Source: CHEAA-run China Appliance magazine

The enormous potential of the pet economy has attracted players from all industries to enter the market. In this blue ocean, the pet appliance market is rapidly growing. Traditional home appliance giants such as Haier and Panasonic, as well as emerging pet appliance brands like Homerun and PETKIT, dip their toes into this niche field with the rollout of a series of intelligent, high-quality pet appliance products, driving the pet appliance industry to expand vigorously.

Pet-centered product R&D

The rise of the Gen Z consumers and the growing number of pet owners drive the pet economy to flourish unprecedentedly. According to the first pet sector "618" report released by Taobao and Tmall for 2024, the transaction value of smart pet drying boxes grew 408% year-on-year during the "618" shopping festival, and smart pet odor eliminators saw a 335% increase. JD Supermarket's "Double 11" full-cycle report for pet business revealed that, during the 2024 "Double 11" period, the sales of smart pet products grew by 105% year-on-year, with Homerun, PETKIT, and Xiaomi ranking in the top three.

The rapid market growth is the result of the user-driven approach adopted by industry players. Compared to traditional home appliances, pet appliances require for R&D on both human and pet needs with the needs of pets prioritized. Although the pet market is approaching the 10-billion-yuan milestone, most pet appliance companies currently put their focus on cats and dogs—pets that provide emotional companionship—when deploy their product categories and technologies.

Focusing on the core needs of cats and dogs, the market for smart pet appliances mainly features products such as smart litter boxes, smart feeders, smart water dispensers, drying boxes, hair vacuums, odor eliminators, and smart cameras. Among these, smart feeders, smart water dispensers, and fully automatic smart litter boxes are known as the "three essentials" and are the primary focus for many companies.

Traditional feeding habits often involve pet owners placing a large amount of food in a bowl for cats or dogs to eat over several days. However, this can cause the food to lose its freshness, with the food at the bottom of the bowl typically being less favored by pets. Therefore, smart feeders use timed and portioned feeding technology to deliver fresh and appropriate amounts of food tailored to pets’ dietary preferences and health needs.

The smart water dispenser is developed based on a deep understanding of pet biological characteristics. Pets naturally prefer flowing water, and many pets often suffer from mild dehydration. Xiaomi’s smart pet water dispenser features a water recirculation design that provides oxygen-rich water to increase their interest in drinking. Additionally, the product employs a four-layer deep filtration system, including a microporous PP filter membrane, PET cotton, activated carbon particles, and ion-exchange resin, to effectively filter out tiny particles, hair, and harmful substances like calcium and magnesium ions (which can lead to kidney stones), ensuring healthy and tasty water for pets.

In addition to feeding and drinking, litter removing is also a basic need for pet owners. In August 2024, PETKIT launched the world’s first AI-powered fully automatic cat toilet, ULTRA (with camera). This product integrates a 180° rotating and 210° wide-angle AI camera to monitor and record the cat's bathroom activities around the clock. By analyzing the shape, color, and size of the cat's urine and feces, it can detect early signs of gastrointestinal issues or urinary infections. Additionally, the cat toilet uses AI technology and deep neural network algorithms to accurately identify individual cats in multi-cat households, allowing pet owners to detect early health differences between cats and take necessary care measures.

Similar but different to mother-infant industry

Whether it’s a pet water dispenser, smart feeder, or other smart pet products, health and safety are always the primary consideration. Products are developed to ensure convenience in pets’ daily lives while provide health monitoring to improve their quality of life.

Pet owners treat their pets as babies. Wu Jin, CEO of Beijing Cats and Dogs Technology Co., Ltd., insightfully pointed out that the pet industry should operate like the mother-infant industry, focusing on providing a unique health value to pets. For example, smart water dispensers use low-voltage adapters to reduce the original 220V voltage to 5V, eliminating concerns about electric leakage. At the same time, smart water dispensers can monitor pets' drinking behavior, helping consumers better understand their pets’ condition and preventing urinary tract diseases, thus offering more refined care.

However, pet product development is not baby product development after all. "Babies won’t be left home alone and are always cared for, but pets may be alone for long periods," said my interviewee from PETKIT, pointing out this key difference. "When developing products, we consider the challenges pets may face when left alone and how to address them." For example, the smart pet feeder was designed with a child lock to prevent pets from overfeeding. Real-time monitoring and management of pet diets also play a crucial role in weight management and maintaining pet health.

Prospect of the sector

Today, the rapid development of the pet industry is attracting more and more brands, which benefits the overall expansion of the market and promotes the growth of the pet appliance sector. Emerging brands such as PETKIT, Homerun, L&W Bros, and Pet Marvel are rising fast. With continuous product innovation and optimized user experiences, these brands are gradually establishing a foothold in the pet appliance market. They are not only meeting the basic needs of consumers but also exploring detailed services and scenario-based applications, bringing more possibilities to the market.

The exciting market performance has turned pet appliances into a new direction for home appliance companies to expand their business. In recent years, companies like Panasonic, Haier, Midea, and Ecovacs have ventured into the pet appliance field, trying to meet the diverse and growing needs of pet owners through technological innovation and product upgrades. Many home appliance companies stretch to include pet appliances into their existing product portfolios, by launching pet air purifiers or pet vacuums. Some companies dipped their toes and left, for instance, Midea. This suggests that for traditional home appliance brands, it might be premature to allocate resources to emerging niche markets that are not yet mature and where consumer recognition is low.

The market prosperity does not mean all brands will benefit. The pet appliance market faces challenges such as product homogenization and fierce competition. Some unbranded or white-label pet products lack deep market research and innovation investment. They have basic functions but do not provide scenario-based services. As for brands that enter the pet appliance market solely for short-term profits, if they fall short on product quality and business chains, they will struggle to achieve long-term success.

As my interviewee from PETKIT said, "Every industry or niche sector deserves to be revisited." Every market has the potential to foster new leading brands. The key lies in the brand’s strategic planning and its ability to dig deeper. Only by continuously innovating and breaking through, can companies stand out in fierce market competition, winning the favor and trust of consumers.

In the future, competition in the pet appliance industry will become increasingly intense. Wu Jin believes that "the advantage of smart hardware alone may be weakened by improved supply chain competition in the future." More importantly, brands must successfully deliver their great ideas to the products, precisely capture and meet consumers' current needs, and provide differentiated services.