DoorDash Teams With Pet Supplies Plus as Aggregators Woo Pooch Parents

With pet parents proving to be a digitally engaged group, often willing to splurge, DoorDash is seizing on the on-demand delivery opportunity to expand consumers’ adoption of its retail offerings.

The nation’s leading aggregator announced Tuesday (Feb. 27) a same-day delivery partnership with Pet Supplies Plus, the United States’ largest independent pet retailer, to deliver on demand from 720 of the chain’s stores.

“Since launching the Pets vertical in 2020, DoorDash has more than 400,000 pet products available for on-demand delivery,” DoorDash VP of New Verticals Fuad Hannon said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to expand our selection further with the addition of Pet Supplies Plus to the Marketplace.”

The aggregator’s Pets arm spans major retailers including Petco and PetSmart. Competitors, too, are looking to get in on the lucrative pet supply eCommerce opportunity, with Uber Eats having added PetSmart to its platform last year, and with Shipt and Instacart also delivering from both Petco and PetSmart.

These efforts to secure consumers’ pet spending come as shoppers prove willing to splurge on their fur babies in ways that they would not for themselves. According to data from the PYMNTS Intelligence study “Consumer Inflation Sentiment Report: Consumers Cut Back by Trading Down,” 33% of shoppers have switched to a less expensive merchant for personal care products, and 32% have downgraded on their snacks, but only 19% of grocery shoppers have switched to less expensive merchants for pet food and supplies.

Additionally, pet parents tend to be highly digitally engaged. Findings from the PYMNTS study last year “Changes in Grocery Shopping Habits and Perception” revealed that only 27% of those who purchase pet supplies primarily do so in physical stores. This share is far lower than the cross-grocery-category average of 44%.

In fact, eCommerce channels are increasingly gaining share from brick-and-mortar pet stores. The PYMNTS Intelligence report “The Replenish Economy: A Household Supply Deep Dive,” which drew from a survey of more than 2,000 U.S. consumers, revealed that among the 15% of retail subscribers participating in Chewy’s Goody Box pet food and toy subscription program, 53% now shop in stores less often, with 11% of participants in the program no longer shopping in stores for these items at all.

Additionally, of the 14% of retail subscribers enrolled in BarkBox, the study found, 43% shop in stores less often, and 2% no longer need to shop in stores.

On Tuesday (Feb. 27), for instance, direct-to-consumer (D2C) meat and seafood brand ButcherBox announced its expansion into pet food, treats and supplements, with its new ButcherBox for Pets line. Additionally, earlier this month, it was reported that British eGrocer Ocado is getting into pet food, launching “fine dining” meals for cats and dogs.

Plus last year, D2C meal kit giant HelloFresh announced its new dog food subscription, The Pets Table, promising “human-grade” meals as part of the firm’s push to become the top “fully integrated food solutions group” in the world.

DoorDash’s new partnership marks the latest move in the growing trend of aggregators tapping into the lucrative opportunities presented by digitally engaged pet parents. With competitors also vying for a share of this market, the shift toward on-demand delivery of pet products mirrors the broader consumer trend of prioritizing spending on pets, even amid economic challenges.