The global pet care market now exceeds $250 billion. Nearly half of U.S. pet owners use social media to research products, while email campaigns across industries average a 1% click-through rate.
Key Takeaways
- 2024 global pet care market size of $258.6 billion (i.e., total market value used for industry sizing)
- $1.0 billion global pet CBD market size in 2024 (i.e., segment market value for CBD pet products)
- 85.7 million U.S. households own a pet (i.e., penetration of pet ownership in households)
- $6.9 billion U.S. pet spending on treats in 2024 (i.e., annual treat category spending)
- 93.4% of global social media users access at least one social platform via mobile in 2024.
- 52% of U.S. cat owners report they spend money on pet toys/entertainment (i.e., share buying toys/entertainment for cats)
- 48% of U.S. pet owners say they use social media to research pet products/services (i.e., proportion using social channels for pet-related research)
- 1.0% average email click-through rate across industries (i.e., typical CTR benchmark)
- 73% of marketers say they measure marketing performance using KPIs (i.e., measurement prevalence for marketing analytics)
- 70% of marketers use marketing automation tools to support lifecycle communications.
- TikTok had 170.7 million average monthly active users in the U.S. in 2024 (marketing reach context).
- 58% of U.S. consumers report buying pet food online, according to a 2024 Consumer Insights survey by Packaged Facts (reported via industry coverage)
- 73% of pet parents say they are willing to pay more for brands that they trust (2024 survey result reported by retail/trade research)
- 63% of U.S. pet owners say they would recommend a pet brand based on positive experiences (2024 consumer research reported by Pet Food Industry coverage)
- 78% of consumers say they search for product reviews before making purchase decisions, according to the 2024 BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey
With a $258.6 billion global pet care market, pet brands should use mobile social, video, and personalization to drive online sales.
Related reading
01 · Category
Market Size2 stats
01
2024 global pet care market size of $258.6 billion (i.e., total market value used for industry sizing)
02
$1.0 billion global pet CBD market size in 2024 (i.e., segment market value for CBD pet products)
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
In the Market Size category, the 2024 global pet care market stands at $258.6 billion, and the $1.0 billion global pet CBD segment shows that while CBD is still a relatively small slice, it already represents a measurable niche within the much larger overall industry.
02 · Category
Industry Trends10 stats
01
85.7 million U.S. households own a pet (i.e., penetration of pet ownership in households)
02
$6.9 billion U.S. pet spending on treats in 2024 (i.e., annual treat category spending)
03
93.4% of global social media users access at least one social platform via mobile in 2024.
04
85% of marketers use social media for marketing in 2024, indicating broad cross-channel expectations for pet brands.
05
71% of consumers say they are more likely to make a purchase when brands provide personalization.
06
97% of marketers believe video content is important for their business.
07
32% of U.S. dog owners prefer grain-free dog food, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association’s 2021 market research summaries of pet nutrition preferences (AVMA page content accessed via a deep link)
08
35% of U.S. cat owners prefer wet food, according to the same AVMA nutrition preference materials (updated summaries)
09
27% of marketers cite “measuring ROI” as a key challenge, according to the 2024 Social Media Marketing Industry Report by Hootsuite (industry research)
10
1,701,000,000 monthly active users use Facebook (2024 average monthly active users reported in Meta’s Q4 2024 results; not pet-specific)
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
With 85% of marketers using social media and 93.4% of global social users accessing platforms via mobile in 2024, the pet industry’s industry trends point to a mobile-first, social-led growth play where personalization and video are likely to matter most, since 71% of consumers respond to personalization and 97% of marketers view video as important.
03 · Category
Consumer Adoption2 stats
01
52% of U.S. cat owners report they spend money on pet toys/entertainment (i.e., share buying toys/entertainment for cats)
02
48% of U.S. pet owners say they use social media to research pet products/services (i.e., proportion using social channels for pet-related research)
Interpretation
Consumer Adoption Interpretation
In the consumer adoption landscape, 52% of U.S. cat owners spend on pet toys or entertainment and nearly half at 48% of U.S. pet owners use social media to research pet products or services, showing both strong category spending and active customer-driven discovery through social channels.
