China News Service, Yinchuan, November 12 (Yang Di) For Qi Siya, a "post-90s" girl, the double 11 just past is different from previous years. In order to welcome the pet dog "Black Bean" that has arrived not long ago, she has Spend more than 1,000 yuan on pet products (RMB, the same below).
Qi Siya told reporters on the 12th that she purchased dog food, dog changing mats, dog toys, dog shampoo and other pet supplies on Double 11 this year. "In my opinion, these pet supplies are also indispensable."
According to data, during the "Double 11" period, the sales of pet products were good, and the sales of pet food and supplies on Taobao and Tmall increased by more than 100%; on JD.com, the pet category became the TOP5 growth rate of transaction volume on the first day of Double 11, a year-on-year increase of over 3.5 Double, sales in the first 40 minutes have exceeded the entire day of last year.
A pet cat under careful care.
Photo courtesy of respondents
In fact, the "pet economy" has maintained a vigorous development momentum in recent years.
According to the White Paper on China's Pet Industry in 2019, the number of pet dogs and cats in China in 2019 was close to 100 million, and the urban pet dog and cat consumption market reached 202.4 billion yuan, an overall increase of 18.5% over last year.
Different from the past demands of keeping pets in nursing homes, people are now more willing to treat pets as family members.
"Cats are like my children. They accompany me in their spare time. When they see it, they will feel better." Pet cat owner Siyao (pseudonym) said that she felt the witness and companionship during the process of raising cats. Another joy of life growth.
The transformation of pet roles and positioning has also contributed to the improvement of pet consumption ability.
A staff member of a pet hospital told reporters that now people are more willing to spend money on pets to see a doctor. When the hospital is busiest, you have to wait in line to see a doctor.
The aforementioned white paper also shows that in 2019, China's per capita annual consumption of a single pet dog reached 6,082 yuan, and the per capita annual consumption of a single pet cat was 4755 yuan.
People are more willing to treat pets as family members.
Photo by Yang Di
"The'pet economy' is essentially a typical lonely economy or emotional economy." Feng Jiao, deputy dean of the School of Economics and Management of Ningxia University, said that pet feeding behavior reflects people's "pursuit of individuality, dismissal of loneliness, escape from complexity, and desire for love. Behind the psychological activities such as "and be loved" are often reflected the inner demands and spiritual consumption of "being alone but not alone" and "eager for companionship".
Feng Jiao analyzed that pet feeding is a special emotional need under the trend of miniaturization of family scale and simplification of family structure, and it is also a way of emotional regulation naturally derived from workplace survival and life pressure in the process of urbanization.
With the shrinking of the inter-group space and the improvement of the quality of life, people’s spiritual aspirations are gradually escalating, and strong emotional sustenance is often injected into pets. “'In the past, you called your son a dog, but now you call a dog a son.' A true portrayal of an act."
Nowadays, the "pet economy" has sprung up, especially online consumption is extremely hot, and derivative demand is becoming increasingly diversified.
Feng Jiao believes that the deep-seated reason behind this unique economic phenomenon lies in the current changes in China's economic and social structure, especially the transformation of the younger generation's lifestyle, upgrading of consumption concepts and changes in behavior patterns.
"Behind the prosperity of the'pet economy', there are continuous consumption momentum and emotional appeals. The future market has a huge imagination and there should be a lot to do." Feng Jiao said.
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