by David Sprinkle
November 5, 2025
Autoship/subscription purchasing and direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales address most of the top considerations for consumers in choosing where to buy pet products.
Autoship/subscription purchasing and direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales tick off most of the top considerations for consumers in choosing where to buy pet products, as shown by Packaged Facts’ January 2025 Survey of Pet Owners. These considerations include good value for prices (64%), low prices (48%), product quality available (48%), and convenience in shopping/buying (47%).
Subscription purchasing – which Chewy and Amazon promoted early and often – forges a sturdier business base and stronger relationships with customers. The higher the share of subscription sales that a retailer has, the less it needs to rely on attracting purchasers through other means. Once a base of subscription customers is established, the focus becomes engaging with high-value customers – those who will provide long-term, consistent streams of revenue – while the company anticipates and leverages their purchasing patterns through use of shopper analytics.
In its Q2 2025 financials (September 10, 2025), Chewy reports that autoship represented 83% of net sales. Packaged Facts January 2025 survey data show that, among those who buy pet products online, 49% have used automatic subscriptions for any of these purchases, and 20% have subscriptions specifically for pet food.
An additional question is whether, how soon, and how significantly the direct-to-consumer (DTC) trend might upset the autoship apple cart. Depending on the manufacturer’s scale, operations, and business priorities, offering direct-to-consumer purchasing can be a tempting alternative to subscription purchasing through retailers and e-tailers. The recurring characteristic that drives subscription success – a consumer’s sticky and simplifying decision to purchase the same product(s) on a set schedule – could therefore be the soft underbelly of the subscription strategy.
Along with prescription pet medications, direct-to-consumer distribution has especially aligned with newer or more niche products in the pet industry, including fresh pet food, CBD supplements, and diagnostic cat litter. Packaged Facts January 2025 survey data show 36% of pet product shoppers having used DTC in the last 12 months for any type of pet product.
During the upcoming years, expect to see more manufacturers and marketers adding subscription/DTC options to their arsenal, lured by the potential of closer relationships with consumers, better margins, and potentially increased product affordability. For brick & mortar retailers as well as e-tailers, the impact will be an even more cutthroat competitive environment.
Want to learn more? Check out the Packaged Facts Pet Knowledge Center, your resource for in-depth pet market intelligence.
About the blogger: The former publisher and research director at Packaged Facts, a division of the Freedonia Group, David Sprinkle continues as market analyst as part of the Packaged Facts pet market team. His research focuses on pet population trends, pet owner demographics, pet industry retail/e-tail trends, and veterinary services. Sprinkle also provides monthly columns to Pet Care Weekly and to Petfood Industry, along with contributions to trade publications including PETS International and The Fountain Report. He has presented extensively at pet & vet market conferences, including Global Pet Expo, GlobalPETS Forum, Petfood Forum, VMX, the NAVC Veterinary Innovation & eCommerce Summit, and the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor Market Insight Seminar.
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