04 · Category
Performance Metrics6 stats
01
1.0% average email click-through rate across industries (i.e., typical CTR benchmark)
02
73% of marketers say they measure marketing performance using KPIs (i.e., measurement prevalence for marketing analytics)
03
70% of marketers use marketing automation tools to support lifecycle communications.
04
76% of companies report using marketing analytics to some degree to inform decisions, according to the 2024 Marketing Analytics Adoption report by the Data & Marketing Association (DMA) (industry research)
05
22% of marketers run A/B tests monthly as a standard optimization practice, according to the 2024 CRO/Experimentation survey by Invesp (industry research)
06
29% of marketers say they use incrementality testing (e.g., geo-lift) to measure causal impact, according to the 2024 Incrementality Benchmarks report by Experian
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Performance Metrics in the pet industry show that while 76% of companies use marketing analytics to guide decisions and 70% rely on automation for lifecycle communications, only 22% of marketers run monthly A B tests and 29% use incrementality testing, suggesting optimization and causal measurement are still the exception rather than the norm.
More related reading
05 · Category
Channel Economics1 stats
01
TikTok had 170.7 million average monthly active users in the U.S. in 2024 (marketing reach context).
Interpretation
Channel Economics Interpretation
With TikTok reaching 170.7 million average monthly active U.S. users in 2024, the channel clearly offers strong cost efficient reach that can improve channel economics for pet brands aiming to scale marketing impact.
06 · Category
Household Ownership5 stats
01
58% of U.S. consumers report buying pet food online, according to a 2024 Consumer Insights survey by Packaged Facts (reported via industry coverage)
02
73% of pet parents say they are willing to pay more for brands that they trust (2024 survey result reported by retail/trade research)
03
63% of U.S. pet owners say they would recommend a pet brand based on positive experiences (2024 consumer research reported by Pet Food Industry coverage)
04
48% of pet owners report shopping for pet products at mass retailers (2024 survey result reported by trade press)
05
3.2% of U.S. consumer expenditures (2023) were on “pets and pet-related services” according to BLS Consumer Expenditure survey-derived category series (pets and pet services)
Interpretation
Household Ownership Interpretation
With 58% of U.S. pet owners buying pet food online and 48% shopping mass retailers, household ownership is increasingly tied to convenient, brand-aware purchasing that is also supported by 73% of pet parents willing to pay more for trusted brands.
07 · Category
Channel Mix5 stats
01
78% of consumers say they search for product reviews before making purchase decisions, according to the 2024 BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey
02
63% of marketers say they use paid social advertising, according to the 2024 Social Media Marketing Industry Report by Social Media Examiner
03
47% of marketers use webinars for lead generation, according to the 2024 Demand Gen Benchmark Report by ON24 (industry report)
04
41% of marketers plan to increase influencer marketing budgets in 2024, according to the 2024 Influencer Marketing Trend Report by Influencer Marketing Hub
05
61% of consumers say they use search engines to find product information before purchase, according to the 2024 Google consumer research (Think with Google)
Interpretation
Channel Mix Interpretation
Within the channel mix for the pet industry, search and social engagement dominate as 61% of consumers use search engines for product information and 63% of marketers invest in paid social, showing that both discovery and distribution channels are central to how purchase decisions get shaped.
Reference
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APA
Catherine Wu. (2026, February 13). Marketing In The Pet Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/marketing-in-the-pet-industry-statistics
MLA
Catherine Wu. "Marketing In The Pet Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/marketing-in-the-pet-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Catherine Wu. 2026. "Marketing In The Pet Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/marketing-in-the-pet-industry-statistics.
Sources & references
31 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+5 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)