Changes In People’s Pet Accessories Buying Habits Increase Sales
The current recession may be making life difficult for many people, however reports have shown that people in the UK are not cutting back on spending when it comes to buying accessories for their pets. The growth in the pet industry continues to keep its head well above water with many retailers seeing an increase rather than a decrease in sales related to pet accessories.
The most common time to splash out on pets is the holiday season, as such sales of cat father Christmas hats saw record sales last year as people treated their pets to little luxuries and items which enabled the cute little kittens and puppies wearing the traditional style father Christmas hat depicted on many greetings card become a reality in many households!
Whilst some people may think the world has gone completely mad, the trend to spend on animals is great news for the pet accessory suppliers. Dressing pets up is not the only treats pet received over the festive season, sales of stocking themed pet treats rose to over a staggering 300,000 last year.
The trend for people to indulge on their animals whilst they may be cutting back on other areas of spending seems set to continue throughout the year with manufacturers take this opportunity to produce Easter themed treats for cats and dogs along with costumes for Halloween!
It is suggested that one of the reasons for the continued rise in pet accessory sales is due to the way peoples shopping habits have changed by use of the internet. Whilst many people are cutting back on personal luxuries such as going out in the evenings, they are opting to spend their time browsing online. Here they can join forums dedicated to their particular breed of pet to share information or simply chat to other like minded people at a global level, as well as seeing visual images of cat and dog accessories which they believe to either be an essential necessity for the well-being of their furry friend or simply because at the moment it is considered trendy to dress dogs and cats up according to the seasons!
Sites such as YouTube and Face-book have also helped the current trends as people have the ability to share their pet photos with friends and family online, along with TV programmes which show animals getting up to all sorts of tricks which make us laugh!
Maybe at times such as these people do need to look for ways to laugh and cheer themselves up and whilst some people believe the frivolity to be unkind and unnecessary, the sales figures appear to indicate otherwise. The introduction of online pet store style shops, which offer all types of accessories, food and over the counter style medications to rid animals of ticks, fleas and worms has is seen by many as a cost effective way of looking after a pet from the comfort of their armchairs. Those who love their pets will also realise the necessity to look after pets properly, which does not always mean that dressing a pet up is part of the pet’s well being, whereas food, water and exercise are essential for most dogs and many other types of pets.