Feeling Festive: Help Pet Parents Get in the Spirit for the 2024 Holiday Season

The holiday season might be months away but while pet parents might not currently be thinking about what to buy their beloved companion animals, most – if not all – retailers have already begun to ponder what pet products they’ll be carrying this fall and winter.

As the pet humanization trend continues to grow, customers have come to expect a wide assortment of gift items to be available at their local pet retailer. Now is the time to get ahead of the winter gift-giving rush, and it is important that the pet industry makes the most of these consumer-spending months. With people now viewing pets as members of the family, we can expect there to be more Halloween, Christmas and Hanukkah products bestowed upon companion animals and their parents.

In an October 2023 Circana survey of U.S. pet owners, 50 percent said they buy gifts for their pet on their birthday, 55 percent buy holiday gifts for their pets, and 58 percent buy them gifts on regular or everyday occasions. This makes the holidays the most wonderful time of year for retailers and manufacturers to boost sales while creating happy pet parents.

According to the market research company, the top gifts purchased were food or treats (68 percent), squeaky toys (46 percent), chew toys (46 percent), plush toys (42 percent), and catnip toys (32 percent).

On average, respondents purchased 4.42 gifts per year for their pet. Interestingly, younger consumers gave their pets the most gifts; those under age 33 buy the most gifts on average (5.46), followed closely by ages 33 to 41 (4.97). Older demographics, including younger Boomers (3.23), older Boomers (3.52) and seniors (2.43), were less likely to pamper their furry friends with gifts than their younger counterparts.

These trends are particularly important given that Millennials are not just important future shoppers for pet products, but they are also vital to the present among pet consumers, too. They make up the largest percentage of pet parents (33 percent) followed by Gen X (25 percent) and Boomers (24 percent) — so catering to their needs with the right pet products is essential to the success of pet retailers.

Among those Circana surveyed who bought gifts for their pets in the past year, 90 percent shopped in store and 70 percent online. Walmart (48 percent), pet specialty stores (45 percent), dollar stores (23 percent), Target (21 percent), grocery (19 percent) and club (12 percent) stores were the top brick-and-mortar destinations. Online stores like Amazon, Chewy and Krisers collectively were the top-ranked (48 percent) e-commerce destinations, followed by pet specialty store websites (17 percent) and then Walmart’s online store (15 percent). These stats show that for many retailers, having a great in-store pet section is critical — but a good online assortment is growing in importance to connect with today’s pet parents.

There is a lot of thought that goes into designing and selling a holiday-themed pet product, from the packaging on the manufacturer’s side to how the retailer gives it the proper store display to best catch the eye of today’s consumer. A product with bright, festive packaging at the right price point is sure to be snatched up this holiday season.

Eye-catching products are more likely to stick out to a consumer browsing store shelves. Einstein Pets makes 100 percent natural organic treats with ingredients people will recognize.

Kelly Ison, founder and CEO of Einstein Pets, says that the company’s seasonal items are big sellers and typically sell out quickly. With only human-grade ingredients, Santa’s Helper and Ugly Sweater Party are two festive, yet healthy treats on the market. Made with real sweet potatoes, all white turkey and cranberries, Santa’s Helper not only sounds good, but looks the part as well. Red, white and green packaging featuring a pup/ tree hybrid is sure to make any shopper look twice. Ugly Sweater Party is winter-themed with snow covered trees and a pup in a sweater as the name suggests.

Ison notes Einstein Pets is expanding its natural product seasonal offerings to include two new options of holiday dog treats. For Halloween season, “Trick or Treat” is a crunchy pumpkin and apple biscuit. In an Einstein Pets first, the brand has a soft and chewy snack called “It’s A Wonderful Treat,” which combines apple, blueberry and vanilla.

“There are more opportunities than ever to make the season bright for your customers, their pets and your business,” said Ison. “We are thrilled by the response to the seasonal treats. ‘It’s A Wonderful Treat’ is our first ever soft and chewy treat made for dogs, and we believe it will become a fan favorite.”

