Consumers weren’t just stockpiling supplies for their human family members during the pandemic, but also went all in on pet care purchases. Pet care owners contributed mightily to e-commerce sales, with engagement to pet care ads growing year over year, according to new findings from Sidecar’s 2021 Benchmarks Report.
Several factors were at play in the growth of pet care sales in 2020. Lockdown restrictions were in place beginning in March, leading pet owners to buy pet care products in bulk. As this period sustained through the summer months, shoppers relied less on in-store purchases and more on a subscription-based method of buying. What’s more, the pandemic pushed more people to adopt new pets, fueling the increase in e-commerce sales.
For retailers, pet care ads saw big year-over-year gains on Google Shopping and paid search. Retailers advertising on these platforms saw a deduction in cost-per-clicks (CPCs) while return on ad spend (ROAS) grew. These findings are from the 2021 Benchmarks Report, which details ad performance across 16 retail segments and five ad platforms.
Pet Care Ads See Diminished CPCs
Despite the uptick in e-commerce sales for pet care goods, retailers in the space saw CPCs decline year over year on Google. The average CPC for pet care retailers on Google Shopping was $0.27 in 2020. That marks a 14% decline from 2019. Pet care CPCs on Google paid search averaged $0.49, 21% lower than the retail average of $0.62.
Low CPCs led to greater return on ad spend for these retailers. Pet care ROAS on Google Shopping was 5.94, up 12% from 2019. On Google paid search, ROAS averaged 13.99 for pet care retailers, 57% higher than 2019.
Higher Ad Engagement on Google
The influx of pet care owners shopping for supplies increased engagement with pet care ads throughout the pandemic. On Google, click-through rate increased on shopping and paid search ads in 2020. These shoppers were searching for all kinds of products–toys, food, grooming items–and searched extensively for the right price point across several retailers.
Looking at Google Shopping, click-through rate for pet care ads was 0.91%, 8% higher than the retail average of 0.84%. Engagement for pet care ads on Google paid search was higher, with click-through rate averaging 5.36%.
Get More Retail Benchmarks in Our Report
Want more retail performance benchmarks like these? Access our entire 2021 Benchmarks Report now. We’ve analyzed hundreds of retailers’ ad accounts on Google, Facebook, and Amazon to create our biggest report to date. You’ll find more pet care benchmarks, as well as performance for 15 other retail segments.
