Campaign in China to empower pet stores

The 40 000+ pet stores in China are still struggling with unprecedented challenges. According to a 2020 survey undertaken by the China International Pet Show (CIPS) on pet stores in China, 45.5 per cent shut down their business, 31.8 per cent shortened business hours, and 20.5 per cent shifted to online sales.

Some signs of recovery appeared in 2021. According to petdata.cn, pet owners placed more service orders with pet stores. Grooming and skin care still tops all the services, with a 31.7 per cent increase from 2020. The demand for photography services, amusement centres and training have increased respectively by 96.6 per cent, 25.5 per cent and 116.7 per cent compared with the previous year.

The survival and success of pet stores plays a key role in the post-epidemic recovery period. In April, CIPS launched the "Empowering 10 000 China Pet Retailers" campaign. Training seminars have been held in 6 cities so far and plans are in place to hold 200 seminars and events before the end of the year.

The campaign is also a strategic move by CIPS to enhance its domestic buyers’ network in China. CIPS 2022 will be held both online and offline from 17 to 20 November in Guangzhou, China.