Young people have brought earth-shaking changes to the pet industry
"It" economy is booming: everything is expensive with the word "pet"
Recently, Zhou Qi took the kitten Liangliang to the animal hospital every day.
"Liangliang is ill, and I have to do it for two weeks. I can't bear to let it be hospitalized, so I have to accompany it every day." Zhou Qi said.
Pao always remembered the specific time when he bought back the dog Coke. "It was April 30, 2011. As soon as I walked into the pet shop near my unit, a little Teddy circled me around, and always wanted to pick me up. My trouser legs, maybe this is fate. Ten years later, Coke has accompanied me through all stages of life from being single to getting married to having a baby."
Bichon Fubao, who is almost one year old, was a gift from a friend to Irene. "Last year, I fell ill and felt down. Fubao was bought by a friend to comfort me. Now I can't live without it."
According to data from the White Paper on China's Pet Industry in 2020, the number of dogs and cats in cities and towns across the country will exceed 100 million in 2020, an increase of 1.7% over 2019.
Among those who raise pets, the post-80s and post-90s accounted for 36.2% and 38.1% respectively. Young people are still the main crowd in the current and future consumer market.
More and more young people love keeping pets, and young entrepreneurs have brought about earth-shaking changes to the pet industry.
Emotional fetters also affect the career choice of pet owners
The "encounter" between Zhou Qi and Cat Liangliang happened in the street park in front of her home. It took a long time to come over, and I was really worried that I didn't see it appear one day. This year, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, I took it home."
Zhou Qi takes good care of kittens, "If my grandmother's generation knows this, they will definitely be unhappy. They think that raising cats and dogs is for practical purposes, so you don't need to be too "wandering."" Zhou Qi said.
Qiu Chunlong, the founder of Chongheyuan Animal Hospital, has been in the field of animal diagnosis and treatment for many years. He noticed that in recent years, as the population of pet raising has become younger, the concept of raising pets has also undergone great changes.
“In the past, raising a dog was used to visit the nursing home, but now it’s different. Pets often carry the owner’s emotions. For example, we once received an elderly golden retriever dog with a tumor on its abdomen, in order to get it With better medical conditions, the owner specially brought it to Beijing for surgery. Considering that it is older and weaker, we arranged for doctors to monitor and treat after the operation. The owner was still worried and stayed in a hotel near the hospital. In this case, pets are like family members." Qiu Chunlong said.
Xiaomi, the founder of JM Pet Dim Sum, feels the same way.
Compared with other foods, cakes are often given a sense of ritual, and pet cakes are no exception. Xiaomi has personally experienced the moments of emotional expression of pet owners.
“Some young customers don’t want to celebrate their birthdays by themselves. They buy a pet cake for their dog, which is considered as a companion. Another time, a customer asked me if I could send a cake to the animal hospital as soon as possible. The dog was dying. At that time, there was only one ordered cake. I told the customer who ordered the cake. He immediately agreed to send the cake to the hospital first. After all, I also have 5 dogs and 1 cat. Everyone can understand the feeling of not wanting to leave regrets." Xiaomi said.
It is worth noting that the deepening of the emotional bond with pets is also affecting the career choices of pet owners.
According to the data from the Blue Book of China's Pet Industry in 2020, 50% of pet retail stores (excluding animal hospitals) participating in the survey are under the age of 30, and 61% like pets and keep pets for many years.
Qiu Chunlong also has two dogs. He has done statistics in the hospital. More than half of his colleagues have pets. "Many young people choose this profession on the premise of emotion. To be honest, they don’t like animals. This line does not last long."
The track is refined, and the needs of pet owners are turned upside down
As the main force of pet owners, young people have driven the vigorous development of the pet economy.
As a member of the main force, Zhou Qi once calculated an account, "In addition to Liangliang, there is also a fold-ear cat named Lunlu, a bag of 12 catties of cat food, they almost finished eating in two months, 28 A liter of cat litter will reach the end in 3 months, plus the expenses for vaccinations, medical treatments, and supplies. Two cats will cost 6000 yuan a year for less."
