The petcare market is worth a total £3.4bn in the UK. What’s more, it’s a category on the up, experiencing 11.8% value growth last year, versus 10.1% for total fast moving consumer goods over the same period. In other words, petcare products are growing ahead of the curve when compared to the average on typical core convenience store lines.

Data from the Retail Data Partnership* has revealed where the key growth is being seen in the category. Are these products on your shelves?

Top five petcare lines by units sold

As the top five for units sold figures show, Winalot’s Chicken in Jelly 400g price-marked pack is the best performing line in terms of total units sold, meaning it has the potential to be a solid footfall driver.

The other key message from the top five is that in terms of overall rate of sale, own brand labels dominate petcare products for cats or dogs. Bear this in mind, and investigate the budget and own label options available from your wholesalers.

Read more Pricewatch to get expert product price comparison analysis and retailer insight on all the key products in your store.

Data supplied by the Retail Data Partnership, a specialist data and EPoS supplier committed to serving the independent retail sector.

Top five weekly rate of sale per store for petcare lines by value                 

There are also some hidden opportunities in the petcare category. Euro Shopper Cat Litter 8l has relatively low distribution, in just 46.5% of the surveyed stores, compared to the Winalot line which is stocked in 71%. The larger Euro Shopper cat litter line doesn’t have an especially high rate of sale, but with an average price of £2.89, its earning stores a weekly sales value of £6.63, versus £3.86 for the 4l bag, and £5 for the Winalot Chicken in Jelly line. Bigger bags of cat litter can offer convenience to your shoppers. If you have space to stock them, it could also bring profit to your store.

Similarly, Winalot’s Meaty Chunks in Gravy 12x100g brings an average rate of sale value of £4.30 per store. Not as profitable as the brand’s smaller pack size, perhaps, but it still shows multi-pack lines’ high price point can prove profitable.

The right cat food range

When it comes to cat food, Felix’s Beef 12x100g is the line to notice here. The third best line for total sales value in the category in the store’s surveyed, it is also the top performing cat food both in terms of average sales per store, and the average weekly sales value per store, £4.55.

Again, the convenience of multipacks is important when understanding petcare shopper habits in the convenience channel.

This is reinforced by the top performing Whiskas line, 1 + Poultry Feasts in Jelly 12 x 85g. Although enjoying significantly lower distribution than the Felix line, it’s still competitive in terms of average weekly sales value for those stores that do have it on their shelves, earning £4.28 per week on average.

* Data taken from a survey of  2985. stores, over twelve weeks from 09/10/2023 to 31/12/2023.

To read more data on the top performing petcare lines, pick up a copy of the latest RN.