Page 19 - PET worldwide issue 04/2021

physical store like other brands, natural or holistic ingredients, the opportunity to purchase at
which have developed their prod- or premium alternatives, are traditional shops, a lot of them
ucts and opened stores to sell permeating the market. Another are now used to online shopping,
them, however. It has relied on trend is a growing awareness which is fast and convenient. A
e-commerce and its main point of pet adoption, an important visible tactic is that some online
of sale is Amazon. In some cities factor when considering the re- retailers, such as Amazon and
there are also stores that sell its gion has a high number of street Petco, offer a special discount
products, such as supermarkets dogs and cats. In terms of vol- price for online purchases, a very
and self-service stores. ume, the Latin American market appealing strategy. Undoubt-
is currently nearly the size of the edly, a good step for any new
US market, amounting to more product in the pet food indus-
than 7 million tons in 2021. Its try are e-commerce sales and a
growth is expected to be steady. good marketing strategy. It is no
Not only are the consumers open longer necessary to have physi-
to investing more in the wellbe- cal stores. With e-commerce,
ing of their pets, but the region everywhere in the world is ac-
is self-sufficient in the produc- cessible.
tion of raw materials commonly It has already been proven that
used in the production of pet Latin America offers a great op-
food, such as corn. portunity for growth and invest-
In Mexico, premium pet food e- ment. Consumers and brands in
commerce experienced growth this region are adapting to global
of over 100 per cent during trends and online sales are one
2020 as compared to 2019. of the clearest examples. The
The pandemic restrictions defi- Latin American market is wait-
nitely played a role in this, but ing for the arrival of new prod-
Campi has developed its own line
of food for dogs and cats. the shift had already started be- ucts through the online market
fore the coronavirus pandemic. – don’t be left out. E-commerce
Just like Campi, many other Even though consumers are no is not going anywhere; it is just
companies in the pet food sec- longer under lockdown and have getting stronger. n
tor are beginning to enter the
world’s markets through e-com-
merce. It is a way to make them-
selves known, especially through
making use of platforms already
recognised and trusted by thou-
sands of users, such as Amazon
and Mercado Libre.

What about the
immediate future?
The Latin American pet food
market has amazing potential.
Global trends, like products with

E-commerce company Mercado
Libre had 378 million registered
users in 2020.

PET worldwide 4|2021 19

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