According to the "White Paper on China's Pet Industry in 2020", China's urban pet (dog and cat) consumer market will reach 206.5 billion yuan in 2020, an increase of 2% over 2019.
From pet breeding, to pet food and supplies consumption, to pet medical, funeral and other services, the pet industry has covered all aspects of pet life.
According to the data from the enterprise search, there are 965,000 existing "pet products" related companies in my country, and 312,400 newly registered companies in the first half of 2021, a year-on-year increase of 150.5%.
Xiaomi has opened pet retail stores in Guangzhou, Zhuhai and other cities. She used "turning upside down" to describe the new changes in the consumer demand of pet owners in recent years.
"A few years ago, when customers came to buy dog food, the first sentence was'Which is the cheapest'. Now this sentence has become'Which is the best.' In the past, the owner didn't have the awareness of modeling pets. The shorter the better. Now most customers know that pet groomers are divided into three gears ABC, and the ones who choose C are the least." Xiaomi said.
The upgrading of consumer demand has also prompted the further segmentation of the industry.
Stella, the principal of "Meow+", has also noticed this trend. "The younger generation of pet families treat pets as family members, hoping to give them family-like care. Traditional pet shops are all cats and dogs business together, and the market is uneven. , The professionalism of the practitioners is not high enough. In fact, there is a big difference in the needs and behaviors of the two animals, both in terms of the environment and the setting of the service process."
In 2019, Stella founded the pet cat service brand "Meow+", and its business involved purebred cat breeding, cat fur conditioning, butler service, cat hotel, pet lifestyle and other sectors.
Taking into account the cat's sensitivity to the environment, the flow of people, sounds, and smells, as well as the situation that is particularly prone to stress due to environmental changes, Stella chose the store to be located in a secluded location at the exit of a community on the North East Fourth Ring Road in Beijing.
"From a commercial point of view, opening a store requires a flow of people, and what we pay attention to is ping efficiency. The location of a traditional pet store will focus on shopping malls or communities with dense flow of people, but since we are committed to the segment of professional cat services, We need to respect animal welfare, so everything is based on the needs of cats. Now our customers are the furthest from Yanjiao. It can be seen that the needs of the younger generation of pet owners for pet services are changing. This small track is still There is a lot of market space." Stella said.
Why is everything expensive when the word "pet" is touched
Enter the word "pet" on social platforms, and you can always see the question: Why are pet-related things so expensive?
Irene feels very much about this. "Every item is not cheap when the word'pet' is touched. For example, an ordinary stainless steel bowl costs a few dollars, and a dog food bowl adds a non-slip strip under the bowl, and the price rises. It's dozens of dollars."
On the e-commerce platform, the classification of dog food bowls is more detailed: there are bowls with tilted neck protectors, temperature-adjustable heating bowls, double bowls with water, and smart bowls...dog bowls The appearance is also more "cute pet" cute route.
In terms of price performance, smart water feeders are mostly in the two to three hundred yuan gear, and functional dog food bowls without smart elements are priced around 100 yuan.
In Zhou Qi's view, in the face of the colorful and diverse pet surroundings, on the basis of rational consumption and living within your means, appropriate purchase of pet products that please your pet is also a way to adjust your life. "Of course, not harming pets is a prerequisite."
Pets are expensive to see a doctor, which is also a headache for many young people.
"My Coke has a heart disease, and medical expenses are the bulk of it, accounting for 50% of annual expenses." Bubble said.
Zhou Qi's reel used to have urinary tract surgery. "The operation fee plus postoperative adjustment cost more than 10,000 yuan in 2017. A while ago, he got cholecystitis and spent nearly 2,000 yuan.".
Irene’s feelings are quite representative. “Every time you go to the animal hospital, you have to be prepared to spend a small four digits. It’s really expensive. If your pet is uncomfortable, just think about it, and don’t care about anything else. It's up".
