Why Pet Brands need to target China in Priority – Update 2020
Why China’s pet market is a good choice for foreign brands:
- The number of dogs and cats reached 99.15 million in 2019.
- By November 2019, the market of pet related business in China reached 202.4 billion yuan.
- China is the third largest pet market in the world.
- Foreign brands are perceived as reliable and premium in China.
- Among various criteria, owners first care about product quality, what other people say about product quality, and the price.
- For Chinese pet owners the most interesting services are cleaning, beauty care and vaccinations.
In the past, having a pet in China was seen as an expensive gift that only rich can afford, but today Chinese owners are increasing their spending related to pets and the number will only continue. The number of dogs and cats, the most commonly kept pets in China, reached 99.15 million last year and the country is now the third-largest pet-owing country after the United States and Japan.
The industry is booming in China
According to Statista, China’s pet market size reached RMB 202.4 billion and it is estimated that from 2010 to 2020 the average annual growth rate will be 33 percent.
Many Chinese who have a pet are from the middle class because they have spare time and money, it is even on many young people’s wish list once they become financially independent. However, the trend is changing in China.
Tang Yahan, an Exotic Shorthair cat’s owner said: “A lot of the middle class have pets, but there are many poor people who own cats and dogs, and also feed stray animals in their neighborhoods. It is more your love for those little one that makes you a pet owner.”
Indeed, 20-35-year-old owners represent 73.2 percent. It means that the large part of pet owners is not retired people who have spare time. These young pet owners even treat their pet as their kids.
Chinese have passion for pets
99.8 percent of Chinese pet owners are willing to spend money on goods such as food, training, vaccinations, neutering and going to the vet.
The past few years the pet food market changed a lot in China. Before dogs were fed with human food, but later pet owners decided that dogs should eat dog food with high-quality food that is good for their health. One of the most high-quality pet food brands in China is Royal Canin with an average price of RMB 70 per kilogram.
“Natural pet food” now has a 24 percent market share and this is growing at a rate of 55 percent year-on-year. However, Chinese are also interested in other services for their pets. Indeed, 41 percent owners take their dog to a beauty salon, 25 percent pay to have professionals wash their pets, and 4.5 percent have even booked a photo shoot.
Jiang Yuxuan, the pet beauty director at Naughty Family, one of Shanghai’s most in-demand pet salon and private clinic said: “Spa services, from manicures to hairstyling are very popular. We style 40 pets on average per day, although during the holiday season that number can go up to 60 or 70. We are always very busy.” Pets are now considered as part of the Chinese family and this market is increasing quickly.
Important information to develop your pet brand in China
The Chinese consumer very connected to Internet. They are willing to make a lot of purchase online because e-commerce is very developed in China, from the delivery service to after sales services, the process has been continually performing. Nowadays, Chinese consumers have a huge appetite for foreign products and e-commerce platforms have become the channels of choices for Chinese shoppers looking to purchase such items. The market is leaded mainly by the group Alibaba with its Taobao and TMALL platforms, the company JD, and some pet community website, such as Yourpet.
You Pet Group is an innovative enterprise focusing on online mobile pet comprehensive services. Yourpet’s current business involves pet online communities (APP), pet offline services, pet e-commerce, pet movies, pet smart devices and pet games. Yourpet has entered third-party e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, Tmall and JD.com.
Working with those platforms can help you to boost your brand awareness, because those online places are meeting point of Chinese pet lovers. So the presence of your brand can gain Chinese consumer’s confidence and persuade them to buy your products.
Social media builds your brand awareness
The more your target consumers see your products, the more they are willing to buy it. You have to increase your brand and product exposure among Chinese consumers. Social media platforms are the best new marketing tools to reach your future clients. One of the social media the most used in China is WeChat. This app is originally a messaging app, but now it is much more than just a messaging platform.
WeChat integrates mobile payment, online games, e-commerce and many others. WeChat, with more than 1.2 billion users, has created WeChat mini-program that allow users to open other social network and e-commerce platform without downloading.
Weibo is an open social platform that is very popular in China. It is also an efficient way to promote brands by engaging KOLs or influential bloggers. KOLs can assist through content creation, online marketing campaigns, or live-streaming. They have their own follower bases and their opinions and suggestions are considered credible and informed. Sharing company information or launching campaigns with bloggers on Weibo can raise your brand awareness, attract new followers to your brand, and contribute to brand credibility.
We can help you to create an official account that allows you to make post and discuss with your followers. This is a good way to create connection. It permits creating leads generation thanks to a good content. We can help you with a good strategy to reach the highest number of users. You can also put ads on this app in some mini programs such as games.
A strong branding strategy is crucial for your brand
Your brand image is crucial for your success. For Chinese market, the most important is the quality, Chinese consumer care about products quality due to several scandals happened in China. So you need to reflect this point in your communication. As a foreign brand, you can easily be considered as a premium brand that proposes a product of good qualities.
Your website can be a good way to transfer your brand image. Since Chinese customers look for brand news and products reviews on Internet to make sure the product is of good quality. The website needs to be well-designed and in Chinese because it is your portal between your brand and your targets. Once you have your website, you can combine Baidu SEO with your website to increase awareness and get credibility.
The pet market has big growth potential in China. For more information, please contact us. We are professional in Chinese marketing with both Western marketing specialists and Chinese ones. Our services and the strategy are leading in the market, we can assist you until your brand succeeds in China.
My Company is searching for Pet Brands for Europe, Australian and north America to resell in China. We provide logistics, Storage and distribution network, the Brand need to be Popular in China.
Contact me
Hi Michel,
We will add you to our distributor list. 😉
Have a nice day
I knew that the pet market was booming in China but not that much! Numbers are really impressive, it is a great opportunity