US Pet Industry

• According the American Pet Products Association, in 2018, the market size was $90.5 million.

• In 2019, the market size was $95.7 million.
• The 2020 market size was estimated to be $99 million (pre-pandemic estimation).
• The overall industry is expected to have a 5.9% CAGR from 2020 to 2026. The services segment will have an 8.8% CAGR.
• When talking about the boarding sector, it is grouped together with grooming, training, and care. Over the past 5 years, this sector was the fastest growing in the industry. With more and more owners considering their pets as family, it’s rise is driven by interest in pampering and specialty services for furry family members. Brands that offer premium services may see further gains.
• More than $6 billion was spent on boarding and grooming in 2017.

Sector Breakdown- 2019

• Pet Food & Treats- $36.9 billion
• Supplies, Live Animals & OTC Medicine- $19.2 billion
• Vet Care & Product Sales- $29.3 billion

• Other Services — $10.3 billion Other services include boarding, grooming, insurance, training, pet sitting and walking and all services outside of veterinary care.

2019-2020 Statistics

•  63.4 million households owned dogs.
•  42.7 million households owned cats.
•  Average Yearly Spend Per Category:  
• Dogs Cats
• Surgical Vet Visits $426 $214
• Routine Vet $212 $160
• Food $259 $228
• Food Treats $76 $58
• Kennel Boarding $229 $120
• Vitamins $58 $54
• Groomer/Grooming Aids $73 $43
• Toys $48 $31
• By taking the amount of households with dogs and the yearly amount spent on boarding, it can be triangulated that $14.5 billion is spent on boarding, but this number does not fit into the range of overall spending reported in market reports ($10.3 billion in "other" spending). This makes sense as not everyone would use boarding for their pets.

COVID-19 Toll on Market

• According to Packaged Facts, pet services rather than pet products are bearing the brunt of the blow. They predict that the sector should return to normal levels by 2022.
• An April 2020 market prediction puts the overall market at $93.1 billion by 2025, markedly below the pre-pandemic prediction shared above. They go on to state that 10% of that will be spent on grooming and boarding, meaning the $9.31 billion will be spent in 2025.

Results of Initial Research

• A general picture of the market was able to be located along with some initial information regarding the pandemic and its effect on the market. During this initial hour we were unable to locate information that only gave boarding figures, instead these were always grouped with other pet services. Further research might be able to triangulate the number further, but there is no guarantee. It is likely that a breakdown of the typical pet owner that might be inclined to use boarding services could be located, for example, millennials, then extrapolate the numbers along with annual spends to get a yearly boarding figure.
• COVID-19 has had a toll on the market, especially services. It would be beneficial to research this topic further to locate predictions for the market.
• Finally, it would be beneficial to look at trends and drivers in the market as a whole.