woolworths, Coles naturally has to consider how to occupy more of the right to speak.
On the other hand, while the preference of offline channels is gradually declining, the strong growth of online channels and the booming pet economy may allow Coles to see more new opportunities.
According to a national pet population survey, there are currently about 28.7 million pets in Australia, spread across 6.9 million households, which has exceeded Australia's population of 25.8 million. At the same time, the overall pet market is also continuing to grow at a high rate, with the Australian pet market growing by an average of 4.8% per year between 2018 and 2023. This shows that the pet industry has strong development potential and extremely broad market prospects in Australia.
According to the latest research report recently released by the Australian Animal Drug Association (AMA), most pet products in Australia are currently sold through supermarkets and pet stores. While supermarkets are still the most popular channel for pet food purchases, their popularity is declining. For example, dog owners' willingness to buy pet products in supermarkets has dropped from 74% three years ago to 64% in 2023, while cat owners' channel preference has dropped from 84% to 70%.
In contrast, there is the rapid growth of online retail channels. Take, for example, Pet Circle, Australia's leading online pet retail store, with sales reaching $308.8 million in FY2022, up 16% year-on-year.
After combining these trends, perhaps for Coles, the launch of a pet e-commerce shopping platform can not only chase the general trend of the development of the times, but also roll from offline to online, further widening the gap between Coles and its friends.
But interestingly, it is not only the Coles family that has seen the combination of the pet economy and online channels, but also ALDI and Costco. And ALDI and Costco have both fully entered the Chinese market, while Coles has no more developments to reveal except for entering the JD.com flagship store in 2022.
The Chinese pet market is undoubtedly an important market with a larger scale and faster growth rate in the global pet market in the future. If Coles can't fully enter the market as soon as possible, it is still unknown whether it will be able to hit the market share of a series of giants such as Freshippo, Sam's, ALDI, and Costco in the future.
On the whole, the pet industry observes that compared with the domestic e-commerce channels that are mature and gradually entering the stage of competition for existing users, the preference of overseas markets and consumers for online channels is still in the incremental stage. Therefore, there is still much to be done at this stage to lay out online retail channels for pets. For example, Hills, a global pet prescription food giant, also publicly announced the launch of an online shopping platform a few days ago.
As for where the development of online channels in the global pet industry will go in the future, and what business plans Coles will have in the pet sector, Pet Industry Watch will continue to pay attention. For those who are interested in this topic, please leave a message in the comment area below to discuss, or add a small editor to communicate on WeChat.