Regarding the expensive medical treatment of pets, Qiu Chunlong believes that, on the one hand, with the rapid development of the pet economy, the pet industry is gradually becoming "personalized". The performance of animal diagnosis and treatment is the continuous refinement of departments and medical equipment.
“In the past, an animal clinic might have a doctor and a stethoscope. Now it’s completely different. A 300-square-meter hospital like ours has internal medicine, surgery, orthopedics, imaging, emergency and intensive care and anesthesia specialists, and equipment It must be equipped with auxiliary equipment and decoration. The cost alone is two to three million yuan, and the cost pressure is very high."
On the other hand, there is a big difference between pets and humans.
“Pets can’t speak, and medical treatment must be conducted through accurate and standardized medical technology procedures. Generally speaking, our hospital will first conduct medical history and physical examinations on pets, and then perform corresponding examinations based on the abnormalities found, and then judge the condition of the disease based on the comprehensive examination results. In this process, relieving the anxiety of pet owners is also a very important step. Many people will unconsciously compare their experience of seeing a doctor. At this time, we will tell them the treatment plan step by step, such as Why do pets have to undergo this examination, what is the necessity of this operation, and what is the charging situation? The examination and treatment should be started on the basis of the other party’s understanding.” Qiu Chunlong said.
Qiu Chunlong believes that in the current animal diagnosis and treatment field, there are still "pain points" such as insufficient medical resources and insufficient industry standards. As a result, the cost of medicines is much higher than that of human medicines. In entrepreneurial hospitals like ours, the bargaining power of medicines is even more limited, and the price of medicines is higher than that of large chain hospitals."
The "it" economy is relatively narrow, and standards and norms have yet to be improved
A handmade 4-inch pet cake in the Xiaomi store is priced at 258 yuan.
"People often ask me whether pet baking is a profiteering industry. In fact, the profit is not high. When new things first appeared, the price was always a little bit more expensive. One is that mass production has not yet been achieved, and the price of labor is also relatively high. Like our store I hired two pet bakers, each with a monthly salary of 10,000 yuan. In order to attract young people, the store opened in Sanlitun. The monthly rent and labor expenses were nearly 40,000 yuan, plus 300,000 yuan in the initial investment. At present, the shop has not paid back its cost.” Xiaomi said.
According to Xiaomi, pet bakers are currently quite "hot demand" in the industry. "This business has just started and there is a shortage of talents. Several pet-friendly restaurants and hotels in Beijing are cooperating with us for pet cakes."
More than two years in business, the "Miao+" brand has more than 300 members.
"The initial deposit amount for members of our shop is 5,000 yuan. Frankly speaking, this price may be the upper limit of the member recharge of some community pet shops, but because everything is from the point of view of cats, from the initial design to the materials and the service time The cost is much higher than that of a traditional pet shop, and the profit is not as high as everyone thinks. It has been operating for nearly a year after the epidemic to achieve profitability." Stella said.
"The coexistence of consumption stratification, high-end and rationalization is a characteristic of current pet consumption. At the product price level, there is indeed a certain premium. The main reason is that compared with the human economy, the pet economy is in the early stage of industrial development. With a narrow crowd and a small size, the cost will be allocated to the specific product, which is naturally relatively high." said Li Zhongqi, the dean of the Asia Pet Research Institute.
According to data from the "Blue Book of China's Pet Industry in 2020", 51% of pet retail stores participating in the survey (excluding animal hospitals) are slightly profitable.
In Li Zhongqi's view, standards and regulations are not yet sound enough, which is a common problem in pet medical and even the entire pet industry. "The market is developing rapidly, and industry regulations and supervision must keep up in a timely manner so that the entire industry can move in a positive direction."
(Baobao, Irene, Zhou Qi, Xiaomi, and Stella in the text are pseudonyms.)
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Li Xuan Source: China Youth Daily