A market undergoing radical change

Anyone who takes the trouble to seek out some of the pet shops in the big cities of China will soon realise that a massive gulf still exists between low-end and high-end. Outwardly the pet store spectrum ranges from dilapidated shacks, in which pets are kept in poor conditions in plastic containers and dirty, cramped cages, to large, smart western-style stores with fantastic displays. It's a similar situation with regard to prices: the price difference between cheap products and most international brands remains vast. Another observation relates to the Internet. Online pet supplies shops are increasing in number and could speed up the structural transformation that the Chinese pet sector is currently undergoing, but it will take time. 
In fact, there's a lot going on in China. The huge wave of modernisation that has been sweeping across this massive country, or at least its metropolises, in the last few years has been fuelled by China's growing prosperity. This has led to the creation of a burgeoning middle class. In this stratum, shopping is in, and the extent to which this is the case is evident from the multitude of shopping centres in big cities awaiting customers with spending power. The appetite of Chinese consumers has been whetted further by the Internet and social media, and so fashion trends from the western industrialised nations are soon picked up in China also.
This social transformation also has consequences for the pet supplies sector. On account of the high symbolic significance of ornamental fish in China, aquariums are still the dominant segment in most Chinese pet shops. It is striking, however, that dog and cat ownership has increased in popularity considerably in recent years. This is paralleled by a rise in the number of stores that include these pets and products for them in their range. It may be a while yet before the market volume attains a size comparable with Europe and America; but even if the Chinese economy might not grow quite as fast in future, the approximation in living conditions between China and the leading industrial nations is likely to continue.
Yours
Ralf Majer-Abele
Contact details Phone +49/72 43/575-230 • E-Mail r.majer-abele@daehne.de