Innovation is the key to growth in the pet treat category, and brands don’t get more innovative than K9 Granola Factory, which has made a name for itself thanks to its drool-worthy, gourmet dog treats that are baked fresh daily, hand decorated and resemble donuts or donut holes. The Pennsylvania-based brand’s treats are popular with pet parents seeking natural and human-grade ingredients. K9 Granola Factory Donut Holes are the perfect bite-size reward for canine companions. Made with the brand’s signature granola, these scrumptious treats are topped with a drizzle of house yogurt and colorful sprinkles.

For the upcoming holidays, the K9 Granola’s seasonal offerings are crafted with the brand’s signature, vitamin-packed granola base, the brand hand-dips them in its sweet house yogurt and covers them with seasonal toppings. The donuts are available in several eye-catching, Halloween-themed flavors, with such catchy names as Monster Mash, Coconut Scream, Fright Night, Candy Corn, Pumpkin Spice Latte and Creepy Crawler.

Catnip is a great way to bring amusement to cats all year round, but the holidays bring an added sense of joy to watching a cat playing with its toys. DuckyWorld Products manufacturers YEOWWW! Catnip, cat toys that are made in the U.S.A. and stuffed with 100 percent premium, organically grown catnip. The company works with private farmers to grow, manage and harvest catnip to ensure it offers the highest quality based on freshness, color and aroma.

DuckyWorld, the makers of Yeowww! Catnip, has become a household name with the help of its holiday toys. The holiday toys include Yeowww!-tide Candy Cane, Kris Krinkle Holiday Tree and Dreidel Krinkle, to name a few.

A fall toy, Yeowww!-loween Pumpkin, is a three-inch toy filled with 100 percent Yeowww! organically-grown catnip. Although it’s not a new toy, DuckyWorld has seen demand for the Halloween-themed cat toy grow each year.

For pet parents who have dogs with a sweet tooth, The Lazy Dog Cookie Co. continues its tradition of holiday-themed treats, with past favorites Mutt Cracker Sweets and Home for the Holidays being offered again this season.

The New York-based brand is known for its holiday-themed pet treats since it started in 2001. Lazy Dog Cookie Co. Inc products are made with simple beneficial ingredients that not only make them viciously delicious but are also naturally nutritious. The company’s entire product line is wheat, corn and soy free and made in the U.S.A.

Buying gifts for a companion animal isn’t reserved only for holidays as today’s pet parents are typically purchasing presents to celebrate birthdays, “gotcha day” celebrations and sometimes, just because pet parents want to spoil their fur babies. That’s why earlier this year Lazy Dog Cookie Co. launched its all-natural Pup-POP, which it calls a “celebration hydration” for dogs. Made with 100 percent dog safe ingredients, this non-carbonated, lightly flavored filtered water will have your dog slurping for more. Pet parents can pair a Pup-POP with the brand’s Birthday Cake Bites or Pup-PIE.

Savvy pet retailers will aim to merchandise their Halloween products in September to be prepared for early shoppers. To get customers in the winter holiday mindset where they can begin thinking about what they want to get for their beloved fur babies, pet retailers should start introducing Christmas and Hanukkah-themed merchandise in October, although don’t be surprised if consumers do not commit to the purchase until December.

With customers buying between four and five holiday gifts for their companion animals, the amount spent per customer will range greatly. With that in mind, no gift is too big or too small for pet parents looking to spoil their furry loved ones this holiday season. That’s why it’s important for retailers to provide products that hit all price points and cater to the diversity of their customers’ spending habits.

The winter holiday season is “the biggest time of year” for most pet retailers, so it might be wise to also host photos with Santa and promote a few marketing campaigns to help lure customers in during the season.

Finally, if a pet retailer is planning to have a sale, the holiday decorations and signage should stay up until after the end of the sale — and the store needs to go big on the sale offerings. When the sale is finished, the transition from festive holiday time back to the store’s everyday look and products is complete.

Before you know it, it once again be time to plan for the next year’s holiday season. And, as always, the sky’s the limit for what pet brands have in store for companion animals in 2025.